La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano (1998)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Giuseppe Tornatore

Writers:

Alessandro Baricco (monologue Novecento)
Giuseppe Tornatore (written by)

Release Date:

28 October 1998 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Music

Tagline:

An epic story of a man who could do anything... except be ordinary.

Plot:

Shortly after the Second World War, Max, a transplanted American, visits an English pawn shop to sell his trumpet...

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Piano | Immigrant | Jazz | Pianist

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Tim Roth	...	Danny Boodmann T.D. Lemon Nineteen Hundred '1900'
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Max Tooney
Mélanie Thierry	...	The Girl
Bill Nunn	...	Danny Boodmann
Clarence Williams III	...	Jelly Roll Morton
Peter Vaughan	...	'Pops', the Shopkeeper
Niall O'Brien	...	Harbor Master
Gabriele Lavia	...	Farmer
Vernon Nurse	...	Fritz Hermann, the Bandleader
Alberto Vazquez	...	Mexican Stoker
John Armstead
Cory Buck	...	The Young 1900 II
Norman Chancer
Sidney Cole	...	Musician
Katy Monique Cuom
Luigi De Luca
Agostino Di Giorgio
Nicola Di Pinto
Harry Ditson	...	Captain
Andrew Dunford
Femi Elufowojo		(as Femi Elufowoja Jr.)
Nigel Fan
Easton Gage	...	The Young 1900 I
Eamon Geoghegan	...	Sergente
Piero Gimondo
Emanuele Gullotto
Michael Koroukin
Masa Mbatha Opasha
Adrian McCourt
Kevin McNally
Luis Molteni
Roger Monk
Noriko Aida	...	Mattress Maker (as Aida Noriko)
Bernard Padden
Stefano Pagin		(as Stefano Pagni)
Riccardo Pellegrino
Bryan Pringle
Shaila Rubin
Michael Supnick
Ivan Truol Troncoso
Beniamino Vitale
Adriano Wajskol
Heathcote Williams
Paul Richard Wood
Anita Zagaria
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Pierluigi Coppola	...	(uncredited)
Angelo Di Loreta	...	The Cook (uncredited)

Directed by
Giuseppe Tornatore

Writing credits
Alessandro Baricco		(monologue Novecento)
Giuseppe Tornatore		(written by)

Produced by
Marco Chimenz	....	executive producer
Laura Fattori	....	executive producer
Francesco Tornatore	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Lajos Koltai

Film Editing by
Massimo Quaglia

Casting by
Fabrizio Sergenti Castellani		(as Fabrizio Catellani)
Valerie McCaffrey
Jeremy Zimmerman		(as Jeremy Zimmermann)

Production Design by
Francesco Frigeri

Set Decoration by
Bruno Cesari

Costume Design by
Maurizio Millenotti

Makeup Department
Renato Francola	....	assistant makeup artist
Carla Indoni	....	assistant hair stylist
Vincenzo Mastrantonio	....	assistant makeup artist (as Enzo Mastrantonio)
Luigi Rocchetti	....	makeup artist
Aldo Signoretti	....	hair stylist
Angelo Vannella	....	assistant hair stylist
Jana Carboni	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)
Giulio Pezza	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Riccardo Neri	....	production manager
Andrea Nuzzolo	....	unit manager: second unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Denver Beattie	....	second assistant director
Inti Carboni	....	second assistant director
Fabrizio Sergenti Castellani	....	assistant director
Davide Cincis	....	second assistant director
Simone Frattari	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Gianni Angler	....	set builder
Agostino Bivi	....	head painter
Giacomo Caló Carducci	....	art department assistant
Giuseppe Carrozza	....	iron worker
Antonio Casanova	....	stucco worker
Franco Di Bernardino	....	carpenter
Tommaso Dubla	....	head painter
Cristina Esigibilli	....	second assistant art director
Roberta Federico	....	draftsman
Biagio Fersini	....	assistant art director: second unit
Biagio Fersini	....	draftsman
Alfonso Fortunati	....	painter
Giancarlo Gabrielli	....	property assistant
Domenico Garitta	....	stucco worker
Raffaella Giovannetti	....	assistant set decorator
Francesco Grant	....	storyboard
Giuseppe La Rocca	....	head plasterer
Rodolfo Mignacca	....	upholsterer
Lucia Nigri	....	draftsman
Riccardo Passanisi	....	on-set property assistant
Giuseppe Pelli	....	stucco worker
Roberto Rosati	....	carpenter
Salvatore Saito	....	painter
Luigi Sergianni	....	construction coordinator
Paolo Sforzini	....	art department assistant
Domenico Sica	....	assistant art director
Francesco Staltari	....	property assistant
Edmondo Tarquini	....	lot supervisor
Alfio Tempera	....	scenic prop master
Sandro Erdolini	....	painter (uncredited)
Miraphora Mina	....	graphic designer (uncredited)
Stefano Morbidelli	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nick Alexander	....	adr director: Rome
Richard Beggs	....	sound mixing engineer
Marta Billingsley	....	sound editor
Michael Billingsley	....	adr director: Rome
Michael Billingsley	....	supervising sound editor
Valeria Campana	....	sound editor
Roberto Cappannelli	....	adr recordist: Rome
Piero Fondi	....	boom operator
Thomas Richard Johnson	....	sound mixing engineer
Andrea Lancia	....	sound editor
Roberto Petrozzi	....	sound engineer
Alfredo Petti	....	boom operator
Angelo Raguseo	....	sound mixing engineer
Lillo Rosato	....	sound editor
Hugh Waddell	....	adr director: Los Angeles
David Quadroli	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Renato Agostini	....	special effects technician
Edmondo Natali	....	on-set special effects: second unit (as Edmondo Natali)
Germano Natali	....	on-set special effects: second unit
Franco Ragusa	....	special effects technician
Claudio Savassi	....	special effects technician
Fabio Traversari	....	on-set special effects: second unit (as Fabio Massimo Traversari)

Visual Effects by
Phil Attfield	....	digital visual effects coordinator
Solo Avital	....	Domino artist
Stefano Ballirano	....	Cineon artist
Gianluigi Bertolini	....	data runner: Interactive
Riccardo Bertoli	....	digital supervisor: Interactive
Federico Bozzano	....	matte paint artist: Interactive
Alexander Bresinsky	....	digital visual effects organization
Marcello Buffa	....	digital post-production supervisor: Interactive
David Bush	....	visual effects supervisor
Manfred Büttner	....	Domino artist (as Manfred Buttner)
Donald Campbell	....	Domino artist: Interactive
Simon Carr	....	Domino artist: Men In White Coats
Phillip Carter	....	digital post-production coordinator: Interactive
Alessandro Cioffi	....	Domino artist
Silvia Cipparoli	....	Cineon artist
Peter Connelly	....	Domino artist: Interactive
Michael Connor	....	motion control operator
Maurizio Corrado	....	Domino artist
Paul Cotsen	....	Domino artist
Neil Cunningham	....	Domino artist: Interactive
Peter 'Beak' Cvijanovic	....	Inferno artist: Interactive
Emanuele D'Arrigo	....	computer graphics artist: Interactive
Daniele De Santis	....	scanning & film transfer: Interactive
Marina Di Patrizi	....	Cineon artist
Paddy Eason	....	Domino artist: CFC
Matteo Eleni	....	computer graphics artist: Interactive
Rebecca Farhall	....	digital visual effects coordinator (as Rebecca Elliott)
Lillan Gahlin	....	Inferno artist: Interactive (as Kristina Gahlin)
Ben Goldschmied	....	motion control operator
Matthew Hancock	....	scanning & film transfer: Interactive
Tom Hocking	....	Domino artist
Pietro Iodice	....	Domino artist
Cristian Jezdic	....	computer graphics 3D previz: Interactive
Jasmin Karchalli	....	Domino artist
Silvia Landro	....	Domino artist: Interactive
Sharon Lark	....	digital visual effects organization
Lasairfniona Lawless	....	digital visual effects organization
Armando Lombardo	....	digital artist
George Maihöfer	....	Domino artist (as George Maihofer)
Cristiano Mariani	....	computer graphics artist: Interactive
Adrian Martin	....	digital visual effects organization
Gianni Marzagalli	....	Inferno artist: Interactive
Giuseppe Massaro	....	test video: Interactive
Emanuela Megazzini	....	test video: Interactive
Ian Menzies	....	motion control operator (as Ian Menties)
Charles Morin	....	digital visual effects organization
Filippo Olivari	....	Inferno artist: Interactive
Axel O'Mill	....	data runner: Interactive
Gruff Owen	....	Domino artist
Guido Pappadá	....	Domino artist
Ivan Parillo	....	digital artist
Patrizia Pellegrino	....	digital supervisor: Interactive
Sara Persenda	....	test video: Interactive
Alberto Restelli	....	scanning & film transfer: Interactive
Daria Sardi	....	Domino artist: Interactive
Franco Sgueglia	....	Domino artist
Steve Shaw	....	digital visual effects organization
Corrado Strada	....	virtual set designer: Interactive
Marios Theodosi	....	Inferno artist: Interactive
Oscar Tornincasa	....	computer graphics artist: Interactive
Riccardo Umetelli	....	assistant motion control operator
Kitty Veevers	....	Inferno artist: Interactive (as Catherine Veevers)
Riccardo Zanettini	....	computer graphics artist: Interactive
Pete Hanson	....	studio manager: CFC (uncredited)
Alessandro Saponi	....	digital artist (uncredited)
Thomas Tannenberger	....	visual effects producer (uncredited)

Stunts
Massimiliano Bianchi	....	stunt rigger (uncredited)
Stefano Maria Mioni	....	stunts (uncredited)
Franco Maria Salamon	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Roberto Albero	....	grip
Alessandro Anselmi	....	assistant grip
Franco Caporale	....	electrician
Massimo Casseriani	....	playback operator
Massimo Chessari	....	grip
Antonio Gasbarini	....	electrician (as Antonio Gasbarrini)
Giovanni Gebbia	....	Steadicam operator
Giovanni Gebbia	....	second camera operator
Enrico Lucidi	....	camera operator
Enrico Lucidi	....	camera operator: second unit
Enrico Lucidi	....	director of photography: second unit
Antonio Nigro	....	generator operator
Alberico Novelli	....	gaffer
Roberto Pecci	....	grip
Marcello Pericone	....	electrician (as Marcello Perricone)
Francisco Pintore	....	assistant camera (as Francesco Pintore)
Flaviano Ricci	....	grip
Alessandro Rossi	....	electrician
Marco Sacerdoti	....	assistant camera
Sergio Strizzi	....	still photographer
Doriano Torriero	....	head grip
Claudio Zamarion	....	assistant camera
Romolo Eucalitto	....	special photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Shaila Rubin	....	casting: Italia
Joe Adams	....	casting associate (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sergio Ballo	....	assistant costume designer
Alessandro Lai	....	assistant costume designer
Alfonsina Lettieri	....	assistant costume designer
Elsa Malandra	....	production seamstress
Maria Antonietta Salvatori	....	head seamstress
Salvatore Salzano	....	assistant costume designer
Edda Soliani	....	production seamstress

Editorial Department
Gianni Cerniglia	....	negative timer
Mario D'Ambrosio	....	assistant editor
Patricia Innocenzi	....	assistant editor (as Patrizia Innocenzi)
Sara King	....	post-production executive
Fabian Marquez	....	post-production coordinator
Rita Mauro	....	assistant editor
Pamela Quaglia	....	assistant editor
Stefano Quaglia	....	assistant editor
Ingrid Schulz	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Damiano Antinori	....	assistant music recording engineer
Fausto Anzelmo	....	musician: viola
Gilda Butta	....	musician: piano (as Gilda Buttà)
Enrico DeMelis	....	music supervisor (as Enrico De Melis)
Andrea Morricone	....	assistant music recordist
Ennio Morricone	....	conductor
Ennio Morricone	....	orchestrator
Gianni Oddi	....	musician: soprano sax
Cicci Santucci	....	musician: trumpet
Fabio Venturi	....	music recording engineer

Other crew
Gerardo Albero	....	production assistant
Sharon Alexander	....	nurse
Michael Applebaum	....	instructor: trumpet
Claire Best	....	production executive
Nicoletta Billi	....	liaison: Italian press
Tanya Blumstein	....	interpreter: Mr. Tim Roth (as Tanya Sandra Blumstein)
Sergio Bologna	....	administrator
Giorgio Catalano	....	chief accountant
Nadya Cazan	....	translator
Pasquale Cuzzupoli	....	color control
Attilia De Maio	....	nurse
Memmo di Giovenale	....	production assistant (as Memmo Di Giovenale)
Francis Dokyi	....	production runner
Stella D'Onofrio	....	continuity
Joseph Farrell	....	translator
Alessandro Fiorito	....	accounting department assistant
Wendy Fletcher	....	tutor: children
Mario Francini	....	location manager
Mario Francini	....	supervisor: second unit
Cam Galano	....	executive: Fine Line (as Camela Galano)
Emanuele Giovannini	....	archive researcher
Judith Goodman	....	production coordinator
Salvatore Grimaudo	....	production assistant
Anna Guarnati	....	translator
Mark Hamilyn	....	instructor: trumpet
Giorgio Innocenti	....	supervisor: second unit
Brent Kaviar	....	film services
Oleg Korotenko	....	liaison: Danapris Film, Kiev
Marilena La Ferrara	....	accounting department assistant
Felice Lattes	....	crowd marshall
Steven Luotto	....	dialogue coach
Salvatore Magnisi	....	accounting department assistant
Ileen Maisel	....	executive: Fine Line
Walter Massi	....	location supervisor: foreign
Franco Minchella	....	production runner
Prescott Niles	....	instructor: piano
Renata Paccariè	....	production coordinator
Alessandro Panattieri	....	director: "Alexander's Ragtime Band" ensemble
Erik Paoletti	....	production assistant
Maurizio Pigna	....	location manager
Marcello Piras	....	consultant: jazz history
Michela Prodan	....	dialogue coach
Gianluca Pumpo	....	instructor: piano
Silvia Ranfagni	....	production runner
Eugene Rizzo	....	unit publicist
Ruggero Salvadori	....	location manager (as Ruggero Salvatori)
Catherine Smith	....	production coordinator
Leontine Snell	....	choreographer
Tatiana Strelkoff	....	translator
Amedeo Tommasi	....	consultant: classical jazz excerpts
Ian Townsend	....	instructor: piano
Denver Beattie	....	assistant: Pruitt Taylor Vince (uncredited)
Paolo Merosi	....	assistant crowd marshall (uncredited)
Nata More	....	set production assistant (uncredited)
Pietro Notarianni	....	production coordinator (uncredited)
Francesco Tornatore	....	production coordinator (uncredited)

Thanks
Mino Barbera	....	thanks
Lionello Gasparini	....	thanks
Elena Montecchi	....	particular thanks: undersecretary of labor
Walter Veltroni	....	particular thanks: vice president of Italian cabinet
Monica Verzolini	....	thanks
Ruth Vitale	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Medusa Produzione
• Sciarlò

Distributors

• Concorde Filmverleih (1999) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Fine Line Features (1999) (USA) (theatrical) (short version)
• Asmik Ace Entertainment (Japan) (US version)
• Aurum Producciones (1999) (Spain) (DVD)
• Distribution Company (Argentina)
• EDKO Film (Hong Kong)
• Eesti Televisioon (ETV) (2003) (Estonia) (TV)
• Medusa Distribuzione (Italy)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (France)
• RCV Film Distribution (Belgium)
• RCV Film Distribution (Luxembourg)
• RCV Film Distribution (Netherlands)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2000) (Finland) (all media)
• Vitória Filmes (Portugal)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2003) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Cinecittà 105 Digitale (digital post-production collaborator)
• Company B (digital post-production collaborator)
• Computer Film Company, The (CFC) (digital post-production collaborator)
• Corridori & Co. (on-set special effects)
• Corridori G & A Cinematografica S.r.l. (on-set special effects)
• DYTE (digital post-production collaborator)
• Das Werk (digital post-production collaborator)
• Germano Natali
• Interactive Milan (digital post-production)
• Men in White Coats (digital post-production collaborator)
• Proxima (visual effects)

Other Companies

• A.T.A.  period cars
• Accademia Musicale Italiana (AMIT)  orchestra
• Alfonsi Pianoforti  thanks
• Ameropa  travel agency
• Angels & Bermans  costumes
• Annamode 68  costumes
• Balducci  stills laboratory
• Bassi e Corsetti  stills laboratory
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)  radio clips
• Cinesicurtà  insurance
• Co.Velt  scaffolding
• Corpo Militaire Della Croce Rossa Italiana  thanks
• Costumi d'Arte  costumes
• Danapris Film  servicing organization: Ukraine
• Discoteca Di Stato  thanks
• Ditta Pompei  footware
• Domenico Verdile  hardware supplies
• Fendi  thanks
• Film Office of the Fine Arts Department, City of Rome  special thanks
• Foreigners Office, Police Headquarters in Rome  particular thanks
• Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore  publisher original book
• Italian Council of Ministers, Department of Entertainment  particular thanks
• Italian Embassy in Ukraine  particular thanks
• Italian Ministry of Labor and Social Security  particular thanks
• Italian Navy  special thanks
• L.A.B.A. S.r.l.  jewelry
• Les Ateliers du Costume  costumes
• Louis Vuitton Italia  thanks
• Menservice  catering
• Motion Control Cameras Ltd.  visual effects
• Museo Internazionale del Cinema dello Spettacolo  thanks
• Museo delle Poste e Telecomunicazione  thanks
• Music Village  music recorded at
• Musicarte  musical instruments
• National Geographic Television Film Library  film clip library
• Quantel  thanks
• R.E.C.  lighting equipment
• Sartoria Russo, Roma  costumes
• Sound On, Rome  digital sound post-production
• Special Employment Office for Italian Cinema Workers  particular thanks
• Studio 16  sound effects track (as Consorzio Studio 16)
• Tirelli Costumi  costumes
• Trasporti Cinematografici Tranquilli (TCT)  transportation
• Ukrainian Embassy in Italy  particular thanks
• Villahermosa Plastici  ship model
• Xtrack Digigram  audio editing station

Also Known As:

The Legend of 1900 (UK) (USA)
The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

165 min | France:120 min | Spain:120 min (DVD edition)

Country:

Italy

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Spain:7 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIA | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | Portugal:M/12 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Medusa Produzione

Trivia:

Exterior shots of the ship are the inspired blueprints of the SS Lusitania and her sister ship the SS Mauritania. The ballroom in which 1900 plays his piano in had a dome similar to the dome the SS Mauritania had in her ballroom during the transatlantic period.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: At the beginning of the film, the immigrants are happy to be entering America through New York. However, the ships are shown passing from right to left in front of the Statue of Liberty. This would be taking them out of New York harbor, not into it.

Quotes:

1900: [walking out of the shadows] Where the hell did you get that record?

Movie Connections:

Version of Novecento (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

It's a Long Way to Tipperary

This is a film I wish everyone would see -

- the more people see it, the more people there are to help me work out what to make of it. It's hard not to like, and the central conceit, the fantasy story of someone whose entire life is spent crossing and re-crossing the Atlantic, is just delicious - yet there's always something that prevents it from working as it should. There's too much narration. Narration aside, there are too many words. Just before 1900 and the narrator part ways the former explains himself, to some degree, in a longish speech. The speech was necessary: we needed to hear his reasons from his own lips. But once it had been given the scene should have ended. Instead the two characters keep adding postscripts as they walk away from one another - and they're standard, maudlin things which are at odds with what 1900 had been saying a moment ago. Again and again, there are words where there shouldn't be.

But then, it may be that the title character was given too FEW words - at least at first. Because it's so long before we first hear 1900 express his thoughts verbally (and because in the absence of other information about his character we are unwilling to pass judgment on him until he does) it takes too long for us to warm to him. In fact we never warm to him as much as we should.

And yet there are scenes - the piano duel, the girl in the rain - that are just fantastic, that make me reluctant to criticise anything at all. Any film containing moments like those can afford to lose its way at times.

P.S. Of course, a film about a pianist born on the first day of the Twentieth Century ought to be called "The Legend of 1901", which if you asks me sounds better anyway.