Themes: Rise To Power, Class Differences, Political Unrest
Main Cast: Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Burt Lancaster, Sterling Hayden, Donald Sutherland, Dominique Sanda
Release Year: 1976
Country: IT/WG/FR
Run Time: 315 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Bernardo Bertolucci's 255-minute 1900 was a gargantuan undertaking, requiring the resources of three European countries and a trio of American movie studios. Set in the Italian town of Parma, the film's continuity backtracks from Liberation Day in 1945 to the occasion of composer/patriot Giuseppe Verdi's death in 1901. We follow the lives of two men born on that day in 1901, who grow up to be Alfredo Berlinghieti (Robert De Niro) and Olmo Dalco (Gérard Depardieu). Wealthy Alfredo sinks into dissipation, while poverty-stricken Olmo becomes a firebrand labor leader and communist. After WWI, Alfredo is allowed to peacefully retain his land holdings by playing nice with the burgeoning fascists; Olmo, on the other hand, engages in a long-standing battle against the minions of Mussolini. The two protagonists are reunited when Alfredo returns to Parma to preside over Olmo's trial for "political crimes." Co-star Burt Lancaster is cast as Alfredo's wealthy grandfather, who hates to see the old values buried beneath the social travails of the 20th century. Many American prints of 1900 were shortened to 243 minutes, rendering the story hard to follow at times. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Bernardo Bertolucci's massive epic, a history of Italy from 1900 to 1945 as reflected through the friendship of two men across class lines, is one of the most fascinating, if little seen, of his films. After beginning with Robert De Niro as wealthy landowner Alfredo, and Gérard Depardieu as labor leader Olmo, the film returns to 1901 with the death of composer Giuseppe Verdi and the birth of the two friends. The opposing class interests of their grandfathers, padrone Alfredo Berlinghieri (Burt Lancaster), and laborer Leo Dalco (Sterling Hayden), is quickly established in the enmity between the characters. The director is graphic in his depiction of ownership as exploitation, and makes the craggy Hayden character a figure of nearly Biblical proportions as he rouses his fellow workers to maintain solidarity and demand self-determination. As they grow, the boys become friends, mystified by the tensions that separate their families. But as time passes and Alfredo assumes the role of padrone, while Olmo works the land, their relationship becomes strained. With the rise of fascism, the director spells out its complicity with business interests, as the diffident Alfredo falls under the spell of a vicious and degraded fascist farm manager played by Donald Sutherland. Bertolucci, as he has in The Conformist (1970) and The Last Emperor (1987), brilliantly uses characterization to imply and contrast the crippling emotional effects of wealth and power. At over five hours in the restored version, the stately film has a kind of cumulative power now rare on the screen. In fairness, parts of the film's second half lack some the richness of the earlier sections, and a number of simple, almost uninflected scenes, seem excessively didactic, even for a leftist polemic. Among the large cast, the two leads are exceptional, with De Niro evincing an unusual vulnerability. Sutherland gives a disturbingly brilliant performance, and Lancaster is also memorable as the stern landowner. Vittorio Storaro, Bertolucci's longtime collaborator, and one of the greatest of cinematographers, produces images of breathtaking beauty, so much so that the rapturous shots of the vast fields almost make one forget the oppression of the workers. One comes away from this majestic undertaking with a sense of wonder, and awareness that it's not likely to be replicated any time soon. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
Argentina 250 min.
Australia 248 min.
Denmark 302 mins
Italy 311 min.
(Uncut)
USA 245 min.
USA 255 min. VHS Version (Rated)
USA 311 min.
(NC-17)
USA 315 min. Director's Cut
Born the same day as the turn of the twentieth century, Alfredo Berlinghieri and Olmo Dalcò come from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Alfredo is the son of a rich landowner, while Olmo is an illegitimate peasant son. As Alfredo is somewhat rebellious and despises the falseness of his family, in particular his father, he befriends Olmo, who is brought up as a socialist.
The two are friends throughout their childhood, despite the social differences of their families. Olmo enlists with the Italian army during World War I and goes off to fight while Alfredo learns from his father how to run his family's large plantation. Olmo returns from the war and his friendship with Alfredo continues. However, Alfredo's father has hired Attila Mellanchini as his foreman, a sadistic man who becomes taken with fascism, eventually incorporating his new belief system in his dealings with the Berlinghieri workers; he treats them very cruelly and later cages them in the Berlinghieri compound and accuses them of being traitors to fascist Italy. Several are killed by Attila himself. As the new padrone of the plantation, Alfredo does little to challenge or halt Attila's actions.
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 an almost martyr’s death; she dies 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, and the ruling class is at the mercy of the jovial and bitter peasants in the town. 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, 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 killed a young boy several years prior in a fit of rage and drove a wealthy landowner, Pioppi, to suicide in order to steal his land and home. Regina and Attila had also murdered Pioppi's wife, who had become obsessed with avenging her husband's death.
Alfredo is brought before Olmo's socialist contingent 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. Though Olmo calls for his execution, Alfredo is allowed to live when the Italian partisans arrive and announce the new post-war laws that require all peasants to hand over their firearms until a stable government can be established.
The original director's cut of the film runs 311 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 311-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.
