Novecento (1976)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Franco Arcalli (writer)
Bernardo Bertolucci (writer)

Release Date:

4 November 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Plot:

Set in Italy, the film follows the lives and interactions of two boys/men, one born a bastard of peasant stock (Depardieu)...

Plot Keywords:

Peasant | Friend | Italy | Enemy | Italian

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Alfredo Berlinghieri
Gérard Depardieu	...	Olmo Dalcò (as Gerard Depardieu)
Dominique Sanda	...	Ada Fiastri Paulhan
Francesca Bertini	...	Sister Desolata
Laura Betti	...	Regina
Werner Bruhns	...	Ottavio Berlinghieri
Stefania Casini	...	Neve
Sterling Hayden	...	Leo Dalcò
Anna Henkel	...	Anita
Ellen Schwiers	...	Amelia
Alida Valli	...	Signora Pioppi
Romolo Valli	...	Giovanni
Bianca Magliacca	...	Peasant
Giacomo Rizzo	...	Rigoletto
Pippo Campanini	...	Don Tarcisio

Also Known As:

1900 (USA)
1900 - Gewalt, Macht, Leidenschaft (West Germany) (first part title)
1900 - Kampf, Liebe, Hoffnung (West Germany) (second part title)
1900: Seconde époque (France) (TV title)
Nineteen Hundred (USA) (alternative spelling)
Novecento - Atto I (Italy) (first part title)
Novecento - Atto II (Italy) (second part title)

Runtime:

USA:245 min (R-rated version) | 315 min (2 parts) (uncut version) | Argentina:250 min (heavily cut) | Australia:248 min (heavily cut)

Country:

Italy | France | West Germany

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 (DVD release) (2005) | West Germany:16 (video rating) (cut) | Germany:18 (uncut version) | New Zealand:R18 | France:-16 (uncut) | Hungary:18 | USA:NC-17 (re-rating) (uncut version) (1993) (rating surrendered) | Italy:VM14 (re-release) (uncut version) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) (uncut version) (1976) | Portugal:M/16 (uncut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:R21 (cut) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Spain:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Canada:R | USA:X (original rating) (uncut version) (1976) | USA:R (original rating) (edited version) (1976)

Filming Locations:

Busseto, Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Company:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)

Trivia:

The production went $3 million over budget.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As Attila Mellanchini is shot by the communist partisans on VE Day, a close-up is shown of a man's hand holding the pistol to Attila's head. The pistol in his hand is a Beretta M951, which only began production circa 1953 - eight years after the war ended.

Quotes:

Olmo Dalco: [leading a procession with Anita down a street in the early morning] Wake up! Wake up and come out!
Anita: [announcing the deaths of seven elderly Communists by arson] All of them murdered by the Fascists! Murdered by the Fascists!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bertolucci secondo il cinema (1976) (TV)

Historic Masterpiece

1900(1976) begins with the defeat of the fascist regime in Italy by the allies. The film then flashes back to 1900 with the birth of Alfredo and Olmo who belong to different social classes. It follows the lives of the grandfathers as well as the growth of their two grandchildren. Alfredo and Olmo becomes friends as young boys.

Alfredo is someone who prefers to hang out with Olmo's social class then his own. Alfredo's grandfather kills himself and Olmo's grandfather dies of old age. Olmo joins the military and returns at the end of World War 1. A new helping hand is hired by Alfredo's father named Attila who later becomes a member of the Fascist party.

Alfredo goes off adventures with his new wife Ada and the Fascist regime's battles with the Socialist becomes worse. Alfredo and Olmo develops a love/hate relationship and Olmo exiles from his home town to avoid being caught by the blackcoats. The film then returns to the year of 1945. 1900(1976) finishes in 1976 with Alfredo and Olmo as grandfather figures.

1900(1976) does a good job in taking a narrative look at the first fifty years of the 20th Century. The film begins during the period of a new age. The film follows the early rise of the Socialist Party in Northern Italy. It describes the struggle between landowners and socialist supporters.

This movie also is good at showing the rise and fall of the landowning class. 1900(1976) contains a scene which describes how the Fascist Party came into being in Italy. The landowners are the ones who planted the seeds of fascism and helped it grow to almost all powerful proportions. The film begins with birth, progresses through life, and ends in death.

1900 is controvsial in its full uncut frame of 312minutes. There were many scenes deemed to be offensive that were cut from the motion picture. One such scene is the menage a trois with Alfredo, Neve(Stevania Casini), and Olmo. Another controvsial sequence is the rape and graphic murder/torture of a young boy at the hands of the fascist Attila.

The art direction is beautifully filmed with a historic touch of Northern Italy. The filmmakers presents Italy during the early to mid 20th Century as a country whose identity is always changing. The motion picture gives the viewer an idea of what it might have been like in Italy during the first half of the last Century. The actors give a realistic performance and behave like the people of that era.

1900(1976) is comparable to Bertolucci's award winning movie, The Last Emperor(1987). Both take a look at middle aged men and flashback to their childhood days. Both Alfredo and Pu Yi are Puppets of the system as they have no real authority to behold and are just figure heads. Finally, Alfredo and Pu Yi are part of a power structure that falls apart before they are able to establish themselves as strong and powerful leaders.

Bernardo Bertolucci gives another excellent directorial performance. Vittorio Storaro does a brilliant job as the director of photography. Gerald Depardieu gives one of his top performances as Olmo(this is when he was slender and before he became known for his olfish looks). Robert De Niro's performance as Alfredo is widely overlooked by his chilling portrayal of Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver(1976).

Bertolucci did back to back films with two of the greatest actors in film history(Marlon Brando{Last Tango in Paris}) and (Robert De Niro{1900}). Donald Sutherland is purely evil as the hatable Attila. The make up effects were done by the man who did the effects for Let Sleeping Corpse Lie(1974), and would later provide some of the most gory effects for most of Lucio Fulci's films during the late 1970's/early 1980's(Giannetto De Rossi). 1900(1976) is a perfect movie to view together with The Last Emperor(1987).