This Is Getting a Theatrical Rerelease
According to their website Sony Pictures Classics is rereleasing this on 10/29/05.
http://www.sonyclassics.com/comingsoon.php?filmid=286&page=1
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MovieChat Forums > Professione: reporter (1975) Discussion > This Is Getting a Theatrical Rerelease
Saw a trailer for this when I saw Good Night, Good Luck today.
shareSaw it in the theater at a Landmark Theater. It was brilliant and amazing.
shareI saw it last night at a Landmark theatre as well, and I'm trying hard to see why it was brilliant and amazing. I wonder what I'm missing. I thought the dialogue was ridiculous, Maria Schneider was nothing more than eye candy, Locke's motivations were never clear, and I thought the arid, rocky scenery was ugly. I know, I'm weird. If you're into slow moving films with little dialogue, I'd recommend "Days of Heaven" over "The Passenger" quite readily. Again, what am I missing? I don't mean to be argumentative, but I have read reviews extolling the amazing brilliance of this film, and I just can't see it.
shareI found it brilliant and amazing in the sense of impressive directing and cinematography, along with some excellent acting. The storytelling gave a fine sense of mystery all along -- where was the story going to go? However, I thought the ending fell flat.
In the sense of something one might study in a film school class, I think it was just as brilliant and amazing as its reputation. But in terms of being accessible and entertaining to an audience not looking at it analytically as a piece of film-making art, I think it falls short.
I think I just found it amateurish in style, and I know that's some sort of sacrilege, especially since Antonioni has a devout art following, but I've seen so much better. The example I cited above, "Days of Heaven", is so much more beautiful, especially the cinematography. I didn't think "The Passenger" was anything special in that regard - the daylight scenes were mostly mid-day when the light is harshest. And while there was mystery surrounding Robertson's agenda, and Locke carrying out the arranged meetings, it was never clear what exactly was going on. I found it muddled. And though the ending is supposed to be amazing, I thought it was difficult to sit through, i.e. pretentious and boring. I really don't get anything from watching Maria Schneider pound around in those tie-up shoes either. She seemed clumsy on screen.
I know this is supposed to be such a great movie, but I still don't get it. Maybe I'm not meant to. :)
SPOILERS
Some people in other threads claim to have heard a gunshot during the long take at the end. I didn't hear such a sound, and apparently no one else in my screening did either. If there had been a perceptible gunshot, then the ending would have made sense -- someone who didn't like Robertson caught up with Locke-alias-Robertson and killed him. But without the gunshot, the only explanation for Locke's death is poetic symmetry with Robertson's death at the beginning, which is what I meant when I wrote "the ending falls flat".
I heard the gunshot, but it was too contrived, too pretentious, too "Watch, keep watching, this is gonna be good, see how I'm zooming away from the room so you can't SEE what's going on?!" It didn't thrill me at all, especially not watching Maria "Last Tango" Schneider clomp around aimlessly in those silly shoes. If we're going to get into extended shots using up whole cans of film, I'd say watch "Rope" instead. Maybe I should see "Blow Up" again - I need to figure out why I'm supposed to like Antonioni.
shareThis Film is EXTREMELY UNDERRATED!
shareWhat the heck is this obsession with shoes? If that is all you saw, then this film was simply not for you. Don't worry about "getting it." Just go shopping.
sharemr. noise knows best, i'd say.
shareAll the best art work polarizes opinion, and this film is no exception. I loved it, and felt the vagueness of the film was an essential part of the plot. Locke is so jaded and unenthusiastic that it seems to infect the very film itself, until at the end the camera just drifts away, as though afflicted with attention deficit disorder. A masterpiece and a testament to Nicholson's brilliance as a performer and Antonionis courage and mastery with complicated material.
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