Just watched this wonderful film for the first time - 50 years after it was made. Was there a soundtrack? I don't know, I was hooked on the characters, the settings and listening hard for the dialogue. I shall watch it again very soon because I found it a very enjoyable and immersive. I try to find films that are well regarded but about which I know as little as possible. I've read a few comments since viewing the film but haven't seen any reference to a possible relationship between the Maria Schneider character and the gun runners. Wasn't she in London to see whether the JN character turned up at his house? Wasn't she in Barcelona because that was where the dead man was going next? Didn't she 'deliver' JN to the gun runners?

A New Hollywood Classic Drama. Despite having hardly any soundtrack at all it never really feels dry which is a testament to the strong direction. It's very arthouse style and cut from the same cloth as something like The Swimmer but it never doesn't make sense if that makes sense. Everything about it is very well done. The camerawork especially the long takes are exceptional at times and the settings are very memorable. The pacing is good but this is a very slow burn the entire way. It keeps your interest by as it goes on it keeps asking more questions in your head and you want to find out the answers as the questions keep piling up. Why did he throw away everything? Will he get caught? What is the endgame? What is in the schedule book? Why is she staying with him? It never directly answers those questions outright as instead giving suggestive ones. Anyone who knows New Hollywood style movies knows what I'm talking about. This is very much against the mundane. Even if your breaking the law, going against societies expectations, don't have a plan, that doesn't mean your a evil person. If anything it means your living. I will say this defintely isn't for everyone though as it requires a lot of patience and investment but if you stay with it, it will reward you. Anyone who is a fan of the director, any actors in this, arthouse type of plots, or New Hollywood style dramas will like this.

A classic. They don't make films like this one anymore. One of Nicholson's best 5 films! The last 5 minute ending is incredible. This film made me love the art of cinema. When I watched this film I realized the Antonioni was a genius. He was an impressionist who threw all the colors/paint together and out came a masterpiece.

Ok, it's an Antonioni film. Ok Jack is great. Ok you can "read" the alienation... but where is the plot?

This is good. Antonioni again featured emptiness of journalism by using English speaking people. I like the plot and Nicholson's performance in this, his presence in Europe created good chemistry. As this film has less dialog and almost no thrills, it can be boring to see, but the great cinematography saved it all.

This seemed, to me, to be a pretty uneventful film that didn't really appeal to me. I feel bad for saying that, as I'm quite keen to try to follow films with interesting, winding plots but this just didn't grab me or engross me at all. I felt a bit confused as to what exactly was going on ocassionally and a fair number of scenes seemed to have little happening. I know this is a generally well regarded film and I imagine it appeals to some people but I watched it twice, the 2nd time trying to understand it better, to pay more attention but still it left me feeling a bit confused and disinterested. The main character, Locke, is somewhat mysterious in his manner and there are the ocassional pieces of good dialogue but it just felt lacking to me, so I couldn't really get myself to give it any higher than a 3 star rating. Maybe I just didn't 'get' it, I feel others may well enjoy it more than I did but it was distinctly average overall in my eyes.

Journalist David Locke (Jack Nicholson) finds himself in northern Africa conducting research on Chadian guerrillas as they attempt to overthrow the government. Deeply dissatisfied with his life, he assumes the identity of a casual acquaintance, an arms dealer, who he finds dead in a hotel room. With The Passenger, director Michelangelo Antonioni turns what could have been a typical political thriller into something entirely different – an existential examination of identity and self. Luciano Tovoli's cinematography effectively captures the vast and arid expanses of Chad and Spain, mirroring the emptiness of Locke's life. Brilliant throughout, Antonioni finishes things with a remarkable, almost seven minute uninterrupted take that speaks to everything that great cinema should aspire to.

A masterpiece and one of Jack Nicholsons greatest performances as a man who switches identity with another man and us dragged into a world of intrigue This being Antonioni there is more to the story than just that. The film is beautiful and typical of one of the great master directors if all time.

Something enchanting about this film and the plot is good enough to measure up to the beautiful landscapes. Fantastic ending and complex characters. Surely the only film rated 12 that has a real life execution shown in it….not overly impressed with the ethics behind that scene to say the least.

Boring rubbish don't waste your time on it.

The Passenger is a very slow examination of a man passing through a mid-life crisis. A small spark is provided when the main character adopts a dead guy's identity in order to get a new life. Shot in Spain and North Africa, the film has interesting scenery. Some critics raved about the cinematography. They were conflating scenery and cinematography. The cinematography is slow, adding to the length and plodding nature of the film. The camera team consistently held shots a 5 count too long. They overused the 'slow pan', and employed some of the techniques pioneered by director Blake Edwards. Critics liked the European feel of the movie; the American viewing audience did not. If you have some extra time, The Passenger is worth watching (but just barely).

The editing of this movie looks done by a drunk monkey.

Once again, I have approached a director through one of their final films, which isn't a great idea. I'll have to revisit this after gaining some more understanding through his earlier work. Antonioni turns a thriller's plot into something entirely different through his woozy, languorous camera-work. The cinematography achieves a gauzy beauty. It ends with a seriously incredible tracking shot.

The movie has a very Hitchcockian setup, and those who haven't seen any of director Michelangelo Antonioni's other works may get their hopes up for a plot-driven, globe-trotting thriller. However, having watched La Notte, I was prepared for the slow existential wandering that the rest of the film engages in. The cinematography is quite incredible and really elevates this movie.

Highly acclaimed Antonioni film has amazing cinematography, but its enigmatic tale of hopelessness and loneliness will either hypnotize you or drive you to tears of boredom.

I found this to be a dry, artsy fartsy film, sure to bore anyone you show it to. Beautiful looking but didn't entertain me much

Proving himself to be versatile when it comes to languages, Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger boasts an incomparable turn from Jack Nicholson, and some of the most stunning camerawork I have ever seen in a motion picture.

"I used to be somebody else, but I traded him in" "The Passenger" is a fascinating movie, a cinematic and philosophical masterpiece. I love Antonioni, and this is one of his best. I have watched it several times through the years, each time opening for myself a new moment or a new meaning. The acting is superb, and so is the camera work. The final scene that lasts for seven minutes without anything really happening is sublime. There is also a deep philosophical theme in the movie, uniquely different from other films of the time that also show dissatisfied, lost, or marginalized characters. Much has been written about the existential symbolism of the film, and it certainly pervades it on a grand scale. However, there is an interesting aspect of this movie which sets it apart from other existentialistic works. In a Sartre-like view, a man is alienated from reality and does not feel welcome in the world nor connected with mankind. But in "The Passenger", it is David Locke's own life that is actually hostile to him. Let me try to explain what I mean. Like many people, he is trying to run away from mundane reality, the job that has been making him jaded, the marriage that's lost its flame. However, instead of making piecemeal changes, he tries to replace his life as a whole - reject it and become someone else. And now it is life itself that's after him, ready to punish him for violating the rules of engagement. It's as if he is just a vessel owned by life, which destroys him as soon as he tries to take matters in his own hands. At some point in the movie David says that he used to be somebody else, but traded him in (by the way, what a fabulous line). He boasts - he thinks he is in control of his life choices, but will soon find out otherwise. What crushes him in the end is not fate or circumstances or his past that catches up with him - it is life itself, ejecting an unruly passenger. Such juxtaposition of life with a man as a separate, all-powerful entity is unique in the artistic portrayal of existential struggle. The original title of the movie (in Italian) was "Profession: Reporter". This title would have made perfect sense if the character was an estranged observer of life. However, Jack Nicholson's character is truly a passenger - he is not in the driver's seat, and his privileges are pretty limited. His connection to life is neither cordial nor caring, the same way as there is no human connection between a train passenger and the train operator. David Locke has violated the rules, and his ticket is canceled. The train will continue forward without him. Captivating and mysterious Maria Schneider plays The Girl. As David jumps from one city to another, he keeps running into her. She is quite an ephemeral character, floating from place to place, seemingly not attached to any mundane or conventional activity like work or family. Having no name in the movie suits her character perfectly - one less connection to real life. Perhaps this is the only kind of people who David can interact with now and who can deal with him. When the police ask David's wife to identify his dead body, she says she doesn't know him. It is true - he has become a complete stranger to her. But when they ask the girl if she knows David, she says yes. Even though they have met only recently, they seem to be people of the same kind. Perhaps like him, the girl is also a passenger? Perhaps we all are.

"- I've run out of everything - my wife... the house... an adopted child... a successful job... everything except a few bad habits I could not get rid of." A movie about identity crisis

Quite slow film with a solid story and sublime images and color usage. Jack Nicholson is portraying a war reporter that manage to fake his death to escape his life. He seems fed up with it. Things does not turn so much better, but we are taking a trip around Europe as he hooks up with people. A mixture of "Bonnie & Clyde" and "No Country For Old Men" but never as tense. This is slow, pretty and got a very European look. Great acting and a fantastic final shot that will be the thing to remember from this quite disappointing film me. 6.5 out of 10 cigarette bummers.