The Legend of 1900 (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

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 Cuomo	...	(as 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

ship | 1900s | piano | pianist | jazz | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

---

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tim Roth can not, in fact, play the piano. He trained for six months just to be able to "fake it" for the film.

---

Goofs

The recording equipment used for making the record was clearly acoustic in nature, showing large horns. This type of recording was largely replaced in 1925 by electrical recording, using microphones. Yet the recording was made somewhere between 1927 and 1933, according to Tooney's story. Furthermore, the recording engineer played back the matrix immediately; this would have ruined the matrix, which was cut in wax. In those days, immediate playback was only possible using a 2nd set of equipment expressly for that purpose.

---

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. ...

---

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".

---

Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Peacherine Rag
Written by Scott Joplin

User Reviews

Impressive

Not a classic, but whoa, some of that piano playing just sweeps you right off your feet. Tim Roth is good as the handsome pianist Nineteenhundred and so is all the the rest of the cast. This cast also includes Clarence Williams III, presumably the grandson of Clarence Williams (the man who wrote the song "Basin Street Blues" one hell of a classic), as Jelly Roll Morton. This leads me on to one of the most impressive parts of the film where Nineteenhundred and Morton have a match to see who is the best pianist. There is some piano playing in this scene which will leave pianists with there mouths hanging open. Probably the best thing about this film is it's music. There are many rousing themes played throughout the film, especially the love theme played while Nineteenhundred kisses a girl he has fallen in love with, a simple yet very effective theme. Another thing that makes this film very good is the fantastic camera-shots, especially one of Nineteenhundred as he stands halfway across the plank which leads him from the boat to New York, undecided whether or not he should leave the boat and head for world-wide celebrity on land, or stay on the boat and remain unknown to anyone but the passengers. I have got to get myself the soundtrack to this film and you have got to see it somehow. Enjoy!