La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano (1998)

A baby boy, discovered in 1900 on an ocean liner, grows into a musical prodigy, never setting foot on land.

Director:

Giuseppe Tornatore

Writers:

Alessandro Baricco (monologue Novecento), Giuseppe Tornatore

Stars:

Tim Roth, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Mélanie Thierry

Top Rated Movies #250 | Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 21 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Roth	...	Novecento
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Max
Mélanie Thierry	...	La ragazza
Bill Nunn	...	Danny
Clarence Williams III	...	'Jelly Roll' Morton
Peter Vaughan	...	Negoziante
Niall O'Brien	...	Capo del porto
Alberto Vazquez	...	Machinista messicano (as Alberto Vázquez)
Gabriele Lavia	...	Contadino
John Armstead
Cory Buck	...	Lemon - age 8
Norman Chancer	...	Impresario
Sidney Cole	...	Musician
Katy Monique Cuom
Luigi De Luca	...	Neapolitan Stoker

Storyline

1900. Danny Boodmann, a stoker on an American passenger liner, Virginian, finds a baby abandoned on the ship. He names the child Danny Boodmann T.D. Lemon Nineteen Hundred '1900' and raises the child as his own until his death in an accident on the ship. The child never leaves the ship and turns out to be a musical genius, especially when it comes to playing the piano. As an adult he befriends a trumpet player in the ship's band, Max Tooney. After several years on the ship Max leaves, and tells the story of 1900 to the owner of a music store.

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Plot Keywords:

ship | 1900s | piano | pianist | jazz | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

English French Italian

Release Date:

28 October 1998 (Italy)

Also Known As:

La légende du pianiste sur l'océan

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$39,200, 31 October 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$259,127, 12 December 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sciarlò, Medusa Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

170 min 170 min (Blu-ray)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Max: I still ask myself if I did the right thing when I abandoned his floating city. And I don't mean only for the work. The fact is, a friend like that, a real friend - you won't meet one again. If you just decide to hang up your sea legs, if you just want to feel something more solid beneath your feet - and it's then you no longer hear the music of the gods around you. But, like he used to say, you're never really done for, as long as you got a good story, and someone to tell it to. ...

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Alternate Versions

Original version released in Italy is 2 hours and 45 minutes long. A 123-minutes version premiered at the Locarno film Festival in July 1999. This shorter version is the same released in the USA by Fine Line under the title "The Legend of 1900".

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Connections

Version of Novecento (2006)

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Soundtracks

Silent Night, Holy Night
(1818) (uncredited)
Music by Franz Xaver Gruber
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr
English lyrics anonymous
Played on piano by Tim Roth

User Reviews

Astounding Visuals, Unique Story

This a "sleeper," a very good film few people have heard about. The ones who have reviewed it here obviously know about it and you can see by their comments how well-liked it is.....so if you haven't seen it, check it out. In North America, it's called "The Legend Of 1900."

The movie is definitely unique, about a man who spends his entire life on board an ocean liner and is a fantastic piano player. The best thing about this film, to me at least, was not the story- which I did enjoy - but the cinematography. Wow, what a great-looking film. Speaking of looks, Melanie Thierry is gorgeous. Too bad she has only a small part in this movie.

It was nice to see Tim Roth play something other than a detestable villain and Clarence Williams was fun as the arrogant "Jelly Roll Morton," who comes aboard ship to challenge Roth to a piano duel, which has to be seen to be believed. Can you say "outrageous?"

This was filmed by the same man who did the much more well-known Italian film, Cinema Paradiso, and if you appreciate how good-looking that film is, well, this is even better!