Michelangelo Antonioni‘s ‘The Passenger‘ or ‘Professione: reporter‘ (the original title) is a case study of a remarkable film by one of the important directors in the history of cinema, a film that changes its meaning and perspective over time, but remains a work of great intensity and quality. Made in 1975, the film has a well-defined place in the film career and in the life of the Italian director. His previous film ‘Chung Kuo – Cina‘ had been a documentary made in China in 1972 in the midst of the cultural revolution period. Although it did not contain any explicit criticism but rather brought to the screen a well-censored version of a reality of which the film crew had seen only a part and was allowed to film even less, the film was not liked by the Chinese censors and – it seems – by Mao himself, as a result being banned in China for three decades. Accused of counter-revolutionary and even fascist tendencies, Antonioni (a man with leftist views) makes after that documentary ‘The Passenger‘, a film about a reporter who decides to change his identity of an objective presenter of reality with that of an arms dealer, involved and sympathetic to revolutionary political movements in central Africa. The name of the film gave rise to different interpretations, but perhaps the most interesting is that of the role of ‘passengers’ that each of us plays from birth to death, and the meaning we give to this journey.
What remains of this film 45 years after its making, and how can it be seen and understood by those who do not know the director’s biography? I tried to do this mental exercise while watching the movie. Probably some of the political details have evolved, but not the essence. African states are still prey to corruption and dictatorial tendencies, and rebellious movements put central authority to the test, being characterized as terrorists or freedom fighters depending on the political orientation of the one who places the label. The job of a journalist is as dangerous now as it was then, and the dilemmas of reporters who are sometimes forced to make concessions in order to obtain material or interviews with political leaders with dubious backgrounds are just as actual. Some of the elements of the story are less temporal. The main hero played by Jack Nicholson assumes the identity of a stranger he had met by chance in Africa and who had died suddenly. This kind of intrigue based on identities switching has been the basis of many thrillers. The reporter who has taken on the false identity of a gun dealer at some point becomes the target of everyone, friends and enemies. His connection with a young woman he met on the roads of Europe (Maria Schneider) is described in a very detached way, we don’t even know the girl’s name. Is this an accidental connection, or a real chance for change? Ultimately, identity means not only the name on the passport but also the feelings and relationships with those around you.
We are in a film by Antonioni, so we can expect lonely and internalized heroes who communicate in few words if any. Visually, the spaces often seem to overwhelm the heroes. The story begins in the Sahara. Deserts are among Antonioni‘s favorite settings. The Spain of the end of the dictatorship (filming happened in 1975, the year of Franco’s death, the story takes place in 1973) is also much less populated than it would become in the following decades and just as burned by a merciless sun. An original element is that of Gaudi’s architectural works in Barcelona. The brilliant Catalan architect was probably less famous then than he is today, otherwise I doubt that a reputable reporter would not have heard of him. The presence of Gaudi’s art in the film offers not only a visual counterpoint to the love story between the reporter and the Girl, but also an allusion to the commitment and passion that underlie his life and his work. The excellent, often multifaceted dialogues are supported by the exceptional performances of Jack Nicholson in one of the significant roles of his early career and by Maria Schneider whose beauty and freshness shine here even more than in ‘Last Tango in Paris‘ . Finally, we have in this film a final anthology scene, which it alone would be sufficient for those who did not see it to immediately look to see the film. It’s one of those scenes that I watch and watch again at any occasion, and about which I can say, ‘that’s why I love movies!’