How come he doesnt smoke? - La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano (1998) Discussion

[–] flowersinyourhair 18 years ago

not everyone smoked. my grandparents didnt

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[–] clk264 18 years ago

He probably did not smoke because kids would relate to his childish ways and would want to smoke because he did. Sounds dumb, I know. It is the closest thing I can think of.

Last movies seen:
Requiem for a Dream - A
300 (Third viewing) - C+

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[–] przgzr 17 years ago

It really has no sense (without offense, please).

There were no ideas that smoking could harm anybody, no scientific researches have been even thought of, let performed. Some people found smoking a bad habit, some a bad manner, some on the contrary found it a sign of good education and higher social position. Many people taught and stimulated their children to smoke. So there is no reason that 1900 wouldn't smoke to protect children (that, anyway, probably wouldn't be influenced a lot by a person they spend some time with for few weeks and never meet again).

But though so many people smoked, many didn't. Many people drunk, many didn't. Many people like speed cars, many prefer safety. Many people watch stupid Hollywood movies, but many still prefer movies like this one.

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[–] mcaddress_666 18 years ago

yeah, but youd imagine that growing up in the engine room of a cruise ship youd smoke like a chimney and swear like a sailor

though i guess hes pretty different from all the people he grew up with

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[–] doddiemoemoe 18 years ago

He did not smoke for the same reasons that most non-smokers do not....because it didn't do anything for him.(or nothing the non smokers here today)..

1900's high was the piano/music....during his woes...his drug was the piano/music..

after being on a hospital ship during a world war....it is no wonder that he never wanted to go anywhere..the movie never explored it...his music never helped the high's or low's of himself or his audience...

Sad really, that 1900 got off the ship...if he had...perhaps he could have created music that may have boulstered his own spirit..and other's who were on a "ship" that simply didn't involve transportation from one place to another..

Can you just imagine how 1900 would encounter a hospital ship during wartime? I'm quite sure it broke him...there he was on the ship...sans piano..sans friends..

I dunno, just supposition I suppose...but I think it would have taken a great deal of scarring for 1900 to live without a piano...even moreso to live without his "live audience" that "inspired" him so much..

I think the hospital ship scarred him in such a way that he may well have FELT that he failed....and if he couldn't make it happen there...then he couldn't make it happen anywhere else..especially in a big, scary, place that he saw with no end...just like the misery he must have seen on the "hospital ship"..

Dee,
(who remembers how he cured his friend's sea sickness with his playing..)

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[–] flamingspinach 17 years ago

Uh, the hospital ship was the Virginian, it had just been converted during the war. The pianos were still on board. At the end, 1900 mentioned that he played the piano for the patients on the hospital ship as they were dying.

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[–] tom-1356 17 years ago

Probably just so the director could make such a big production out of the entire cigarette sequence...draw it out.

Sometimes the answer really is the SIMPLE one.

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[–] hellopeeplez 16 years ago

Back in the day, everyman left to live on land also. 1900 wasnt a crowd follower. in his words *beep* jaz" XD

Certain shades of the limelight can ruin a girls complexion

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[–] lilsnapdragon 16 years ago

Um, the man lived his entire life on a ship without ever setting foot on land, was a brilliant piano prodigy, but the detail you're concerned about is that he didn't smoke. Wow. Might want to watch it again and not worry about something so inconsequential.

Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here.

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[–] am_buglet_82 15 years ago

I'm watching the movie right now, and I just saw the part where he dualed with Jelly Roll. After he lit the cigarette with the piano strings (because he played so fast they were hot), he gave it to Jelly Roll and said "you smoke it. I don't know how to."

So he didn't smoke because he didn't know how.

-Amanda

"She will remember your heart when men are fairy tales in storybooks written by rabbits"

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[–] OuttaHand22 15 years ago

I liked that he didnt smoke because of that scene specifically. If he had lit the cigarette on the piano wire and put it in his mouth and smoked it, yeah, it woulda been kinda cool. But the fact that he hands it to his rival and tells him to smoke it because he doesn't is so much better.

"We're all in it together, kid." ~ Harry Tuttle (Brazil)

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[–] rsc-13 14 years ago

Jelly Roll tells 1900, "Stick this in your ass," as Jelly Roll begins his last piece.

1900, finishing his piece and lighting the cigarette off the hot piano strings, sticks the cigarette in Jelly's mouth and says, "You smoke it."

It was a more 'polite' way of saying, "Suck my d**k."

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