The Passenger

1975

Released 19 MARCH

Blu-ray

here seems to be a modern formula when it comes to screen acting, especially, and under his belt, Jack Nicholson headed to Europe, with the help of MGM’s coin, to make a movie with the marble-eyed godhead of screen alienation: Michelangelo Antonioni. The result is close to a perfect match between star and director, as Nicholson assumes a guise of intense placidity and internalised confusion to play David Locke, a depressive journalist tooling around in northern Africa with little to show for his toil. He returns to his dismal hotel to discover the man next door has died in his bed, and as they look superficially similar, he takes the opportunity to assume his identity and live in his shoes for a while, maybe even for the remainder of his days.