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, Bill Nunn

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 21 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Roth	...	Danny Boodmann T.D. Lemon Nineteen Hundred '1900'
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Max Tooney
Bill Nunn	...	Danny Boodmann
Clarence Williams III	...	Jelly Roll Morton
Mélanie Thierry	...	The Girl
Gabriele Lavia	...	Farmer
Peter Vaughan	...	'Pops', the Shopkeeper
Niall O'Brien	...	Harbor Master
Alberto Vazquez	...	Mexican Stoker
Luigi De Luca	...	Neapolitan Stoker
Femi Elufowoju Jr.	...	Black Stoker (as Femi Elufowoja Jr.)
Nigel Fan	...	Chinese Stoker
Roger Monk	...	Irish Stoker
Leonid Zaslavski	...	Polish Stoker
Bernard Padden	...	Boatswain

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

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:

165 min 123 min (international)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was Tornatore's first English-language film.

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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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Connections

Edited into Spisok korabley (2008)

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Soundtracks

It's a Long Way to Tipperary
(1912)
Written by Jack Judge (as J. Judge) and Harry Williams (as H. Williams)
EMI Music Publishing Italia s.r.l.
(Cut from the American version)

User Reviews

The antidote to all your troubles, "1900" will sweep you away

It is at a time like this I wish I could expand my vocabulary to better articulate the virtues and qualities of such a fine film. I also find I'm bursting to talk about this film that I regrettably saw alone. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but desperately want to share it with everyone.

The talented star of "The Legend of 1900", Tim Roth, presented this film along with Clarence Williams III. His encouragement to the audience was that if anyone was the sort who liked to pick apart at films and critique their lack of realism, they should just leave now. He touted this wonderful vision from the director of Cinema Paradiso, Giuseppe Tornatore, and likened the film to a "dream". He also said that if anyone had seen his own film, "The War Zone", that "1900" was the antidote for it. I was slated to see "The War Zone" the next day, but that was fine by me. I managed by a sheer stroke of luck to get into this Canadian premiere and found it to be absolutely extraordinary and the best film I'd seen so far of the Toronto International Film Festival.

It seems as though mere moments after the initial credits, that the wonderful storytelling and incredible music combined with stunning visuals almost had me moved to tears. While I'll admit that I'd be seeing films all day, no film in my recollection had such an impact so quickly.

The story is one of an abandoned baby who is found on a ocean liner by one of the ship's crew. He is unofficially adopted and named "1900" for the year in which he was born. At a very early age the boy demonstrates an extraordinary gift for piano playing which is only strengthened in his passing years. The boy grows up with no official identity, into a man having never taken a step off of the ship onto dry land in his whole life. The young man, played by Tim Roth is encouraged by his dear friend to leave the boat and pursue a life of fame and fortune as the great pianist he has become. 1900 declines, explaining simply that everything he needs is on the boat.

Well, that should be enough to intrigue you; there's much more of course, but I've no desire to spoil it for anyone. I must encourage everyone to see this film, I can hardly imagine anyone being disappointed. It's for music lovers, dreamers, romantics and film buffs everywhere and my greatest hope is that it will be seen by many, many people, especially those I know and love. And after seeing the film, and hearing Tim Roth's words echoing in my mind, he was absolutely right. It is like a dream, a wonderful dream that I wished would never end. And for a future prediction, I see this film as a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination for 1999.