Synopsis: Journalist takes on new identity but can't escape his past
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Actors: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry
Date: 1975
How viewed: Already in my collection
Rating: 4/5
David Meyer says:
Antonioni shows his hero no more pity than he shows the rest of the cast - that is none - and yet the result remains uplifting, almost religious, and unforgettable.
I say:
A long slow road trip - that starts somewhere in Africa, as a journalist (Nicholson) frustratingly fails to track down a guerilla group, comes back to his hotel, and finds the chap in the next room, with whom he spoke briefly, dead. Their similar appearance persuades him to swap identities, and he then uses his airline tickets and diary to continue the fraud. Unfortunately he discovers that the man was an illegal arms dealer, and his wife (Nicholson's wife) is unconvinced and on his trail - so rather than escaping, he ends up being pursued by old and new connections. Great location scenes in London. Munich, Barcelona and Andalucia, and famous for a long continuous shot at the end where the camera appears to go through the bars on the window. Probably very existential, telling us that we can't escape from ourselves, but actually just great to sit back and watch!
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