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Antonioni's 'The Passenger'. Wow, what a bore. --SPOILER--

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jeffreybehr

Rereleased, at least in Phoenix.
I don't need car chases or shoot'em'ups, but I do need a story in which I care about the people. I didn't walk out on this film, altho several in the theater did, but there's just not enough there for me to recommend it. 'Slow', some call it. Indeed.
I LOVE 'people' movies with at least SOME characters I can care about. Some I love and own are 'Around the Bend', 'Off the Map', 'The Upside of Anger', 'The Best Years of Our Lives', 'Deja Vu', 'Good Will Hunting', 'Grand Canyon', 'Groundhog Day' (which has the best Bill Murray role I've ever seen him in), lots of John Sayles's films, etc.
'The Passenger' just teased me; I kept waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever did; Jack just dies while taking a nap.
I'm glad it's rereleased for those who appreciate it.
See the link for some positive comments from a few years ago.

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=films&n=8962&highlight=the+passenger&r=&session= (Open in New Window)

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Years ago my wife (of 21years, now) and I were watching some movie in a theater. Both of us were NOT... - jeffreybehr 16:34:14 12/08/05 (2)
...enjoying it so we left. On the way out, she said something like 'I didn't care about any of those people, so why waste my time?' I now call that the Katherine test.
K and I have walked out from 'Thelma and Louise'*, 'Goodfellas'**, 'Lost in Translation', and several more whose names I can't remember.
'The Passenger' wasn't that bad, but it was close.

* Why anyone would watch a story populated by 2 implausibly stupid women becoming more stupid by the minute is beyond me.
** Populated by absolutely NO ONE I cared a bit about. There was nary a socially redeeming creature in the movie, at least the third that I saw. Others have said it's an excellently constructed movie. Perhaps it is, but I don't enjoy watching technical exercises, I enjoy watching interesting stories about people I care about.
- "Katherine Test" - Jim Campilongo 09:17:18 12/09/05 (1)
  Although I suspect your "test" is intellectually based and a means to be discriminate - unless I am missing the point it seems like a narrow criteria for enjoying and rating a film.
  Would a film like "French Connection" that exclusively has characters that occupy and exhibit the lower forms of humanity pass the "Katherine Test" ? If so , why?
  - Don't know about TFC; have never seen it. I think the pic of Gene Hackman... - jeffreybehr 09:44:24 12/09/05 (0)
    ...in that stupid-looking hat keeps me away from it, altho he's one of my faves.
    The Katherine test may well be a narrow criterion, but I don't watch movies as intellectual exercises, I see them (and own hundreds*) because I ENJOY watching them. K wonders how I can watch 'Star Wars' the umpteenth time, but I love it every time I see it. Same with 'Limbo' and 'The Godfather' and 'Knockaround Guys**' and 'Nobody's Fool' and...
    
    * All listed in an Excel spreadsheet; I'll send a copy if you e-mail me at jeffreybehr(at)cox(dot)net.
    ** HIGHLY recommended. Vin Diesel is fabulous in this role, done before he became a 'star'. He plays his character very understatedly.
I will hold you while tin beats you up on your head with a VHS tape - Victor Khomenko 11:04:22 12/08/05 (5)
As tin sez - Antonioni is not for everyone... but WHAT is?
Did you see his other "slow" films? Things like L'Avventura or L'Eclisse? What was your reaction?
The Passenger shall forever remain at the top of my heap.
- I'll help hold him down, I think it's a fine film - grinagog 19:59:00 12/08/05 (0)
  and Jack Nicholsons best role; last chance to see him before he went from being a fine actor to a snarling cartoon character
  Agree that Antonioni is not for everyone but he is one of the cinema greats
  Grins
- Did not see them. (NT) - jeffreybehr 15:15:22 12/08/05 (0)
  .
- I wonder if Jeff would find "Blow-up" b o r i n g? nt - tinear 13:09:35 12/08/05 (2)
  as
  - Didn't see it. (NT) - jeffreybehr 15:16:03 12/08/05 (0)
    .
  - I need to revisit this one... it's been long time - Victor Khomenko 13:55:52 12/08/05 (0)
    But one Antonioni that is perhaps as far removed from the likes of the L'Avventura as possible is Beyond the Clouds. I know it didn't command broad recongition, but I liked it.
Spoiler language: well, I guess - tinear 10:50:14 12/08/05 (2)
you just didn't understand the alienation expressed in the film. The character Nicholson assumes is a very shady arms dealer and, bored with his life, Jack decides to see exactly what the life is like. He isn't really passionate about it: he doesn't see this as a vehicle for an expose. Rather, he just goes along like... a passenger.
Perhaps Antonioni is saying something here?
Anyhow, boredom is in the hive of the beeholder. I found the parallel stories of his wife's tracking him as he skinned away the onion's layers fascinating.
The visit to the Gaudi Cathedral with Maria Schneider (what a pleasure to watch her!) was a memorable scene.
Antonioni isn't for everyone but I certainly wouldn't characterize this film as slow.
For the record, you seem to have missed the fact that the character was murdered in what many consider one of modern film's greatest scenes.
- OK, NOT a spoiler. :-) - jeffreybehr 15:13:01 12/08/05 (1)
  "You just didn't understand the alienation expressed in the film. The character Nicholson assumes is a very shady arms dealer and, bored with his life, Jack decides to see exactly what the life is like. He isn't really passionate about it: he doesn't see this as a vehicle for an expose. Rather, he just goes along like... a passenger." Got that.
  "I found the parallel stories of his wife's tracking him as he skinned away the onion's layers fascinating. The visit to the Gaudi Cathedral with Maria Schneider (what a pleasure to watch her!) was a memorable scene." Yup.
  "Antonioni isn't for everyone but I certainly wouldn't characterize this film as slow. For the record, you seem to have missed the fact that the character was murdered in what many consider one of modern film's greatest scenes." Yup, I sure did miss that. But since we have to ASSUME that's what happened, perhaps you'll pardon me for missing it. :-)
  I guess the movie depicts very well the aimlessness of Locke/Robertson, perhaps too well, in that the movie turned out to be, for me, aimless.
  Oh well. As I said, I'm glad it's rereleased for those who appreciate it.
  - Though, of course, the movie stands on its own excellence, the - tinear 05:06:32 12/09/05 (0)
    enjoyment is heightened if one realizes what Italians were feeling during the post-WWII years, years critical in Italian cinema. The guilt of Italian fascism and the fact that so many Italians had joyfully executed their fellow countrymen, and supported a most brutal regime in Germany, took its psychological toll.
    Then, there was the aimlessness of modern industrial life, expressed more strongly in Antonioni's earlier efforts, such as L'Eclisse.
    You may have been napping, if you're serious about the ending being ambiguous. It is crystal clear what happened to Nicholson's character.

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