Last night Ezra and I went to the 9:30 showing of The Passenger at The Brattle.

In this 1975 film, Jack Nicholson plays David Locke, a British-born American-raised reporter working on a documentary somewhere in Africa. When a man who bears a striking resemblance to Locke dies in the room next to him at his hotel, he decides to switch identities with him. His wife and employers back in London think he’s dead, and he discovers that the man whose identity he has taken is a gun runner for a secret organization.

The film begins in Africa, moves to London, and then is set largely in and around Barcelona (swoon!). In Barcelona, Locke meets a young tourist who is intrigued by his situation. She joins up with him and they travel together, trying to elude pursuers from both his old identity (his wife, his former employer) and his new one (arms traffickers).

Michaelangelo Antonioni (Blowup, L’Avventura) directed. There’s a lot in the film about seeing, being seen, and how one sees the world and his or her self. In spots, it jumps around in time, but just as the film doesn’t provide a manipulative orchestral soundtrack, the jumps back and forth in time happen without a lot of fanfare. It’s all just a part of the picture being presented to the viewer, and the viewer is entrusted with making up his or her own mind about what’s going on and what it all means. The filming itself is also artful and clever–some long shots and panning shots seem almost impossible, and some shots are beautifully framed (the very last shot comes to mind, along with a wedding shot earlier in the film).

This was a discovery for me, and I was totally affected by it. It was time well spent. I recommend it.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2006 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Blather, films. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.