The Passenger (1975)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: Michelangelo Antonioni

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Steven Berkoff

Running time: 126 minutes

David Locke is a television journalist who is in Chad, gathering footage and information for a documentary on post-colonial Africa. Coming back to his hotel, he realizes that the businessman in the room next to his, with whom he had conversations in the past, is dead on his bed. Locke decides to modify their respective papers and switch their identities. What he doesn’t know is that Robertson, the man whose identity he took, is an arms dealer connected to the rebels involved in the current civil war.

This drama art film has a very slow and deliberate pace. There is not a lot of action or dialogue; it is more of a character study. Like David Locke, many of us have, at one time or another felt alienated from the world around and has wanted to escape and start over.

The role of David Locke was a very different one for Nicholson. There was only one little scene of anger; the rest was subtle and laid back, with lots more restraint than we have been accustomed to with Jack.

Overall, this a good art film, with beautiful scenery, great shots and good acting. You just have to adjust to the slow pace and put the effort in to appreciate it.

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