MovieChat Forums > La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano (1998) Discussion > what does the movie want to say?

what does the movie want to say?

posted 19 years ago by forrest44
2 replies | jump to latest

"It's not the movie's fault that it was not what you expected it to be. It's your own problem that you can't handle a movie which is what it wants to be."
well said.though i did't quite catch the director's intention,still i love it so very much.would anyone help me with the true meaning of 1900? 'cause it seems having something to do with all people instead of just a biology or a legend to exhibit a different mind.no comidy,no tragic.but something there beyond my thought--as the director has put something impossible for a man into 1900 dilibrately,it must be more than a legend,i mean, the fascinating feeling of such a state of being shall find a meaning out of it,abstract or concrete.
i'd appreciate any help.

[–] mark_r_coulter 19 years ago

What everyone seems to be missing is all inclusive in the title "LEGEND of 1900". The willing suspension of disbelief is essential to this obvious fiction. Paul Bunyon was not 14 feet tall, Robin Hood didn't steal from the rich, King Arthur didn't pull excalibur out of a stone and 1900 couldn't play the piano parts of 2 people.

What we're watching is the story, fable, myth of a person that for all accounts (in the world of this movie) might not have even existed. All we have is the word of a trumpet player and a fractured master plate found in an old piano.

That is where the beauty of this story lies- in the telling of the *legend*. That's all it's trying to say. It's not a movie about jazz, it's a movie with jazz in it.

[–] hakeem-8 19 years ago

I think I need to emphasise that the original title is in italian. Someone who speaks italian should probably answer what "leggenda" means in italian. Obviously it's more or less the same, but perhaps there are different semiotical or semantical "specials" which add spice to the title. It's also worth mentioning, though, that the title of the theatre play this movie is based on is called JUST "Novecento". Nothing about any "legend" there.

Besides, not to turn this into a religious battlefield, but I know that quite a few scholars have also claimed that people would believe in Jesus too, irrelavent whether he really was a historical figure or not.

Oh and... forrest44, if you quote me, least you could do is bring me some fame and place my name aside the quote! :P (just joking - don't get me wrong here! :))