The Passenger - penultimate shot

Scene from Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger including preceding shot and penultimate shot:
"The film's penultimate shot consists of a seven minute long take-tracking shot which begins in Locke's hotel room looking out into a dusty, run-down square, pulls out through the bars in the hotel window into the square, rotates 180 degrees, and finally tracks back into the hotel room."
-wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pass...)
See the full article for an explanation of how this amazing shot was done.

• Category

  Film & Animation

[Andrés Canales]

Great scene, I saw it when was a kid and still remember it

[KeeperOfProphecies]

In the commentary, Nicholson explained something about then making the set in that they could split it open for the camera for the famous shot and move it back quickly so it looked like the camera moved through the wall.

[youtubister]

Oops, forgot to say, great film too. Haunting, understated, and extraordinary. Antonioni.

[youtubister]

Amazing work by all concerned. I remember it well watching it in the cinema with my mouth wide open.

[lapshin]

The ultimate ending is, I think, in Antonioni's 'Identification of a Woman.' I envy whoever gets to watch that film for the first time. When the credits come up at the end you simply feel as if you've left your body and ascended to heaven.

[lapshin]

It's all about how you end the film. Tarkovsky and Antonioni were masters at finding the perfect ending for their work. For those who are interested, check out the end of 'Solaris' (Tarkovsky's version), 'Stalker' and especially 'Nostalghia,' which has one of the most remarkable final shots I've ever seen. Really, it will leave you speechless.

[ravishingravi]

From DVD commentary. the house was constructed for this shot. It breaks up into two as the camera zooms out of the grills.

[roymagiclogic]

You left out a very important part: the Seat driving off at the end, and the cafe (with the Canço del Lladre on guitar). Still got that somewhere?

[badfishett]

This was not actually done with a handheld camera. Antonioni's method was ingenious-- There was a special track built on the ceiling of the room for this scene, and the full-sized camera passed through a hole in the bars, which had been sawed out and were swung open as soon as the camera got too close for it to be perceptible. Then it was lifted onto a crane-held track by two men so that it could swing freely throughout the outdoor square. Google-image search it, it's incredible.