Duel scene outcome

1900 did clearly beat the second song that jelly roll played. He beat it when he recapitulated and even elaborated on jelly's version of the piece. Playing a complicated piece that you have never heard before by ear is a very hard task. The actor who played jelly role did an amazing job before he played his third song, watch how scarred he looks as 1900 plays the song. He is the only one in the room that understands how 1900 just pwned him complely. At that point Jelly knew he could not beat 1900 as far as style goes, so he played a peice that shows his technical prowess. 1900 then stepped it up a notch.

Well, even Jelly Roll passed his verdict on the outcome when he dropped his glass. He was defeated, lost control of his reflexes, and probably sharted his pants in the process.

I guess since everyone else is commenting on this I'll throw in my two cents, too. As someone stated here before, 1900 clearly was disinterested in the entire battle until the final song. Jelly is clearly set out to prove 1900 a fraud.

Jelly starts by proving his skill at playing soft, and 1900 openly mocks him with a rendition of Silent Night. The audience begins to wane.

Jelly is irritated so he fires back with a very popular song of his, "The Crave". This can only be an effort to display his style of music. Now 1900, presumedly having never heard this song before, replicates it perfectly. Now Jelly is openly pissed off, and the audience is nothing short of bewildered by their on-board hero.

Now the third song is where everyone seems to disagree, so I'll try to be a little more in depth. By now the audience has lost all faith in 1900, and that's what he wanted. He is the underdog now, and Jelly wants to put the final nail in his coffin. Jelly is so angry that he brings out "Fingerbreaker", an extremely technically challenging piece that he thinks should put 19 to bed. So it is evident that this final song is about technique now that Jelly has proven his softness and his style with the first two songs. It is only at this point that 19 is ready to give the knockout blow. Jelly clearly won the first two rounds, but now the gloves are off. While arriving Jelly exhorts, "I hear he plays a HOT piano!!", and 19 will make him eat those words. The song 19 plays (yes it is a song, if it wasn't it would sound like garbage) displays such advanced technique that some people here think one would need two people to play. Part way through the song Jelly drops his drink not only in defeat but we can also see him attempting to learn the finger techniques 19 is using. The audience is shocked. Hopefully this wasn't too wordy for everyone.

I think there's another way to look at 1900's performance in the duel--he's toying with Jellyroll. He doesn't really take the duel seriously until Jellyroll insults him and pisses him off.

Watch him when he plays Silent Night. He makes faces and moves as if he's playing the most complex of pieces, which, of course, he's not. He's saying that what Jellyroll just played wasn't all that difficult.

Next he plays what Jellyroll just played, with slight embellishments, simply after hearing Jellyroll play it. He's not reading music, it's not something he's played before. Again, he's saying what his opponent just did wasn't all that hard. The audience just doesn't get it yet.

The final piece--it's not just about speed, although I think only a very experienced and talented player could pull off that kind of speed with complete accuracy. (I'm not a musician--I'm making an assumption here.) It's a complex, difficult piece to play, more difficult than what Jellyroll just played.

Lighting the cigarette has a few meanings as well. First, before Jellyroll boards the ship he says he's heard 1900 plays a "hot piano," and 1900 was on the deck of the ship listening when he said it. Second, it demonstrates just how fast he was playing/how fast the strings were moving--fast enough to create enough friction to generate heat. Also, my first thought when Jellyroll came in and set his lit cigarette on the edge of 1900's piano was that it was an insult. He wasn't respecting 1900's instrument, thereby disrespecting 1900. Then he was showing off by completing his piece before the cigarette burned out. So it's an apt bookend for 1900 to then end his performance by lighting a cigarette for Jellyroll and telling him to smoke it. Lastly, it was simple showmanship for the audience.

There are hundreds of ways this scene can be interpreted, but the main thing to bear in mind is that this film was promoted by its director as a fable. So set aside what's realistic or feasible and take it for what it is--one hell of a story.

Piano Duel Part I http://youtube.com/watch?v=4tislJu9Dls
Piano Duel Part II http://youtube.com/watch?v=BO0fmkSA80o