With a runtime of 317 minutes in its original version, 1900 is known for being one of the longest commercially released films ever made. Its great length led to its being presented in two parts when originally released in many countries, including Italy, East and West Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Colombia, Pakistan and Japan. In other countries, such as the United States, a single edited-down version of the film was released.[4]1900 has become widely regarded as a cult classic, and has received several special edition home video releases from a variety of distributors.[5][6] A restoration of the film premiered out of competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in 2017.[7]
In 1945, Italy is liberated from the fascists. On an estate in Emilia-Romagna, the peasants seek to join the partisans and place the owner, Alfredo Berlinghieri, under arrest. Attempting to flee, a middle-aged man named Attila and a woman named Regina face an attack by women laborers wielding pitchforks.
Alfredo and Olmo Dalcò, born in 1901, come from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Alfredo, from a wealthy landowner family, grows up with his cousin Regina, while Olmo, an illegitimate peasant, is raised by his grandfather Leo, the foreman, and peasants' spokesman. Despite their differences, Alfredo, somewhat rebellious against his family's falseness, befriends Olmo, who is raised as a socialist. During their childhood, Leo leads strikes against unfair conditions on the farm, and the two friends spend much time together.
In 1917, Olmo enlists in the Royal Italian Army for World War I, while Alfredo learns to run the family's plantation. After Olmo's return, their friendship continues, but changes occur. Giovanni, Alfredo's father and the new padrone, hires Attila Mellanchini, a fascist foreman who treats estate employees cruelly.
In 1922, Olmo, in a relationship with Anita, leads protests for workers' rights. Giovanni's death leads to Alfredo becoming the new padrone, marrying Ada. During the winter of 1935, Alfredo proves a weak leader, bending to the ruling National Fascist Party. Ada's alcoholism reflects the emptiness of their marriage. Meanwhile, Olmo's wife Anita dies in childbirth, leaving a daughter, Anita the Younger, supportive of her father's socialist beliefs.
As Olmo becomes a leader among poor farmers, clashes with Attila intensify. Attila's psychopathic tendencies lead to atrocities, and the peasants retaliate, humiliating him. Alfredo fires Attila, but Ada has already left him. After World War II, the power shifts, and local nobility face repercussions.
Attila and Regina, apprehended, are imprisoned in the Berlinghieri pigsty, and Attila confesses to his murders before being executed. Olmo returns to witness Alfredo's trial before a workers' tribunal. Accused of letting workers suffer, Alfredo is sentenced to death but saved when Olmo declares the padrone dead, symbolizing the overthrow of the social system.
The new government's representatives and soldiers arrive, urging peasants to surrender arms. Olmo convinces them, but alone with Olmo, Alfredo suggests the class system will persist. The film concludes with a scene of the elderly Alfredo and Olmo playfully tackling each other, then jumping forward to them walking along a railway track. Alfredo lies down on the tracks, mimicking a childhood game, and as a train approaches, he appears to attempt suicide. The train passes over him, reminiscent of his childhood game.
The original director's cut of the film runs 317 minutes (5 hours, 17 minutes) and was released in two parts in Italy.[9]Alberto Grimaldi, the film's producer, was contractually obligated to deliver a 195-minute (3 hour, 15 minute) version to Paramount Pictures for release in the United States and Canada. Bertolucci originally wanted to release the film in two parts, but, on Grimaldi's refusal, 20th Century-Fox picked up distribution in the United States, dropping out only when Bertolucci declined to shorten the film by 80 minutes.[9]
Grimaldi then locked Bertolucci out of the editing room and assembled a 180-minute cut. Bertolucci, horrified at Grimaldi's cut, decided to compromise.[10] His 247-minute (4 hour, 7 minute) version was the one initially released in the United States. In 1987, the Bravo channel broadcast the uncut version with English-dubbed dialogue. Later in 1991, the film was restored to its original length and shown in a limited release. The film has been shown uncut on Sky Movies and Film 4.
When Bertolucci released his 317-minute version to theaters, the Motion Picture Association of America re-classified the film with an NC-17 rating; the 245-minute American cut, the other version officially available on video in the United States, still retained its R rating. In 2006, Paramount surrendered the NC-17 rating of the uncut version, then released it as unrated on DVD on 5 December 2006. This same uncut version was released on Blu-ray Disc in the U.S. by Olive Films on 15 May 2012.
Paramount released the shorter version in America theatrically, and the version has received mixed reviews from American critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 50% "Rotten" rating based on 24 reviews, with a weighted average of 6.1/10.[12]
In the Chicago Sun-Times, film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the film "doesn't seem to go anywhere. It's an epic only by virtue of its length."[13]
di Giovanni, Norman Thomas (1977). Novecent (in Italian). Milano: Euroclub.
Kline, T. Jefferson (1987). Bertolucci's Dream Loom: a Psychoanalytical Study in Cinema. Amherst, MA: University Press of Massachusetts.
Boswell, Laird (1990). "Reviewed Work: 1900 by Alberto Grimaldi, Bernardo Bertolucci". The American Historical Review. 25 (4): 1131–1133. doi:10.2307/2163489. JSTOR2163489.
