The Passenger

I just received my copy of the Powerhouse Films bluray of The Passenger a few days ago and havent yet seen the extra material, but the film looks stunning!I thought I would be stuck forever with the DVD, so am so happy to see this film cleaned up and remastered on bluray as it deserves.The picture quality on this disk is probably the best you will ever see outside a theater of this somewhat forgotten about Antonioni masterpiece. I have waited a long time for this.I will not comment about the film it's self, as many others have already done an outstanding job on their reviews, but it's one of my favorite works of cinema art.If you love this film as much as I do, buy this while you can because it's a limited edition of 5,000.When they are gone, that's it!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I love foreign films. The plots seem to be so much more intriguing than some of the garbage Hollywood is peddling these days. And I love being able to 'tour' foreign lands and get a glimpse of what it's like to live there from a comfortable sofa in my livingroom. That said, The Passenger was quite a journey. I was so captivated that I watched the entire set, almost 5 hours, on one rainy Saturday afternoon, even foregoing my favorite TV shows. The actors portray very convincing characters, the settings are beautiful and the plot keeps evolving until the final reveal at the end. I did feel like it ended a bit too soon. I would have liked to see how Anglade's character continued to evolve under the circumstances, so another 2 or 3 episodes would have been a nice wrap-up.

This 1975 film exhibits the distinctive style of noted director Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007). Billed as an international romantic thriller, it is actually more of a psychological study. Antonioni's films dealt with the themes of internal emptiness, and search for purpose. As such, they were often slow-moving. To its credit, The Passenger features more of a consistent plot. Jack Nicholson plays a tired, burned-out journalist, disaffected with his career, and hoping for something more meaningful. When presented with an opportunity, he exchanges his identity for that of a dead man, only to become caught up in a sequence of events he cannot control. Temporarily free of his earlier life, he makes no effort to build a new one. Undercut by his own indecisiveness, he is unable to create his own sense of purpose. Confronted with new options and facing very real dangers, he does not rise to the occasion, but remains curiously passive, allowing himself to be swept along by outside forces. The film is visually quite striking, alternately beautiful and stark, maintaining a discrete distance from the central character.

Michaelangelo Antonioni's 1975 film is dreamlike and mysterious. On one level it is about the literal danger in stealing someone else's identity. That premise alone presents numerous dramatic possibilities, but "The Passenger" goes much further, to become a haunting meditation on rootlessness and ennui. It examines the paradox of seemingly endless freedom gradually becoming a prison with only one means of escape.David Locke (Jack Nicholson, in one of his greatest performances), is a photojournalist working in North Africa. Out of nothing more than boredom, apparently, he steals the identity of a dead man, the only other guest in his hotel. The man, known only as Mr. Robertson, is barely known to Locke. They have had one conversation, and Robertson has said little more than that he is a businessman who travels all over the world and has no family.Once Locke becomes Robertson, he begins meeting the appointments in Robertson's datebook. It becomes his own personal Michelin guide and sends him all over Europe to gorgeous locations, filmed to their greatest advantage by Luciano Tovoli. In Munich, Locke learns that he is an arms dealer. But, as Jack Nicholson notes in his wry commentary on the DVD, "at least he knows he's selling to the rebels."Locke keeps all the appointments in the datebook, but the people he is supposed to meet abruptly stop showing up. He is mystified, confused, bewildered. There is trouble and fear in the silence that seems to meet him everywhere. Along the way he meets a young student, "The Girl," played enigmatically by Maria Schneider. She speaks in epigrams, is intrigued by Locke and views the life he has adopted as something of a game.If we're not who we know ourselves to be, who are we? This is the question Antonioni repeatedly raises, and wisely never answers. One more than one occasion, Locke asks the girl, "what the ---- are you doing here with me?" Her first response is the most telling: "which 'me'?" Repeatedly he pushes her away, whether to protect her from himself, his alter ego or those who might be after either one of them, we can't say. But she remains cleverly steadfast.There is very little dialogue and not a great deal of action. But the feeling of menace and dread grows more powerful with each reel. And the payoff -- and it's a big one -- comes in the final seven minutes, with a single shot that is justifiably famous. It neatly ties up all the loose ends, although you may not realize it on first viewing. There are technical questions about how this shot was accomplished which the DVD commentaries answer. As with many scenes in many Antonioni movies, the final shot of "The Passenger" appears to say nothing while saying everything. It's just remarkable. No other word will do.I did not find screenwriter Mark Peploe's commentary to be particulary interesting. He talks too fast, he backtracks, he gets ahead of himself. He has a female friend with him who had no involvement in the film; she doesn't get the chance to say much and when she raises (good) questions, Peploe fails to answer them. I did not finish listening.Jack Nicholson's commentary -- which I believe he says is the first he's ever done for a DVD -- is quite good. He has owned the rights to "The Passenger" for many years, and it was his choice to re-release it to theatres in late 2005, and then to release it on DVD. Nicholson takes a great deal of pride in having worked with Antonioni. (He remains the highest-caliber actor to have done so.) Jack sounds like he has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, but listen to the words. He's not intrusive, he chooses his words carefully, and he displays great intelligence and sly wit. It is he who says "The Passenger" is "beautifully hypnotic", and he is correct.

excellent organic film like transfer. this is certainly the best this film has ever looked for home consumption. watched it on a 100 inch screen projected from an Epson 6030UB. gorgeous. i'm referring to the INDICATOR blu-ray released 2018. If you are a fan of this film, it's a MUST HAVE for sure. enjoy.

What can I say. Wonderful film, great camera work, wonderfully remastered, with massive improvement in tones and sharpness compared to other releases.Package of extras that enhance the film.Its an Indicator release, so you know its going to be good, and it doesnt disappoint

he can really act, this is one of the most stylish adventures I've seen in years, never knew it existed, came across it via recommendation engine. Jack N is simply brilliant in this, I mean he's actually acting...like he knows what he's doing. This director is a gem, highly recommend this peculiar little package.

A nicely understated performance by Nicholson and Schneider.A reporter who is disillusioned by life and steals someone else's identity, yet it works.Nicholson exudes charm and Schneider shines.Great service by supplier.

The screen definition was poor in places and the aspect ratio didn't look right so I returned As usual with Amazon this was a painless process and there is a more expensive and better version available