Passenger, The (aka Professione: Reporter)

Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975.

Jack Nicholson plays David Locke, a disillusioned journalist investigating rebels in north Africa. When the Englishman staying next-door to him dies, Locke assumes his identity and convinces the rest of the world that in-fact, it is he who has died. Whilst embroiling himself in the Englishman’s weapon dealing engagements across several European cities, Locke also acquires a young female passenger (Maria Schnieder). The motivations behind either character are ambiguous and their progression through the film’s plot is dreamlike. Locke pays the price for his deception in the film’s virtuosic 8 minute final shot.