"The Passenger" has been widely praised for its camerawork (by Luciano Tovoli) and its acting. It competed for the Palme d'Or award at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. The film was praised by such critics as Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" and Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times." Roger Ebert gave the film a negative review in 1975, but revisiting it in 2005, he was much more positive, writing that it was a perceptive look at identity, alienation and the human desire to escape oneself. It was placed 110th in the 2012 "Sight &amp; Sound" critics' poll and was selected by "Empire" magazine as one of "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time".