Wonderful Movie

Purely Joyful Movie!

hyped garbage

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

What a fine mess this movie is. I'm referring of course to the DVD version, the director's cut, which last about 320 min. I remember this one as being a far better movie when I saw it in its short version, in a theatre, in a length about half that. What is with directors, who feel compelled to release the uncut versions of their flicks, even when it has been proved that at such lengths they are real dogs, even more when they were released in that format and they bombed, as the case is with 1900? At least Coppola got the excuse that the public had never seen his uncut AN. One thing that's probably hard to understand, unless you have seen it yourself, is that a 160 min. long 1900 is a completely different film from a 1900 twice that length. There are truly two different movies there. Think of those MAD fold-ups, I think, which show a given picture when the page is spread and then a different one when it's folded up. Viewer's sensibilities are affected in a very different way in both cases. There's immediacy to short movies that's completely lost in long ones. For ex. one critic makes the good point of the ending being goofed, with two old coots making fools of themselves. That's right, but when I saw it in its theatrical version it didn't seem that way, it was instead a very touching ending, because after only 2 hr. of viewing I still had lingering in my mind the beginning, with the rough but deep brotherhood love developed between the two men, I hadn't still forgotten the two kids playing in the field, screwing the Earth; friendship which constitutes the basis on which the whole movie is structured. For that reason also, Alfredo's trial had a greater emotional impact. In the short version, which is far more compact, well rounded, focused, what keeps the movie going for 2, 3 hours is their undying relationship through hell and high water, through too many vicissitudes; their parallel lives is the master column on which the whole plot is weaved. That's completely lost in the DVD version. There, after 320 min. of film Alfredo and Olmo are strangers, their brotherly relationship having been practically forgotten, diluted, overwhelmed by a multitude of different events. That's why there are two different movies here and the one I saw in a movie house was the best one by far.There are scenes that seem to last forever, long after the point has been made. The trial of Alfredo for ex., where we have to digest songs, hymns, political speeches and hear poor peasants venting their spleens. Or when Attila is attacked with dung cakes, did they need 10 min. of movie time for that single scene? Some others are just superfluous, like the one of Olmo killing the pig and then the guy who took the rap for the murder of the Pioppi kid coming back to tell him he knew who was the murderer. What was the purpose that? The same with the scene in the tavern where Ana & Alfredo meet the epileptic prostitute. They reconcile there but did they need the whole scene for that? And I don't even remember the sequence with Attila & Regina being held in the stable and the cemetery, which are both useless anyway. I just remember seeing both hunted down in the fields and then taken down with picks and that was good enough for me.There's also criticism about the lack of character development and that's right, but only if referring to the 320 min. version. The time a director has available for his flick is rather short—usually no more than 90 to 150 min. average—which means choices got to be made, the usual one between plot and characters. That's why some action packed flicks like Guns Of Navarone or Capricorn One contain no character development at all. In such event--charged movie like 1900 even 160 min, are barely enough to contain all the action, which spans times of social upheaval and war, so we can forgive it for its lack of character development. But that's unforgivable for a 320 min. movie, there's no such excuse there. The same for the terrible editing: after an excruciatingly long scene, which is prolonged two o three times what should have been its normal length, a jump cut suddenly brings us one decade ahead. In the short version you don't even notice how bad the editing is, as you are being overwhelmed by a frantic, eventful, plot development.This is obviously a movie that should have lasted no more than 150 to 180 min. and which was stretched to almost three times that length by a director who thought he could do no wrong and that anything he included in his flick had to be masterful. But there's something ever worse, as I remember. The first 90 min, are the same in both versions--i.e. until Olmo comes back from the war—which is no surprising, considering that that's the best part of the movie mainly because it contains the scenes of such greats as Lancaster and Hayden. That means that the remaining 60 to 90 min, of the second part has been stretched to a humongous four hours! No wonder I couldn't recognize here the same film I saw decades ago, after those initial 90 min.I won't rate this movie because, if I did I couldn't give more than 3 or 4/10, and that would be unfair as there's a far better movie in there. Al I can recommend is, look for the short version and judge it by yourself.

Despite the rather in-genuine acting of De Niro in this movie( also noted by others) this film stands out as a masterpiece of Italian cinema, rising above its own storyline to show the viewer something greater then the sum of its parts.Depardieu is fantastic as Olmo. Supporting cast also excellent. Having never been to Italy, one has the sense that Bertolucci has revealed the heart of the Italian people and their struggles against despotic leaders and fascist movements. The ultimate will of the people remains supreme.Cinematography is fantastic and details well observed. This story is much more then the rivalry between two friends. The story encompasses all the changes in Italy in the first 45 years after 1900.See it.

I knew that this was listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I didn't realise however it was going to be so long, so I watched it as soon as I could so not to risk dozing off, from director Bernardo Bertolucci (Little Buddha, Stealing Beauty). Basically this film follows the life of two men born in the same year, 1900, the beginning of the 20th Century, in Italy, and sees their life going through the years up to 1945. Olmo Dalcò (Gérard Depardieu) was born a bastard of peasant stock with his grandfather Leo (The Asphalt Jungle's Sterling Hayden), Alfredo Berlinghieri (Robert De Niro) was born in a family of landowners with abusive but populist grandfather, also named Alfredo (Burt Lancaster). Despite the social differences, Olmo and Alfredo become childhood friends, Olmo growing to enlist for the army in World War I, Alfredo learning about the landowning business, and their friendship continues when brought together again. Fascism is becoming rife in many people, including sadistic hired foreman Attila Mellanchini (Donald Sutherland), who tortures and kills animals and people, but don't worry, he gets what he deserves eventually. The 1920's begin, and both the men get married, Alfredo to gorgeous Ada Fiastri Paulhan (Dominique Sanda) who develops alcoholism, and Olmo to Anita (Anna Henkel) who dies during childbirth. Of course World War II begins as the 1940's come along, and the two friends in the older age seem to have parted their ways, and brought back together they do not see eye to eye, and in the end Olmo witnesses Alfredo killing himself. Also starring Stefania Sandrelli as Anita Foschi, Alida Valli as Signora Pioppi and Laura Betti as Regina. Both De Niro and Depardieu give credible leading performances, Sutherland is extraordinary as the evil character, and Lancaster gets his time too, there are certainly some eye catching moments and memorable scenes, despite it being five hours and seventeen minutes long, it is I suppose worth it, a most watchable epic period drama. Very good!

Bernardo Bertolucci's Novecento has five hours and fifteen minutes and before we know it this historical epic ends and we're left craving for more. That's the ultimate grace of Bertolucci's masterpiece: one never feels the movie's length; it flows and involves us so hypnotically in its story that we lose sense of time. The story is so finely constructed, the actors so good, the cinematography so breath-taking, the music so exciting, that one curses the unavoidable moment when the credits roll down the screen.Released in 1976, Novecento is, as the title says it, a story of Italy in the 20th century, from its beginning to the year of its release. Known in the USA as 1900, I chose the Italian title because this one misleading. The action starts the year Italian composer Verdi dies, so it's actually 1901 (Bertolucci knows the Gregorian calendar unlike the majority who believe in pop culture). Two children are born, Alfredo and Olmo, the first the heir of the Berlinghieri estate and fortune, the second the bastard offspring of Alfredo's father and a peasant woman from the Dalco clan. They grow together and their lives, although going in different ways many times, continue to intertwine throughout the decades, from the aftermath of WWI to the rise of Fascism in Italy, to the liberation of Italy in 1945; they're always together until their old age.Novecento is effectively about the organisation of the labour rights movement in Italy and its clashes with Fascism. Olmo (Gérard Depardieu), returned from the WWI, sees communism as a way of uniting the peasants in the struggle for better wages and more rights and end the hunger and humiliations perpetuated by the padrones, the bosses.Parallel to the labour rights movement's organisation is the rise of fascism, embodied by Attila Mellanchini (Donald Sutherland), the Berlinghieri forearm who organizes the local Black Shirts. In the middle of this struggle is Alfredo (Robert DeNiro), a bon vivant who only seeks pleasure and finds love in Ada (Dominique Sanda), an avant-garde woman who fascinates him with her sense of modernity. Unwilling kept away from the war thanks to his father's money, Alfredo sees Olmo's return as good news until politics and his inevitable fate of becoming the new padrone get in the way, not to mention his inability to stand up to Attila.The film is shot in four sections, each one employing a different color palette, to represent each station of the year. So the first part, Olmo and Alfredo's birth and childhood, is bathed in bright summer colors; the WWI's aftermath is filmed with autumnal browns. The Fascist reign is grey and drenched in winter rains, and only Italy's liberation gives the movie its bright early colors with the coming of springtime. This is one of the greatest achievements of Vittorio Storaro, a director of cinematography who never ceases to amaze me. He's lent his talent to many good movies over his legendary career (Apocalypse Now, The Conformist, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Reds), but I've never loved the look of one of his movies so much except perhaps in an earlier, much neglected Bertolucci movie called The Spider's Stratagem. Each shot could be a painting.The actors are also excellent here, especially the veterans Burt Lancaster (who plays Alfredo's grandfather, also named Alfredo) and Sterling Hayden, who plays Leo, the patriarch of the Dalco family. They're in the movie for about an hour, but their performances are amazing enough to leave an impression, especially Hayden's.As much as this movie is about fascism and communism, it's also about class differences and class clashes, and this is shown in the three Berlinghieri generations. Grandfather Alfredo and Leo have a relationship based on respect and co-dependence. His son Giovanni brings technology and consequently unemployment to his lands as well as the violent Attila to keep the workers in order, and also ends many of the ancestral rights the workers had. His despotic rule marks the beginning of the peasants' consciousness that change is necessary. Giovanni's brother, Ottavio, is his opposite, preferring to travel and enjoy life, much like his nephew. Finally Alfredo simply doesn't care, pursuing self-gratification and allowing Attila to gain power and impose a reign of terror in his lands, with the help of Alfredo's cousin, Regina (Laura Betti).Donald Sutherland has always had a gift for playing villains but he set a bar too high even for himself to surpass when he played Attila, the sadistic Black Shirt who crushes kittens to make philosophical points about communism, molests children and kills helpless old people. Fans of Sutherland who wish to see him at his darkest and most intimidating mustn't miss this film.DeNiro, Sanda, Betti and Depardieu are also very good, with Depardieu outshining DeNiro only because he has a more demanding and visible role. Sanda is also good, even if her role is to be basically annoying most of the time. Betti makes a great demonic pair with Sutherland. DeNiro, today the most famous of the actors who worked in this film, delivers one of his typically good performances, but he doesn't reinvent himself like in Taxi Driver or Raging Bull. This is Depardieu's film.Also worthy of note is Ennio Morricone's score, containing many of his most uplifting compositions. Bertolucci made this film to inflame hearts and rouse consciousnesses, to make viewers leave the cinemas anxious to change society and make the world a better, fairer place, so Morricone's music works perfectly with the images. And even if Bertolucci's goal ultimately failed, the movie is so well crafted its grandiose finale should leave viewers pretty upbeat and hopeful.No review of Novecento can do the movie justice. It's a work of art, it must be watched.