Talking To The Screen
The Legend of 1900 :1998
In the new release section of my local video store, some titles have countless copies. The rest only have one or two. I?m attracted, for better or for worse, to the ones with just a few boxes. Sometimes the store only carries a few copies because the movie is terrible. Other times, I?m happy.
On a shelf, underneath a bank of shimmering copies of National Lampoon?s latest attempt to recreate ?Animal House?, is a lone box. Dark blue and black, almost meekly it jumps into my hands and we?re standing in line. I?ve noticed that it stars Tim Roth, one of my favorites. It?s also written and directed by Guiseppe Tornatore, the man who wrote and directed ?Cinema Paradiso?. (I saw ?Cinema Paradiso? in high school, at my mother?s recommendation; I don?t clearly remember the details of the plot, only that it was emotional and sensitive, and beautifully shot.)
A baby boy is found in a lemon crate on top of a piano after a New Year?s Eve party aboard The Virginia, a transatlantic luxury liner, by Danny, a stoker, and raised in the engine rooms of the ship. The boy is named Danny Boodman T.D. Lemons 1900; he is affectionately called Nineteen Hundred, after the year he was found. Max, a trumpet player penniless home from The Second War enters a pawnshop to trade his trumpet for a few pounds. Weepy-eyed Max plays one last tune before finally saying farewell to his instrument. The pawnshop owner recognizes the tune, and plays on a wax master of a record. The recording echoes the melody on the piano. Upon questioning, the owner tells Max that he found the record broken and hidden in a piano that he bought from a condemned steamer. Max searches out the steamer, and immediately recognizes it as The Virginia. He spent ?the best years of his life on that ship?. He played in the ship?s band, along with the virtuosic jazz pianist, Nineteen Hundred. A crew is preparing to destroy the dilapidated Virginia. Max forces them to stop. He knows Nineteen Hundred is still aboard the ship. Max knows because Nineteen Hundred has never set foot off The Virginia.
I can?t recommend this film enough. It?s perfect to watch alone, or with a date, or friend. The music, written by Ennio Moricone, is breathtaking. Tim Roth is outstanding as Nineteen Hundred. Pruitt Taylor Vince, who I recognized instantly but couldn?t place, is perfect as Max, our storyteller. ?The Legend of 1900? has convinced me to revisit ?Cinema Paradiso? and seek out the rest of Guiseppe Tornatore?s work. His vision of this most unusual character comes through with crystalline sensitivity and affection.
Check out ?Amelie? for another fairy-tale story, though one more saccharine than this.
On a shelf, underneath a bank of shimmering copies of National Lampoon?s latest attempt to recreate ?Animal House?, is a lone box. Dark blue and black, almost meekly it jumps into my hands and we?re standing in line. I?ve noticed that it stars Tim Roth, one of my favorites. It?s also written and directed by Guiseppe Tornatore, the man who wrote and directed ?Cinema Paradiso?. (I saw ?Cinema Paradiso? in high school, at my mother?s recommendation; I don?t clearly remember the details of the plot, only that it was emotional and sensitive, and beautifully shot.)
A baby boy is found in a lemon crate on top of a piano after a New Year?s Eve party aboard The Virginia, a transatlantic luxury liner, by Danny, a stoker, and raised in the engine rooms of the ship. The boy is named Danny Boodman T.D. Lemons 1900; he is affectionately called Nineteen Hundred, after the year he was found. Max, a trumpet player penniless home from The Second War enters a pawnshop to trade his trumpet for a few pounds. Weepy-eyed Max plays one last tune before finally saying farewell to his instrument. The pawnshop owner recognizes the tune, and plays on a wax master of a record. The recording echoes the melody on the piano. Upon questioning, the owner tells Max that he found the record broken and hidden in a piano that he bought from a condemned steamer. Max searches out the steamer, and immediately recognizes it as The Virginia. He spent ?the best years of his life on that ship?. He played in the ship?s band, along with the virtuosic jazz pianist, Nineteen Hundred. A crew is preparing to destroy the dilapidated Virginia. Max forces them to stop. He knows Nineteen Hundred is still aboard the ship. Max knows because Nineteen Hundred has never set foot off The Virginia.
I can?t recommend this film enough. It?s perfect to watch alone, or with a date, or friend. The music, written by Ennio Moricone, is breathtaking. Tim Roth is outstanding as Nineteen Hundred. Pruitt Taylor Vince, who I recognized instantly but couldn?t place, is perfect as Max, our storyteller. ?The Legend of 1900? has convinced me to revisit ?Cinema Paradiso? and seek out the rest of Guiseppe Tornatore?s work. His vision of this most unusual character comes through with crystalline sensitivity and affection.
Check out ?Amelie? for another fairy-tale story, though one more saccharine than this.