Guiseppe Tornatore's THE LEGEND OF 1900 functions as a fine showcase for the compositions of Ennio Morricone. Since the filmed fable offers little in the way of drama or compelling characterization, however, it became a showcase that failed to attract much attention. Too bad - Morricone's music is out of this world.
The titular 1900, played by Tim Roth, was born on an ocean liner, left on top of a piano, and taken in by the crew. He grows up on that ship, develops into a piano virtuoso, and even defeats Jelly Roll Morton in a jazz duel there. But he never leaves, he never matures beyond manchild stage, and he becomes uninteresting after a while. When you protagonist is delivering his climactic monologue and your audience is thinking, "Oh, get on with it, already," you have a problem.
I'd have advised you to skip the movie and listen to the soundtrack, but a little digging has shown that the U.S. release is missing two of the most compelling pieces in the score: "Magic Waltz" (the cure for seasickness) and "Enduring Movement" (the number that defeated Jelly Roll Morton). Apparently, they're available in the Italian version, so I'll be sure to look for it the next time I'm in an Italian record store. Morricone's work here is just plain beautiful - unfortunately, I lack the music vocabulary to give you much more than that.
If only it had enjoyed a better showcase.
2 comments:
I don't always watch a movie to be entertained; sometimes I appreciate being dragged kicking and screaming into a state of deep thought. I love it when a movie attempts both, especially if it accomplishes this by by driving critics to pointing out perceived weaknesses that are in reality more to the point of the film, and part of its strength. The Legend of 1900, like any movie that "works" is a package, a balance. So too can be a life. This film, with a powerful score that is in every sense part of the movie and plot, is careful not to overwhelm with tension. The much touted lack of development or evolution of the main character (yes, I went and checked what a number of them said about this one) is an intentionally frustrating element to the story. How much growth can one expect of someone who, at a critical moment choses to continue to live their life in a cage. Yet the beauty is still there, moments are there, humanity is there. You get up from this movie dissatisfied, by all means, but with what. Even those of us who have beauty in our lives, and great moments, sometimes falter at walking down that gangplank, an action that would inevitably change who we are, our perception of ourselves, how others perceive us, and perhaps more importantly, our "score". Are we always wrong or are we sometimes right. Is it better to wrap our lives up like a package, like a movie, at least knowing who and what we are. I don't know and the movie certainly doesn't help me answer these questions. Maybe they are unanswerable. Who wants to be living a life with a great score and do something that on one hand generates growth and the other makes that "score" irrelevant. Perhaps it's movies like this that move us to grow.
Not to say that 1900 doesn't provide powerful, memorable moments. Like most lives, it does. My wife and I "loved every frame" of this movie. And the music, ah the music.
It broke my heart to write this review, Qua. Since you went out of your way to recommend this film, I knew it was important to you.
Nevertheless, I always watch movies to be entertained. That is the first requirement of film and, if a given work can't meet that requirement, it's dead on arrival. I expect narrative film to follow standards of drama that were widely accepted even before The Poetics. If you don't want to bother with dramatic tension, write a poem or a composition. Film is not the right medium.
Now as for the score, there I'm with you. It's wonderful stuff, and very well done. I only with the US version had as complete a recording as the Italian one.
Post a Comment