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"Novecento" redirects here. For the artistic movement of this name, see Novecento Italiano. Not to be confused with the 1998 film, The Legend of 1900.

1900 (Italian: Novecento, "Twentieth Century") is a 1976 Italian epic film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, starring Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Donald Sutherland, Alida Valli, and Burt Lancaster. Set in Bertolucci's ancestral region of Emilia, the film chronicles the lives of two men during the political turmoils that took place in Italy in the first half of the 20th century. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition.^[2]

Plot[link]

Born the same day at the start of the 20th century, 1 January 1900, Alfredo Berlinghieri (Robert De Niro) and Olmo Dalcò (Gérard Depardieu) come from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Alfredo is from a family of landowners led by his abusive but populist grandfather (Burt Lancaster), while Olmo is an illegitimate peasant son off the estate whose grandfather (Sterling Hayden) is the foreman and peasants strong man who verbally and spiritually carries a duel of wits but without reaching violence ever with Alfredo's. As Alfredo is somewhat rebellious and despises the falseness of his family, in particular his weak but cynical father, he befriends Olmo, who was raised as a socialist.

The two are friends throughout their childhood, despite the social differences of their families. Olmo enlists with the Italian army in 1917 during World War I and goes off to fight while Alfredo learns how to run his family's large plantation under the guidance of his father . Olmo returns from the war over a year later and his friendship with Alfredo continues. However, Alfredo's father has hired Attila Mellanchini (Donald Sutherland) as his foreman. A sadistic man who becomes taken with fascism, Attila eventually incorporates his new belief system in his dealings with the Berlinghieri workers; he treats them cruelly and later cages them in the Berlinghieri compound and accuses them of treason against fascist Italy. Several are killed by Attila himself. As the new padrone (master) of the plantation, Alfredo does little to challenge or halt Attila's actions.

During the late 1920s, the intimacy and lack thereof in their respective relationships with others is highlighted in their love lives. Alfredo marries a gorgeous, demure woman while Olmo marries Anita, who like him shares in the enthusiasm of the cause of workers' rights. Alfredo’s wife, Ada, sinks into alcoholism when confronted with the reality of the emptiness of her relationship with Alfredo. Anita, a strong and independent spirit dies tragically in childbirth, bringing another member into the community. As Olmo takes on his fateful role of leader among the poor farmers and their families, he clashes with Attila.

The power, however, shifts after World War II in 1945, and the ruling class is at the mercy of the jovial and bitter peasants in the agricultural estate. As padrone, Alfredo is captured by a teenage peasant boy carrying a rifle. Attila is also captured when he and his wife, the equally cruel and sadistic Regina (Laura Betti), try to flee the region. Attila is stabbed, non-fatally, several times by women wielding pitchforks and is imprisoned in the Berlinghieri pig sty. He is later executed by the peasants (while they cut off most of Regina's hair), who have discovered that Attila had raped and killed a young boy (ironically, the son of one of the most fervent supporters of fascism as an antidote to socialism) several years prior in a fit of rage and had also murdered a wealthy landowner's widow, Mrs. Pioppi (whose husband had been economically ruined by Alfredo), in order to steal her land and home, also Attila several peasants massacred after they humble themselves Olmo and throwing horse manure. Alfredo accordingly dismisses Attila but can not stop the killing and disappearing after his wife Ada left him.

Alfredo is brought before Olmo's workers tribunal to stand trial. Many workers come forth and accuse Alfredo of letting them suffer in squalor while he (and his social class) profited from their labors. He is sentenced to death, but his execution is prevented after Olmo explains that the padrone is already dead even though Alfredo lives - that is, the social system has been overthrown with the end of the war. As soon as the verdict is reached, however, representatives of the new government, which includes the Communist Party, arrive and call on the peasants to turn in their arms. Olmo convinces the peasants to do so, overcoming their skepticism. Alfredo declares, "The padrone lives."

Cast[link]

• Robert De Niro as Alfredo Berlinghieri
• Gérard Depardieu as Olmo Dalcò
• Dominique Sanda as Ada Chiostri Polan
• Donald Sutherland as Attila Mellanchini
• Alida Valli as Signora Pioppi
• Burt Lancaster as Alfredo's grandfather
• Francesca Bertini as Sister Desolata
• Laura Betti as Regina
• Werner Bruhns as Ottavio Berlinghieri
• Stefania Casini as Neve
• Sterling Hayden as Leo Dalcò
• Stefania Sandrelli as Anita Foschi, Olmo's wife
• Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer as Anita, Olmo's daughter
• Ellen Schwiers as Amelia
• Romolo Valli as Giovanni Berlinghieri
• Bianca Magliacca as Peasant
• Giacomo Rizzo as Rigoletto
• Pippo Campanini as Don Tarcisio

Alternate versions[link]

The original director's cut of the film runs 317 minutes. Alberto Grimaldi, the film's producer, was contractually obligated to deliver a 195-minute version to Paramount Pictures. Bertolucci originally wanted to release the film in two parts, but Grimaldi refused.

Grimaldi then locked Bertolucci out of the editing room, and assembled a 180-minute cut. Bertolucci, horrified at Grimaldi's cut, decided to compromise.^{[citation needed]} His 255-minute version was the one initially released in the United States. In 1987, the Bravo channel broadcast the uncut version with dubbed dialogue. Later in 1991, the film was restored to its original length and shown in a limited release.

When Bertolucci released his 317-minute version to theaters the MPAA re-classified the film with an NC-17 rating; the 245-minute American cut, the other version officially available on video in the U.S., still retained its R rating. In 2006, Paramount surrendered the NC-17 rating of the uncut version, then released it as unrated on DVD on December 5, 2006. This same cut was released on Blu-ray in the United States by Olive Films on May 15, 2012.

See also[link]

• "La Lega"
• List of longest films by running time

References[link]

Bibliography

• di Giovanni, Norman Thomas. Novecento. Milano: Euroclub, 1977 (published in the U.S. and UK as 1900). A novel based on the film. ISBN 0-440-16203-3
• Gerard, Fabien S., T. Jefferson Kline, and Bruce Sklarew, eds. Bernardo Bertolucci Interviews. Jackson, MS: University of Mississippi P, 2000.
• Kline, T. Jefferson. Bertolucci's Dream Loom: a Psychoanalytical Study in Cinema. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts P, 1987.
• Tonetti, Claretta M. Bernardo Bertolucci: the Cinema of Ambiguity. London: Twayne, 1995.

External links[link]

• 1900 at the Internet Movie Database
• 1900 at Box Office Mojo
• 1900 at Rotten Tomatoes
• Interview with Bernardo Bertolucci about "1900"

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