1900 (Special Collector's Edition)
by Bernardo Bertolucci
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bernardo Bertolucci, Dominique Sanda, G?rard Depardieu, Robert De Niro, Vittorio StoraroDirector: Bernardo Bertolucci
Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Writer: Bernardo Bertolucci
Cinematographer: Vittorio Storaro
Editor: Franco Arcalli
Writer: Franco Arcalli
Producer: Alberto Grimaldi
Producer: Laurent Bouzereau
Writer: Giuseppe Bertolucci
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Published), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Italian (Published), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Published), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 315 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-12-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of 1900 (Special Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Classic? Yes! Masterpiece? No!
Summary: 3 Stars
This Bertolucci classic is often considered to be his masterpiece next to "The Last Emperor". Unfortunately I disagree on both counts especially from a point of view how either movie stood the test of time. "1900" comes across as quite dated and it's got nothing to do with the fact it was made so long ago, which is proven by looking at what I consider to be the true masterpiece of Bertolucci "The Conformist" which was made even earlier than "1900".
"1900" tells a story concerning Italy's history during the first half (mostly) of the 20th century. It is a story of political violence and class struggle, which perhaps is one of the elements that make the movie dated, but naturally it was a crucial aspect to the period that the movie is set in, a part of daily life as natural as breathing.
The two main protagonists are of course from opposite social classes, landowner vs. farm laborer, Robert de Niro (Alfredo) vs. Gerard Depardieu (Olmo). The two share a close friendship dating back to early childhood, but their class differences will always play a part, especially since the rise of fascism which finds the two young men at either side of the fence of oppressor (i.e. collaborator) vs. resistance fighter which brings tensions between them to a head. Although recompense is unavoidable after the war, their friendship survives.
"1900" is a long epic and brings the colors and scents of the Italian soil to its audience through its story divided over the four seasons of nature and life, beautifully photographed. The political aspect was very prominent on Bertolucci's mind when he made the movie, even hoping the movie would prompt a new revolutionary spirit to be awakened in the viewers all over the world. Looking at the movie with some historical distance, one cannot help but feel that the workers' communist slogans cannot be swallowed at face value, causing the movie to lose some of its relevance.
What is left is a movie about friendship with many highs and lows, which, stripped from all ideological rhetoric, is the one thing that counts and survives.
The acting in the movie, except the horrific character played by Donald Sutherland, is very bland, but this is mainly due to the script, which very much simplifies the two friends and with very little depth, even though the events that occur are very dramatic. This is one of the strange aspects of the movie: The plot is dramatic, epic, visually the movie is a first rate work of art, but the characters have been put together with very rough clay and not likely to move the audience. It's a movie certainly worthy of admiration, but it's lacking in human compassion, probably stemming from fears to become overly sentimental, but Bertolucci never seems to strike the right balance.
In general this seems to be a problem with most of his movies, that the characters living in them seem so 'made up', not flesh and blood, as if the artist never quite understood that a healthy distance to his subjects indeed may be healthy, but he still needs to imbue them with the breath of life to have them escape from the two-dimensional reality on the silver screen, so they can continue their journey in the hearts of the audience.
"1900" certainly is a beautiful and fascinating movie, but it lacks both emotional as well as historical relevance to compare it favorably to a movie like "La Meglio Gioventu" (transl. The Best of Youth) even though both movies together give a nice overview of Italian history of the 20th century, as they quite complement one another. The difference is that in "1900" ideology is the main driving force, making the human drama secondary by creating two rather socialist textbook puppets with little life of their own while in "The Best of Youth" it's the human individual drama that's central as the director of that movie realized that by looking at the individual you can better feel and picture the whole and in that sense the latter movie to me is far superior.
Summary of 1900 (Special Collector's Edition)
Bernardo Bertolucci's massive epic, a history of Italy from 1900 to 1945 as reflected through the friendship of two men across class lines, is one of the most fascinating, if little seen, of his films. After beginning with Robert DeNiro as wealthy landowner Alfredo, and Gerard Depardieu as labor leader Olmo, the film returns to 1900 with the death of composer Giuseppi Verdi and the birth of the two friends. The opposing class interests of their grandfathers, padrone Burt Lancaster, and laborer Sterling Hayden, is quickly established in the enmity between the characters. As they grow, the boys become friends, mystified by the tensions that separate their families. But as time passes and Alfredo assumes the role of padrone, while Olmo works the land, their relationship becomes strained. With the rise of fascism, the director spells out its complicity with business interests, as the diffident Alfredo falls under the spell of a vicious and degraded fascist farm manager played by Donald Su1900 is one of Bernardo Bertolucci's adventures in epic filmmaking that never found the reception he had hoped for. Originally more than six hours long, it was chopped down to four hours for its U.S. release and as a result looked, well, choppy. Eventually, he restored it to five hours--but one wonders at all the effort on behalf of this alternately muddled and stunning story. The film, with a decidedly socialist agenda, examines two lives that begin the same year in rural Italy: the weak-willed son of the aristocracy (Robert De Niro) and the hardy, courageous son of peasants (Gerard Depardieu). They grow up as best friends on the same estate, until class differences pull them apart and then the era's fascist politics divide them for good. Despite strong performances by both leads, as well as Sterling Hayden, Donald Sutherland, Dominique Sanda, and Burt Lancaster, this one is strictly for Bertolucci's most avid fans. --Marshall Fine
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