Professione: reporter (1975)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Mark Peploe (story)
Mark Peploe (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 April 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

I used to be somebody else...but I traded myself in.

Plot:

A frustrated war correspondent, unable to find the war he's been asked to cover, takes the risky path of co-opting the I.D. of a dead arms dealer acquaintance.

Plot Keywords:

Desert | Reporter | Identity | Journalist | Hotel

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jack Nicholson	...	David Locke
Maria Schneider	...	Girl
Jenny Runacre	...	Rachel Locke
Ian Hendry	...	Martin Knight
Steven Berkoff	...	Stephen
Ambroise Bia	...	Achebe
José María Caffarel	...	Hotel Keeper
James Campbell	...	Witch Doctor
Manfred Spies	...	German Stranger
Jean-Baptiste Tiemele	...	Murderer
Ángel del Pozo	...	Police inspector
Charles Mulvehill	...	David Robertson (as Chuck Mulvehill)
Narciso Pula	...	Murderer's accomplice

Also Known As:

The Passenger (International: English title) (UK)
El reportero (Spain)
Profession: reporter (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some violence, nudity and language. (edited version)

Runtime:

126 min | 119 min

Country:

Italy | Spain | France

Language:

English | Spanish | German | French

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Italy:T | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | UK:A (original rating) | West Germany:12 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

4 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company:

Compagnia Cinematografica Champion

Trivia:

The execution of a prisoner in this film is not staged. It consists of actual footage of a real execution.

Quotes:

The Girl: People disappear every day.
David Locke: Every time they leave the room.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Apocalypse Now (1979)

A haunting and unique film from Antonioni

One of Jack Nicholson's best but also least known films, `The Passenger' or `Professione: Reporter' is a haunting examination of the desire to escape and start afresh and is without doubt Antonioni's best English language film, eclipsing both `Blowup' and `Zabriskie Point'. Nicholson's role as a world-weary television journalist (David Locke) isn't a particularly demanding one but it is fascinating to see him give a performance so different from anything else we have seen from him and one which is much better than the horny little devil efforts he has sadly specialised in since `One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'.

Some may find the opening twenty minutes of the film, where there is virtually no dialogue, hard-going but this perfectly illustrates the sparse and confusing environment of the North African desert where the film begins. We are also treated to a marvellous scene between Locke and the man whose identity he later assumes where a tape recording and flashback are ingeniously merged into one and then separated again. Antonioni creates a mood that is almost indefinable throughout, a kind of hollow detachment which is exactly the perspective that Locke has on the world which has gradually worn him down yet the director still manages to conjure up power and simple romance between Locke and the girl he meets who is played by Maria Schneider. The film was not a hit at the box-office which is not surprising considering it's uncommercial style but artistically and cinematically it is a triumph of innovation.