The Legend of 1900 Review
by "Steve Rhodes" (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)November 21st, 1999
THE LEGEND OF 1900
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
With a pensive tranquility, the normally explosive Tim Roth plays against type as a character known only as 1900. The unabashedly sentimental, English-language film THE LEGEND OF 1900 by writer and director Giuseppe Tornatore (CINEMA PARADISO) is based on a popular Italian monologue by Alessandro Baricco.
The good-spirited fable begins as a baby born at the turn of the century on a ship is left in a lemon carton. The baby is named 1900 by his adoptive father, Danny (Bill Nunn), a boiler worker who slaves away deep within the bowels of the luxury liner, The Virginian. Danny keeps 1900, who vows never to leave his shipboard home, hidden away lest some immigration authority cause trouble for them both.
At age 8, 1900 (Cory Buck) displays an innate ability to create luxurious music on a piano. The first time he plays, the entire ship is awakened by the sublime sounds. The film itself is a wonderful treat for the ears and the eyes. The mesmerizing music must be enough for 2 CDs, and the cinematography is warmly romantic, as are the handsome sets.
Knowing that the film had garnered considerable negative, early buzz in the press as being sappy, I approached it with no small amount of trepidation. Nevertheless, I was swept away by it, which is completely opposite to the reactions I heard after the press screening that I attended. Maybe this film isn't for everyone, but if you are able to open your heart to its romantic rhythms, you may be as transfixed as I was. As I watched it, it kept reminding me of ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, an admittedly better movie, in its grandeur, its intimacy, its period and its sounds.
Most of the story is told decades later in flashbacks by Max (Pruitt Taylor Vince), a trumpet-playing friend of 1900. Max discovers the only copy of an old record of 1900's and also finds out that their old ship is about to be destroyed with dynamite. Both of these events trouble Max, the former because there weren't supposed to be any copies of 1900's music and the latter because Max fears that 1900 might still be hidden on board. Max relates 1900's tale to a music store owner (Peter Vaughan, Q in the Bond movies), who possesses the lone record copy.
The director, as he did in his award winning CINEMA PARADISO, knows how to stage scenes with a delightfully whimsical touch and a visually audacious flair. One memorable incident occurs during a storm at sea. As the boat rocks furiously and as the guests have already retreated to the safety of their cabins, 1900 convinces Max to unhook the piano from its floor anchors. The piano glides wildly all over the ballroom as 1900 plays luxurious music on it. Not many directors would attempt choreography with a grand piano as the sole dancer.
Another one of the movie's wonderful moments occurs when Jelly Roll Morton, who proudly claims to be "the man who invented jazz," drops by the ship to challenge 1900 to a musical duel. Clearly enjoying every minute of it, a suave-looking Clarence Williams III ("Mod Squad") does a delicious turn as a jazz legend. In a movie whose biggest problem is that its narrative is allowed too often to get lost at sea, the director makes the right decision here in letting the battle of piano titans go on much longer than you'd ever expect. 1900's strategy and the way the contest is decided are both quite surprising.
The story casts a spell on you as the music flows through your soul. Although it's more a tone poem than a motion picture, it has a seductive appeal.
"The end, the end, please just show me where it ends," 1900 begs Max. The movie itself ends predictably but poetically. And it's the type of movie that either you'll love or you'll hate. Count me in the former category.
THE LEGEND OF 1900 runs 2:03. It is rated R for brief strong language. If you don't mind your children hearing the F-word a few times, mainly as a replacement for "darn," and if your children like sentimental yarns, then they are old enough to see the film.
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