The Legend Of 1900
June 1st 2009 05:44
I thought I’d share my opinion on an underrated and little known film; ‘The Legend Of 1900’.
'The Legend Of 1900' tells the story of a baby boy found on board a luxury cruise liner in the year 1900. He is found by one of the ships engine crew and raised on the ship with the nickname ‘Nineteen-Hundred’. One night when he is a young boy, he creeps into the dance/dining hall of the ship when everyone is asleep, and miraculously plays a beautiful piece of music on the grand piano; a child prodigy. Cut to ‘1900’ as a young man, brilliantly played by Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Lie To Me) and he is an essential part of the ships musical entertainment, still having NEVER set foot on land.
From Giuseppe Tornatore, the director of Cinema Paradiso, comes a movie that demonstrates many desirable qualities such as emotive acting, an amazing story and a beautiful and stirring musical score. All these attributes combine to create a truly unforgettable tale.
Starring Tim Roth, this film has a supporting cast of faces you might recognise such as Pruitt Taylor Vince, Clarence Williams III, Peter Vaughan and Bill Nunn. All very appropriately cast. Roth has a quality that can be used to convince you of either his utter innocence, or his irrefutable villainy (as shown in ‘Rob Roy’). Using his superb acting skills to convince the audience of the former, he wins the viewers over in this movie by portraying a character of musical genius and raw, childlike emotion and naivety.
Contributing to the extraordinary subject matter of this tale, the script/screenplay (written by Giuseppe Tornatore and Alessandro Baricco) was also structured in a ‘less boring’ fashion, the majority of the story being told through the form of multiple flashbacks, as recounted and narrated by the character of Max Tooney, played by Pruitt Taylor Vince.
‘The Legend Of 1900’ would be less than half the film without the undoubtedly brilliant and emotionally charged soundtrack, composed and conducted by academy award winning Ennio Morricone. There are many themes in this movie that pull on the heart strings, one of which was recently used in Will Smith’s ‘Seven Pounds’. I was surprised to hear it in another movie, and actually a little annoyed that perhaps many people might listen to it and notice it, and yet not know of its origin. My particular favourite piece of music from this movie was a track called ‘Playing Love’, a piano piece that feels and sounds exactly as its title indicates. The only way this piece of music can be made more powerful is by coupling it with the emotional moments in which it is used in the film.
All the elements I have mentioned, AND those I have not delved into, are brought together by Tornatore to produce an amazing and indelible film that I would give a 7.5 – 8 and label a must see.
'The Legend Of 1900' tells the story of a baby boy found on board a luxury cruise liner in the year 1900. He is found by one of the ships engine crew and raised on the ship with the nickname ‘Nineteen-Hundred’. One night when he is a young boy, he creeps into the dance/dining hall of the ship when everyone is asleep, and miraculously plays a beautiful piece of music on the grand piano; a child prodigy. Cut to ‘1900’ as a young man, brilliantly played by Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Lie To Me) and he is an essential part of the ships musical entertainment, still having NEVER set foot on land.
From Giuseppe Tornatore, the director of Cinema Paradiso, comes a movie that demonstrates many desirable qualities such as emotive acting, an amazing story and a beautiful and stirring musical score. All these attributes combine to create a truly unforgettable tale.
Starring Tim Roth, this film has a supporting cast of faces you might recognise such as Pruitt Taylor Vince, Clarence Williams III, Peter Vaughan and Bill Nunn. All very appropriately cast. Roth has a quality that can be used to convince you of either his utter innocence, or his irrefutable villainy (as shown in ‘Rob Roy’). Using his superb acting skills to convince the audience of the former, he wins the viewers over in this movie by portraying a character of musical genius and raw, childlike emotion and naivety.
Contributing to the extraordinary subject matter of this tale, the script/screenplay (written by Giuseppe Tornatore and Alessandro Baricco) was also structured in a ‘less boring’ fashion, the majority of the story being told through the form of multiple flashbacks, as recounted and narrated by the character of Max Tooney, played by Pruitt Taylor Vince.
‘The Legend Of 1900’ would be less than half the film without the undoubtedly brilliant and emotionally charged soundtrack, composed and conducted by academy award winning Ennio Morricone. There are many themes in this movie that pull on the heart strings, one of which was recently used in Will Smith’s ‘Seven Pounds’. I was surprised to hear it in another movie, and actually a little annoyed that perhaps many people might listen to it and notice it, and yet not know of its origin. My particular favourite piece of music from this movie was a track called ‘Playing Love’, a piano piece that feels and sounds exactly as its title indicates. The only way this piece of music can be made more powerful is by coupling it with the emotional moments in which it is used in the film.
All the elements I have mentioned, AND those I have not delved into, are brought together by Tornatore to produce an amazing and indelible film that I would give a 7.5 – 8 and label a must see.
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Comments (4)
Comment by Jai Ceresoli
on I saw Star Trek for a second time
Films, Flicks, Movies
The large scale of a cinema screen often aids in the impact a movie has, especially a 'big' film with lots of action and huge shots. I imagine Star Trek would be even better at IMAX (saw Dark Knight at the IMAX. WOW!).
However, my query is, will it b as good on a smaller screen and a lesser sound system?
Also a nod to Jason King's mention of the emotional opening scene. That scene had all the elements needed to be a 'tear jerker', except it fell short of a tear for me on account of the score. The music held this scene back from its full potential in my opinion.