The Legend of 1900
Film Analysis
BingQing Xu
Culture and Contextual Studies for Design
Giuseppe Tornatore’s Drama Film “The Legend of 1900” is one of the best films during the 1998. This film mainly shows the wonderful and poignant life of a talented pianist named 1900 on the ship. This essay will argue that the background information of the film maker, the characteristics of the film, the main plots, the shooting techniques and the protagonist’s life pattern. This movie was shot in the form of second- person memories. The film combines classical music and jazz from the 19th century. It shows the lifestyle and culture background of people in the nineteenth century.
Giuseppe Tornatore is a famous Italian film director and screenwriter. He has made an outstanding contribution on the history of Italian Cinema. His most popular films include Cinema Paradiso, Malena, the legend of 1900 and the best offer. (Flickchart (No date) The Best Movie Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore) Most of the films he directed are very realistic styles. Each contains different people’s different life experience and patterns.
In “The Legend of 1900,” it mainly talks about an orphan who has abandoned on a ship and become a genius pianist. Everyone who listened to his piano music is being attracted. He can play jazz with different melody, and he takes the piano to the extreme. For instance, these piano songs include “Lost Boy Calling,” “Silent goodbye” and “Crisis.” (Tunefind (1998) The Legend of 1900 Sound Track.) He incorporated his emotions into piano music, he gave the piano his own soul. For example, after he fell in love with the heroine, he played a song full of love and beauty. He named this piano piece as “Playing love” (IMDb (1998) The Legend of 1900)
In this film, the atmosphere, lights and shadows are rendered very well. It includes emotive and lyric soundtrack. As part of film arts, music should not be underestimated. The piano in the play is a symbol that represent film art, and it plays a vital role in the creation of film music. (Li Jing (2021) Interpreting Life with Music: Piano Works Appreciation and Its Application in the Film “The Legend of 1900”) The colour and lighting of the film is very clean and appropriate to the melody of piano music. This also shows the mood change of the protagonist. For example, Protagonist plays a sad farewell performance in the white piano room with shadow reflected on it, this giving people a feeling of loneliness. (IMDb (1998) The Legend of 1900) He seems to be immersed in his own world, very monotonous and lonely.
The most classic parts in this play are the life pattern of the protagonist. The worthiest of consideration in this movie is about the life pattern of 1900. He believes that people’s desire is endless. When people get one thing, they want more. When he gets something that he was looking forward to, he will lose his previous pursuit, and if he doesn’t get it, he will face disappointment and pain. He tries to restrain his desires and limited his life pattern on the ship he lives on, not the land that he has never seen before. For instance, 1900 once said in the film “It wasn’t what I saw that stopped me, Max, it was what I didn’t see. In all that sprawling city, there was everything except an end. There was no end.” (Quotes (2021) The Legend of 1900) For the explanation of this sentence, he said “The keys begin, the keys end. You know there are 88 of them. Nobody can tell you different. They are not infinite. You get me up on that gangway and your rill out in front of me a keyboard of millions of keys, Millions and billions of keys that never end. And if that keyboard is infinite, then on that keyboard there is no music you can play.” (Quotes (2021) The Legend of 1900) He believes that in in a limited area, he has the opportunity to do everything to the extreme. If he faces an unknown and vast world, he will face endless exploration, and he will not be able to make it perfect.
In conclusion, this film is very worth watching and has a high viewing value. This film shows different shooting method, and it integrated music into the film. The play also contains a person’s outlook on life and world. It’s an excellent film
Biography
Alamy (2019) The Legend of 1900, 1998 – Image Available at: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/the-legend-of-1900.html (Accessed: 8/5/2021).
IMDb (1998) The Legend of 1900. Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120731/ (Accessed: 7/5/2021).
Li Jing (2021) Interpreting Life with Music: Piano Works Appreciation and Its Application in the Film “The Legend of 1900” Available at: https://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-KJWH201507074.htm
Robert Roten, Film Critic (1999) Laramie Movie Scope: The Legend of 1900. Available at: www.lariat.org/AtTheMovies/legend1900.html (Accessed: 11/5/2021).
Tribute (2014) Giuseppe Tornatore Biography. Available at: https://www.tribute.ca/people/biography/giuseppe-tornatore/4193/(Accessed: 13/5/2021).
Flickchart (No date) The Best Movie Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. Available at: https://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?director=Giuseppe+Tornatore (Accessed: 13/5/2021).
Tunefind (1998) The Legend of 1900 Sound Track. Available at: https://www.tunefind.com/movie/the-legend-of-1900-1998 (Accessed: 14/5/2021).
Quotes (2021) The Legend of 1900. Available at: https://www.quotes.net/mquote/119241 (Accessed: 15/5/2021)