write on the film (The passenger by MICHAELANGELO ANTONIONI, ITALY, 1975)

Film Passenger

David Locke , a noted TV journalist is unhappy with his personal life , marriage and work , as he is failing on every front . He

visits the deserts of North Africa , to meet the rebels , and here , his contacts abandon him . Frustrated , he changes his identity to

Mr . Robertson , who is already dead , and was staying in the same hotel Locke , disguised as Robertson , returns back to

Europe . Mr . Robertson , apparently , is an arms dealer , and many governments are after him , as he has been supplying arms to

the rebels . He

manages to escape from the throngs of government agencies , courtesy his girlfriend , who was very fluent in

Spanish and French languages , he is ultimately caught by thugs , and assassinated ( The passenger (film

This film primarily deals with the psyche of a man who fails on all fronts of his life , at a given point of time . The central

character of this film , Locke , fails simultaneously in personal and professional lives . This makes him extremely desperate to

change his own identity . This reflects the psychological effects failures can have on a human being . This film is all about the

steps taken by a man who has failed miserably , and is left alone because his companions have backed out . The loneliness

injects lot of fear and desperation . The step taken by him lead to a disastrous end of his life . Its all about frustration brought

about by failures

The last seven minutes long shot , tells about Locke 's assassination in implied way . It begins with showing Locke on the

bed in his hotel room , pans to the exteriors of the window , and again comes back to the room showing him dead . Many

technical difficulties were faced while filming this shot . The director gives so much of importance to this shot and its details

because he wants to communicate the assassination , in an indirect and implied way . The contrast of the darkness of the room

and the brightness of the exteriors in the same shot , also add to the visual appeal of this shot . This shot has become historic for

film analysts ( The passenger (film )References

1 . The Passenger (film , Wikipedia the free encyclopedia , 29 August 2007

Retrieved on 22 September 2007 from...