Friday 11 January 2008

The Passenger

Movie Review: The Passenger (Proffesione: reporter)

Year of Release: 1975
Country of Origin: Italy, Spain, France
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider

Plot outline: A journalist researching a documentary in the Sahara Desert meets a total stranger who dies suddenly. When the journalist notices that they have a similar appearance, he assumes the recently deceased's identity and accepts the consequences that it brings (IMDb).

The first 25 minutes into the movie Michelangelo Antonioni shows us that a story can be told splendidly virtually without any dialogue. In fact, throughout the movie he maintains the use of dialogue to a minimum level. This becomes the most noticeable attribute to this work. The story unfolds slowly, naturally, without any haste or unnecessary surprises, but surely to an increased level of complexity. He then ends the movie with an unruffled climax - silent, no dialogue - with the camera facing away from the subject of importance. What an outstanding piece of work!

My judgement: ***1/2 out of 4 stars.

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