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1900 is one of Bernardo Bertolucci's adventures in epic filmmaking that never found the reception he had hoped for. Originally more than six hours long, it was chopped down to four hours for its U.S. release and as a result looked, well, choppy. Eventually, he restored it to five hours--but one wonders at all the effort on behalf of this alternately muddled and stunning story. The film, with a decidedly socialist agenda, examines two lives that begin the same year in rural Italy: the weak-willed son of the aristocracy (Robert De Niro) and the hardy, courageous son of peasants (Gerard Depardieu). They grow up as best friends on the same estate, until class differences pull them apart and then the era's fascist politics divide them for good. Despite strong performances by both leads, as well as Sterling Hayden, Donald Sutherland, Dominique Sanda, and Burt Lancaster, this one is strictly for Bertolucci's most avid fans. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Tiresome to sit through
An interesting idea for a film but not well executed. Much of the acting was so broad it was annoying or not believable (part of that was due to the dubbing). Too often the actors are overly emotional. There are too many scenes of characters being very exciting or angry or yelling or crying. Also, some of the leisurely scenes that don't really move the plot along were of little interest.

The Cult-Movie for the Working Class
Simply the Movie of my Life .I guess the DVD extras will be smashing!

Career nadir
This film drove Bertolucci to a nervous breakdown and he had to take a year off after making it, becoming an incessant pill-popper into the bargain. One can see how much pressure was put on him. '1900' had the largest film budget he had to work with up to that time in his career. Add to that fact that this was an epic picture about a period in his own country's history and the expectation on him must have been enormous. Unfortunately Bertolucci at this point in his career was totally out of his depth in dealing with such a conceptual behemouth. It would take him over 10 years before he could again tackle the political history of a country on such an epic scale. Ironically that epic would be set in China.

Controversy surrounded the film on its release in Italy as much of the film portrays a flawed knowledge of Italian history. The trial of the DeNiro character at the end was invented by Bertolucci as a utopian vision of how Italian history should have developed. Even the Italian Communist Party was upset at this depiction as they claim they never practiced vigilante style executions after the war.

As a young director, Bertolucci saw himself as stubbornly arrogant, not giving a second thought to what his audience may think. '1900' was the first movie he made where he kept in mind the spectatorship he was trying to reach. Paradoxicaly, '1900' would end up his least engaging film because he tried to envelop too many different visions.

About the different lenght versions of Novecento
Let me clarify the question of the different versions of this masterpiece.
The first cut (never released) was 6:15. The European released version was 5:25. In the meanwhile, Alberto Grimaldi (the film's producer) was negociating with Paramount a 3:15 version, betraying Bertolucci, who didn't know a word about.
After the European succes, Fox offered Bertolucci to work on a 4:15 version for the U.S. market. He accepted, and made a second 4:40 version. But Grimaldi's opposition take the case to a court. A judge viewed all three 5:25, 4:40 and 3:15 versions. He concluded that Grimaldi's short version was detrimental and incoherent. So he invited Bertolucci to work in a 4:15 version.
Bernardo did a third cut to 4:10, that had its premiere in the New York Film Festival. There, critics were very negative, since they already knew the european 5:25 version, and compared so. But Bertolucci once declared that this was simply another film; no a single sequence was missing, it just had another pace. For a given moment, he even prefered this version. But years later, he recognizes the short version lacks the "inexorable passing of time" of the full one.
Let me recall this is the only film in history that has put toghether -for the production- all three major studios then, Fox, United Artists and Paramount.
All this information was taken from the book Bertolucci por Bertolucci, the spanish version of Scene madri di Bernardo Bertolucci, from Enzo Ungari, based on the interviews by Donald Ranvaud about The Last Emperor.
I definitely agree with the people asking for a remastering and release on DVD of the 5:25 original version.

A truly masterpiece
I watched this epic on TV and was astonished. This is a real masterpiece which deserves to be transfered and digitally mastered (picture and sound) to DVD. 1900 is a powerful drama but also a great work of art. Ennio Morricone's beautiful music reflects the drama and the art perfectly. Can't wait for the full version DVD. ... Read more

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A different sort of Sergio Leone Western, this one takes place during the Mexican Revolution, with more politics than usual. But there's still plenty of action, with Rod Steiger as a cigar-chomping peasant who robs banks to liberate political prisoners, and James Coburn as an Irish terrorist trying to flee from his bitter past. They team up to thwart a sadistic officer and help the cause; redemption for the more subdued Coburn provides added depth. Beware: this is not the longer uncut version (released in Italy) known as Duck, You Sucker, featuring more flashbacks, more politics, and a more unsavory Steiger. But it's terrific fun, even in this shortened version, with Ennio Morricone's moody score and Coburn's most underrated performance. --Bill Desowitz ... Read more

Reviews (21)

Strange and entertaining political Leone western
Originally and horribly titled "Duck, you sucker", Fistful of Dynamite is a very political western circa early '70s. Rod Steiger plays the role of a Mexican bandit who ends up in a partnership with James Coburn.Coburn is an expat Irish revolutionary, complete with dynamite and a motorcycle on the run in Mexico. Both are simply excellent in their roles even though Coburn has a tendency to fall in and out of his Irish accent.

Politics plays a central role in this film. It opens with a quote from Chairman Mao on the nature of violence and revolution. The first scene is chock full of class warfare as Steiger's character is humiliated by the upper-class riders on the stage. Slowly Stieger is converted from bandit to revolutionary by Coburn. This is also one of Leone's most violent films (which is saying a lot); in one scene government troops are shown massacring hundreds in retaliation for rebel attacks.

You don't have to be left wing to enjoy Fistful of Dynamite. Neither side is really pictured in a positive manner; even the rebel leadership is duplicitous and even treasonous. In the end this is a very entertaining film, which has been in the shadow of Leone's other works. Interestingly he originally wanted to call this "Once Upon a Time, a Revolution", the first part of a Once Upon a Time trilogy. And of course don't miss the eerie and downright weird Ennio Morricone score (which I've been looking for since I watched this film).

Great, but where's the full length version?
When first released, this movie was 2 hours and 45 minutes long and entitled 'Duck, You Sucker'. Leone originally intended the film to be part 2 of a 'Once Upon a Time' trilogy ('Once Upon a Time in the West'; 'Once Upon a Time, the Revolution'; and 'Once Upon a Time in America'). However, for some reason the idea was dropped and 'Revolution' turned into the rather unimaginatively titled 'Duck You Sucker', which was then cut down and again retitled 'Fistful of Dynamite' for audiences in the USA.

Two scenes are missing from this version. The scene where Juan meets one of the leaders of the revolution is sorely missed as it gives added depth to the story, as well as balancing out the movie somewhat in terms of its main themes.

Even with the missing parts, this is still (in my opinion) one of Sergio Leone's best movies. The interaction between the two main characters is excellent, and Leone is on top form as he shows how each of the main characters are changed by the influences of the other.

Unlike Sergio Leone's other 'Spaghetti Westerns', this one is a bit more cerebral, and tends to focus more on character development and to a certain extent on political philosophy. Some don't like this, but I find that out of all of Leone's movies, this is the one that I always find myself coming back to, which is why I finally purchased it on videotape.

I hope that sometime in the near future, this forgotten classic will be reissued in widescreen DVD format, and restored to its original length. As I said before, the deleted scenes help the story, and widescreen format is essential, given Leone's penchant for super close-ups.

Italian restored DVD release far exceeds the MGM R2 DVD
Possibly my favorite of the Leone films. Please note that the R2 Italian restored DVD release of this film is FAR superior to the R2 Uk release in terms of both picture and sound. Look for the screenshot comaprisons on the web, they're out there. The Italians have fully restored the picture and have remastered the soundtrack in 5.1 dolby but unfortunately is in the Italian language only with NO subtitles whatsoever. The Italian release also includes a short documentary on Leone as well. Let's just hope that the powers that be can 'acquire' the Italian restored transfer for the Region 1 release. The films of Sergio Leone deserve nothing less...

What about a DVD release?
This movie is one among my favorites.
I have been waiting for its DVD release for some 4 years!
It is not yet released but it seems that,
under the italian relase title "Duck you sucker",
they are planing to.

So go and register for it, if we are numerous enough they might release it finally???

Very good Leone western
A Fistful of Dynamite is a very enjoyable western full of plenty of action that. A Mexican bandit, Juan, robs a stagecoach with his gang of family members when he runs into IRA fugitive and demolitions expert, John Mallory, on his motorcycle traveling across the desert. At first, they do not get along, but soon begin working together. Juan and John become involved in the Mexican Revolution and Juan inadvertently frees hundred of political prisoners from what he thought was a bank. Eventually, the two become heroes of the revolution. Along the way, a sadistic officer with his well-armed militia begins to track them down for all of the trouble they have caused. This is a very exciting movie with plenty of good action scenes as well as great, fully-developed characters. A Fistful of Dynamite is not Sergio Leone's best movie, but it is still very good and well worth a watch if you can find a copy.

Rod Steiger and James Coburn are great together as the two men who team up to work together during the Mexican Revolution. Their friendship is the high point of the movie along with the impressive action sequences, most notably the bridge explosion halfway through the movie. I've always thought this was one of Coburn's best performances, and Steiger is no slouch either. This is a great spaghetti western that does slow some with politics, but it is still a great movie. I hope this one gets an official DVD release since the VHS copies are getting harder to find. The VHS is of decent quality, but deserves a better release. For a great action movie with excellent characters and action, check out A Fistful of Dynamite! ... Read more

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Set in northern Italy's Ferrara community at the outbreak of World War II, this classic film by Vittorio De Sica concerns an old, aristocratic Jewish family, the Finzi-Continis, who maintain their isolated, idyllic ways within the stone walls of their lush estate while Mussolini imprisons Jews outside. The story's central figure, young Giorgio (Lino Capolicchio), is a middle-class Jew who has always found perfect sanctuary within the Finzi-Continis' walls and who is in love with his childhood friend from that family, Micol (Dominique Sanda). Micol, however, is sexually restless and fit to burst for want of experiences impossible under government oppression. As Giorgio suffers his estrangement from her, De Sica traces the disintegration of a lost and beautiful way of life, slowly turning his focus from the privileged refuge of tennis courts and private libraries to police barriers and rooms where Jews await transport to concentration camps. This powerful work of memory tragically captures a loss of innocence on both the most personal and historical stages. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A BITTERSWEET AND TRAGIC COMING OF AGE FILM...
This film, which won an Academy Award for best Foreign Language Picture in 1971, is set in Ferrara, Italy. It begins in 1938 and focuses on the aristocratic jewish family, the Finzi-Continis, in particular, the progeny of that family, Micol (Dominique Sanda) and Alberto (Helmut Berger). These privileged two live in elegant splendor with their family, removed from the harshness of life outside the walls of their lushly beautiful estate, where the fascist regime of Il Duce is beginning its hellish collaboration with Hitler.

The Finzi-Continis family, secular jews at best, shut out the outside world, esconcing themselves amidst the trappings of wealth and privilege, cocooned in their idyllic estate, as if their wealth and position would hold the hostile world at bay. It is as if they believed that the hostility against Italian Jews would not directly touch them. Micol and Alberto even have Aryan good looks. So, what could go wrong?

Their childhood friend, Giorgio, however, is having a different experience. From a middle class, jewish family, he is more in touch with reality and is feeling the impact of virulent anti-semitism, as he finds himself ousted from the university and its library, on the brink of completing his university degree. His brother has left for Switzerland. His father is in denial, thinking that he should not worry about the small things, and that this is all a tempest in a teapot. He is hanging his hat on the premise that he is, after all, an Italian citizen.

As their world begins to crumble all around them, Giorgio tries to kindle a flame between himself and Micol, whom he has loved since childhood, but his love for her remains unrequited. She seems unable and unwilling to vest her emotions in a romance that is destined to be doomed, as the fates conspire to bring them to the same end that jews throughout Europe were meeting. It is this dance of love between them that anchors the movie, however, while the war plays itself out in the background. There comes a point, however, when even the Finzi-Continis are confronted with a reality far harsher than that which they had ever imagined.

The movie plays out the dichotomy of life found outside the walls of the gardens of the Finzi-Continis and that which is set within their beautiful and lush estate. Against a backdrop of Hitler worship and the fascist dictates of Mussolini, largely shown through newsreel footage, the film shows the positions that ordinary italian citizens took when confronted with the dictates of the racial laws that were imposed against the jews. Some went along willingly, carrying out its dictates, while others tried to help where and when they could. The war against the jews is finally brought right to the doorstep of the home of the Finzi-Continis, until it, too, crosses the threshhold and cruelly invades its idyllic environs.

This film is not an action movie but a slow, occassionally ponderous, film, providing much food for thought. Replete with symbolism, it is merely a peek into the lives of a small group of people. It is about how they dealt with living their lives in the shadow of the final solution, as the world that they knew radically changed, destroying their dreams. It is a harsh coming of age movie and not a film that everyone will enjoy. I found myself curiously twixt and tween in terms of how I felt about this somber film, accounting for the three star rating that I accorded it.

The DVD offers next to nothing by way of special features. It contains a brief filmography of some of the actors and not much else. This Italian language film has been remastered, and the subtitles are yellow, which provides more clarity and, consequently, makes for easier reading.

Bittersweet....
In "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" (1970)--based on the autobiographical novel by Giorgio Bassani--legendary Neorealist filmmaker, Vittorio de Sica, dramatizes the human cost of the "racial laws" gradually implemented against the Jews in Fascist Italy during the years 1938-43. The more Bassani's young middle-class Jewish protagonist feels the brunt of Mussolini's anti-Semitic edicts encroaching upon him, the more he feels drawn to the aristocratic Jewish Finzi-Continis' estate--their Edenic "garden"--and to Micòl, the family's beautiful young daughter. Psychologically, this compulsion seems to stem from a deep emotional attachment to a perpetually innocent, untroubled state of childhood, which both Micòl and her garden seem to represent. Throughout the film, there is a marked conflict between childhood and adulthood, between the distant past and the immediate present, between the act of retreating into a world of comfortable illusions and confronting a world of harsh and bitter realities.

I found this particular aspect of the story very fascinating, although too tantalizingly obscure and open-ended--and thus, not quite as illuminating or fulfilling as it might have been were it more clearly explained. (This could the reason why some people find the film--and its heavily symbolic, impressionistic style--a little confusing and underwhelming.)

For Giorgio--both the naive hero and wisened author of the story--Micòl embodies the mystery and allure of the Finzi-Continis, as well as their insularity and their apparent passivity in the face of the escalating Fascist crackdown. She always appears distant and unattainable, with no obvious reasons for her actions, and never really provides a direct, comprehensible explanation for her insistent rejection of Giorgio or for what appears to be a subtle streak of cruelty towards him. Her conversation with him always seems deliberately vague, and her refusal to make any further connection with him has a curious, almost perverse kind of fatalism about it.

Again, this is another feature of the film that is certainly intriguing--and strangely seductive-- but, alas, never quite pays off enough to become fully understandable to either the protagonist or the audience.

When the Fascists finally do arrest the Finzi-Continis and confiscate their estate it comes as something of a surprise. The muted and deliberately spare representation of these characters and their feelings, as evidenced in their unusually restrained behavior, is meant to isolate and heighten the impact of a few devastating strokes of sudden realization and lucidity--pointed indications that the protective spell of the Finzi-Continis has been finally broken.

All in all, well-acted and gorgeously, languidly poetic in its imagery...yet, narrative-wise, the picture seems overly elliptical and ultimately opaque--and leaves just a few too many rough fragments and loose ends lingering at the end of the story (not quite Proustian irony, maybe?). In spite of this peculiar drawback, the film finishes very effectively, and by the final desolate shots, you are left with an unexpectedly intense feeling of loss and anguish.

"The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" is a very unusual and interesting (and thankfully, non-sentimental and non-self-important) addition to the ever-expanding canon of dramatic films about life in the shadow of the Holocaust.

Good show. I give this one four out of five stars.

The Politics of World War II Italy
This movie introduced to me a brand new character, the Jewish Italian hot blonde girl. Since she is also named Finzi Contini and the object of our hero's desire it couldn't have been a better idea. But it's not just an unrequited love film, but a movie set during World War II. An American film such as this would spend a great deal of time reminding you how horrible the Nazis were, but instead we get the nuance points of views like the anti-fascist handsome man that blonde Finzi Contini thinks is too Communist. We also get the fascist Hero of father that thinks that Italian fascism is superior to Nazism and will solve the world's problems. These kinds of perspectives are ignored in American film or marginalized, when we all know they existed during this time period.

I don't have to tell you what is going to happen in a film about Jewish Heroes when the Nazis are coming, you already know. Our hero loses his girl to the communist and then eventually to the holocaust. It would certainly register as one of the biggest coming of age bummers, and yet it didn't ruin the film. It somehow gave these lives even more importance.

Classic Film, Great Director, Great Cast, Great Story
Thank you Independent Film Channel for sending this one along just when I most needed a palate cleanser after suffering through CENTRAL STATION. It served as the perfect antidote to that bit of system churning mess. If you want to see a director in action who can actually get performers to "put out," and actually act their ###es off, try queueing this one up in your DVD player some evening.

Dominique Sanda earned her reputation off this film. She is the quintissentially complex heroine of the piece. Is she frigid, incestous, frightened, unable to love, passive-aggressive, or something else? We'll never know, but we will always wonder, thanks to fine script-writing, acting and directing. This is old school De Sica surehandedness at play in the fields of the lord here. Rent or buy this. It will never grow old, as it is a true classic.

BEK

A Haunting Tale of Lost Love and Liberty
This movie is just so beautifully done. It is not a hard or complicated plot to grasp but it is filmed with such, emotion. The visual style, the long moments of nature mixed with youth and fear of the upcoming future. This is the time of Fascism and the rich Jewish families are the next on the list to be sent to concentration camps. The most wealthy family in the town of Ferrara, Italy isolates with their friends, staying inside their garden. No more clubs, tennis matches, or balls, if anything is done it is done on their property with the people they chose to associate with. The love story is between Michol and Giorgio, childhood friends who never got any further than long wishful gazes. Michol finds that Giorgio is someone she loves more as a friend than a lover, Giorgio loves Michol so much and wants her to be his wife. He has a difficult time accepting Michol's decision and this is all wrapped around the dark and dreary time of Fascism. The garden symbolizes the past and the way of life that had once been. The story is about loss, loss of the life that the people in Ferrara once had and the loss of childhood love and the innocence that went with it. The camera work is just breathtaking as well as thought provoking.

Lisa Nary ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Awful, yes, but the laughs keep coming
While Hollywood has choked the market with bad movies over the years, there are a select few stinkers that are so marvelously entertaining and ridiculous that they garner a cult following anyway. VALLEY OF THE DOLLS fits this category, as does SHOWGIRLS.

And now that it's finally getting a long-overdue video release, so will BOOM! The brilliant John Waters has been saying for years that this film is "failed art" and "perfect," and he's right -- watch this movie with an audience, or a group of unsuspecting friends, and you'll be in for a night of hilarity of the highest sort.

Taylor's performance, Taylor's outfits, and Taylor's monologues are all gut-busters. This is no one's proudest hour (not the cast, not writer Tennessee Williams, and certainly not director Joseph Losey), but this is a movie that will live forever in the hearts of those who find it just flat-out bizarre and wild.

The cast apparently started each day with a round of Bloody Marys, and you can tell. Keep an eye on the scene where Taylor declaims a long speech while wearing an ornate headdress -- in the middle, she just takes the thing off to start scratching her head, and you just *know* that wasn't in the script...

Boom ... the horrible realization that you are still alive!
Utterly incomprehensible and totally entertaining! People expecting this to be "camp" in the sense of singing transvestites or trained parakeets are bound to be disappointed (Ok, Liz does have a dwarf henchman). However, you can only laugh at a caftan or Taylor's moment of impromptu Kabuki theater for so long. Rather, it's a triumph of continuous irrational behavior from the characters AND the film-makers. Tennessee Williams' sensibility is evident, but transplanted from his usual Dixie environs to a Sardinian fairytale castle, it is even more scintillating than say, the film of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". Burton actually gives a really interesting performance as Flanders, but he is totally overshadowed by Taylor's Cissy Goforth. Hacking up phlegm at every turn, she is constantly irritated by EVERYTHING which is the sensibility that really connects this with John Waters' early work (it's a favorite film of his, and the poster shows up prominently in "Pink Flamingos"). Divine in "Multiple Maniacs" is very much a resounding echo and fracturing of Liz Taylor in "Boom!", and that is definitely a compliment to both great actors. The occasional totally unexpected hooting or stream of creative cursing from Cissy is also a brillant addition to the screenplay. It's like watching a film infected with Tourette's syndrome. For the historical record, Taylor in "Boom!" is supposedly the first female star to utter the "F" word in a studio film. John Barry's score is also notable: circus calliope and tipsy piano together with his trademark brassy orchestral James Bond sound. It perfectly complements the movie.
Certainly not to everyone's taste, but I doubt if it was ever meant to be. Take a chance on it!
This one really should be on DVD with widescreen framing!

A Rare Gem!
This is one of those rare gem kinda flicks---very strange, and lots of fun to watch! It also has something hard to find in most movies today, depth...in a funky sort of way...

The Burtons Go Forth
"Boom" is a blast! This is one of the most fun of the Burton, Taylor films. "Boom" is also a gassy misfire that draws one into the veiled world of aging homosexual desire disguised as a heterosexual struggle between an aging, dying woman and the unattainable youth in the Angel of Death.
This is story wearing a beard. Taylor's role is really that of an aging rich gay man who is trying to hang on to youth and the beauties that great beauty attract. After all, her name is Sissy. Burton's role is that of the hustler who is all that is left for the old queen to attract. But as with so many Williams works it all must be encrypted and coded so that the America of the late 1950's and early 1960's could handle his true intentions, the soft underbelly of his plays.
Burton is too old for the role that was written for a man in his twenties and Taylor is too young and too healthy looking to be the dying Sissy. But despite that, the story of a struggle of great wealth against the inevitable grows from loopy strangeness to a compelling and moving ending. Here Taylor gives one of her oddly finest post Virginia Woolf studies in a dramatic/comic performance. There is in fact so much subversive humor in her performance that she is at times hilarious. Her vocal range dances from the shrill to the silly to the grand dame and all to serve her imperious and ultimately terrified Sissy Goforth. In the last desperate half hour of the film she does some of her finest work. Burton is rather cool and distant at first but builds his Angelo De Morte into a truly fine character study. In particular, listen to his fine delivery of the speech about the old man in the sea.

Particular note should be made of the cinematography, which is gorgeous, and the stunning sun washed bone toned opulent glamour of the sets. I understand that the Burtons owned the house in Sardinia for a while after the film was completed. The spare and haunting score by John Barry is an added delight to his impressive repertoire. And for you jewelry fans there is plenty of Miss Taylor's own jewelry on hand. So get out your copy of "My Love Affair With Jewelry" by Elizabeth and thumb along as she parades her diamonds in the Mediterranean sun.

Campy? Yes! Great? Maybe we will know about that in another 40 years. Is it worth your time? Only if you like a challenge and are willing to let the Burtons take you into the world of Tennessee Williams camp classic.

BOOM -A- RANG!
This is a movie that I just keep coming back to over and over again. It even gets pride of place (I taped it off TV years ago, 80's) in a really old bulky ex-rental plasticky video box, that probably used to house "Scanners", or something like that, which failed to get returned. From the opening scenes you'll be mesmerized like some jaw-dropped carnival creature, by the haunting musical score and the sunlight shimmering across the mediteranean ocean, as Burtons character, the supposed old poet/letcher/gold-digging prophet of doom, wends his way on a hired boat to Mr's Goforths (Taylor) absurb prison, come paradise dedicated to OWL architecture. This is something that becomes immediately apparent when you see her fab white sun-shades in the opening minutes.

I adore this movie due to it's utter surreal quality. Everything the other reviewers have said stands so I won't repeat them here, but moments such as the Kabuki dinner at sunset and her drunken state are all time greats! Other great moments and cameo's are the great Noel Coward, known in the film as the Witch of Capri. The Witch rides the inclinator all the way to the top of the Candy Castle hooting for Cissy like some possessed owl!

All in all the alienation of the characters from one another and their seeming need to find some kind of fullfillment vicariously through one another, serves as the paradoxical glue which binds them together. The mysterious abuse/power play between Cissy (Taylor) and her female personal assistant is remarkable as she becomes sympathiser/saviour and go-between for both Burton and Taylor. She is caught in the tantalizing web of both these despicable spidery things.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the film score as it reprises over and over modulating into forever and underpinning the endless waste of time and talent that both Burton and Taylors characters seem to embody. The beautiful thing in all this is that with every endless, useless, timeless booming of the ocean against the rocks down below, each boom comes as the ticking of some great big universal clock counting down to the end of us all and particularly that weird creature on the rock! Wooo Hooooooo!!!!! ... Read more

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Al Pacino's character in the first two Godfather films was a man increasingly drawn into himself, pulling an entire family history and legacyalong with him into a personal oblivion. Pacino's performance as the titularrace car driver in Sydney Pollack's Bobby Deerfield also suggests afellow adrift in hisown company, his very profession underscoring isolation behind the wheel at top speeds. Living with his French lover (Anny Duperey), Deerfield's solipsism(perfectly captured in a dream sequences in which he appears almost autistic)begins to crack when he meets and falls for a dying woman (Marthe Keller).Emerging from his shell just as she is fading away, both the irony of thesituation and Deerfield's first experience with real love wake our hero fromhis spiritual slumber. Pollack's attempt at a mainstream art-house moviedidn't entirely work, and critics have been brutal on both its seriousaspirations and Pacino's locked-down performance. But there is something in the film that convincingly suggests a yearning for passion and experienceeven at the great cost of loss, and Pacino's portrayal of a man who steps outof his car and onto the collective bus of ordinary sorrow is rather moving. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (10)

An Overlooked Classic in Pacino's Portfolio
This has got to be one of Pacino's best -- and deserves to stand alongside his more well-known classics. But if you're looking for the slow burn-to-rage formula Pacino mastered in "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon," look elsewhere. This is an altogether different film. Silence is used to great effect. The viewer is left to ponder dialogue and action rather than having the characters explain.

As the rigid Formula One driver who has never considered death -- until a crash and a dying girl are suddenly thrust upon him -- we watch Pacino undergo a convincing change. Little by little we see a simple adage, 'everything is sweeter when you take a risk,' take hold and help him reclaim the reality of his life.

Deerfield's story -- and the power of that little phrase -- should be a motto for us all! And the irony of this movie is that the story upon which it is based, by Erich Maria Remarque, is called Heaven Has No Favorites.

Pacino once said that he felt closer in spirit to this character than any other he'd played, and it's not difficult to see why. The onscreen romance between Deerfield and Lillian Moretti also became an true-life love affair between Pacino and actress Marthe Keller, who gives a remarkably sympathetic peformance.

It doesn't hurt that the setting for this film is summer in late '70s Europe, with terrific scenes in Switzerland, Paris, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside. (Someday, this viewer will treat himself to Leukerbad to Milan drive a la Bobby). And it also doesn't hurt that the soundtrack was composed by the master of '70s movie music, Dave Grusin.

Now if the powers that be will only re-release "Bobby Deerfield" on DVD, concurrently with the soundtrack on CD, we'll all find a bit more happiness in our lives.

An excellent film
Charming, if slightly patronising 70's drama. Superb direction. Subtle and under-stated script. Pacino at his most gorgeous. Howlingly funny, despite it's tragic subject matter. A memorable ending, brilliantly realised. I'd forgotten about the "look, it's Bobby Deerfield" scene as well as all that stuff about Salami. Pacino's reactions, especially after dropping Marthe Keller off at her uncles, are perfectly pitched, dead pan gems.
Inexplicably maligned by many, this hidden jewel may be due a timely re-accessment, not least because Keller's performance now seems perfectly in tune with the Ritalin generation.

underappreciated gem
This is a great movie based on an original story by the German author Erich-Maria Remarque (of "all quiet on the western front" fame). The story sees Pacino as the main protagonist Deerfield transform from a controlled and efficient race driver to a confused and soft-hearted lover. He meets the love of his live while visiting a Swiss sanatorium. She is terminally ill with cancer. Despite the tragic topic the movie and the characters achieve an air of lightness and sublimity that is almost unreal. So is the wonderful and sensitive cinematography and direction of the great Sydney Pollack. Long before we would go ooh! and ahhh! over his "out of Africa" splendor he created this perfect and minimalistic mood piece, where the camera work is right on, be it on the race track or in quiet apartment scenes. Marthe Keller and Al Pacino are wonderful as well and the soundtrack will haunt your memory.

return to life!!
one of the best and misunderstood movie by Sydney Pollack
It is not "just a trivial story about love" as lot of people said, but a very subtle and original tale about what beeing alive means! The races of Bobby (played by an amazing and uncommon Al Pacino ) are useless until he learns, at least, what Compation is opening his own heart to Beauty, to Love, and to Death too, of course. his breaf and intense encounter with a dying woman (Marthe Keller) is going to be a success by giving birth to a new man who could go back among alive people... A really good movie we could absolutaly ask for a DVD release!

This movie is good, but not for everyone
I saw this movie a while ago and I could not let others be misguided by those who think it's not worth it. I won't say it's Pacino's best, but there is a certain mood and subttlety about this flick that really captivated me when I first watched it on cable. I believe many of us can relate to the main character's drifting away from his everyday, stressing life and wandering into something new, that will give him a broader view of life, his life. This is not a movie to watch with all your friends, but rather to enjoy by yourself on a lazy saturday afternoon. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Do yourself a favor, don't choose this movie.
This Italian/UK co-production is also known as THE CHOSEN. Robert Caine (Kirk Douglas, who rightly seems embarressed to be in this movie.) is an American entrpeneur and businessman who is finally seeing his lifes biggest ambition realized- the building of a nuclear power plant in an Arab state. But those involved in the project start dying violent deaths. Why? A priest manages to offer Caine the most rational explaination: Caine's son Nigel (Simon Ward) is the Antichrist who wants to use nuclear weapons to annihilate the world; and to make matters worse, Caine's sexy girlfriend (Agostina Belli) is pregnant with another potential devil's child.
You're better off watching ROSEMARY'S BABY or THE OMEN instead. On the plus side there is an amusing helicopter blade decapitation scene but it doesn't come close to matching THE OMEN's classic beheading. And another positive, THE CHOSEN will put insomniacs to sleep no problem. Belli's beauty is the movie's only redeeming quality. This is a waste of 100 minutes, but its still better than a lot of that new "charter" garbage Kiwis are being subjected to on TV. Why do you think I watch so many movies? ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Visconti's heart-breaking vision of unrequited love
When I saw "Death In Venice" I was haunted by it's images for weeks. To this day, I cannot think upon this film without again experiencing some of the original feelings that it inspired. This is not, without question, an easy film to watch. The dialogue is sparse and the music is basically limited to Mahler's gorgeous Adagietto from Symphony No. 5. Notwithstanding, never has the marriage of music and film been more vital or more atmospheric. Mahler's haunting music was seemingly composed for this film and the effect is chilling. Dirk Bogarde is perfection as the bitter, vitriolic Gustav Aschenbach, a man so consumed with what he considers ideal beauty that he welcomes his own destruction for a moment in it's company. The young Bjorn Andresen is, too, equally captivating as the object of Aschenbach's obsession. Even though his role is essentially a non-speaking one, what he achieves within the lmiits of the role is extraordinary. The beautiful and elegant Silvana Mangano is on screen too infrequently for my taste, but her contribution is nonetheless wonderful. At times I found myself enveloped by this film, as if though I were a guest of the grand hotel quietly seated on a wicker chair watching these events unfold before me. Venice has never been more tangible on film than it is here. Do yourself a favor and watch this masterpiece of a film. One warning, though; "Death in Venice" is a devastating film and it takes it's toll on the viewer. Watch it in the company of loved-ones and on a beautiful, sunny day.

Impressive and brave
I have recently re-visited Visconti's Venice after an absence of too many years and I am reminded again of what an impressive - not to mention brave - piece of cinema this was for its time, and continues to be.

Adapting this novella to film was never going to be easy, yet Visconti did a superb job, so, too, his actors. There are some changes from the book, with the first sixteen or so pages omitted, and I also found the film Tadzio to be more flirty than his novel counterpart, but these changes do not jar within the film.

What I found truly frustrating was that the video I have is not in wide-screen format and I did feel I was missing something happening out of shot - and I hate to miss anything in this wonderful movie.

This is not a movie for those with the attention span of a house-brick, but if you're in the market for thought-provoking and have a love for all things beautiful, this is a must-see. While the film runs for just over two-hours, it's not the sort of 2hr movie that has you checking your watch after the first hour.

Should the distributors see fit to release a wide-screen version on video - yes please, I'll have a copy of that, too.

MASTERPIECE!
Luchino Visconti's 1971 film adaptation of Thomas Mann's novel "Death in Venice" is nothing short of a masterpiece in every sense of the word. The more I watch this film, the more I realize how perfect it is.

For those unfamiliar with Thomas Mann's 1911 novel of the same name, there are a few differences. No movie that I'm aware of follows its original book to a "T". But the changes that Italian director Visconti adds to the story are intriguing and beautiful. I don't mind his personal touches in the slightest. Indeed, the film wouldn't be nearly as good otherwise.

The intuition to make the Aschenbach character really be Jewish/Austrian famed composer Gustav Mahler and set the movie's soundtrack to that of Mahler's 3rd and 5th symphonies was brilliant. I can't say if Thomas Mann originally intended the Aschenbach character to truly be Mahler in the novel or not?

Having the main character be a tired, worn out Gustav Mahler is a brilliant masterstroke of pure genius. We're left with a film that condenses everything brilliant that is Europe. Using Mahler's own music creates a depth and haunting realism to the film as well.

The casting in this film is extraordinary! You could not have casted a better cast to play these characters anywhere. The young man who plays the beautiful Tadzio looks like a Norweignean version of a sculpted Apollo youth. His features are those of a god. His silouette against the backdrop of the sparkling sea pointing out over the waters is one the most erotically charged scenes I've ever seen in a movie. It's breathtaking really, and one almost forgets the possibly taboo homoerotic connotations such a scenario is from the standpoint of the aged Aschenbach.

I have seen many films shot in and around Venice, Italy ("the Italian Job" most recently), but none have come as close to this as personifying the city and showing it as beautifully. In my opinion, Visconti's "Death in Venice" is to Venice what Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" is to Rome.

Foreign film lovers should not miss this classic. Travelers who've been to Italy, or dream of visiting one day, also should not miss this beautiful film. I may not recommend the film to younger audiences who probably aren't ready to understand why a dying man would entertain fantasies of a physical passion for a teen boy. In such cases, I would say the film is probably unsuitable for viewers under the ages of 15 or so.

The DVD has a nice picture in 16x9 widescreen for widescreen televisions and is compressed lightly with low grain and nice blacks and contrast. The sound is stereo and in the English language, so subtitles aren't necessary. The film is also shot in glorious color in a vivid but controlled manner. When I first saw this film I was sorry that it wasn't filmed in black & white, but now that I think on it, this story works better in color and the colors of this film are gorgeous. Venice always photographs well, but I have rarely seen the old city look so sumptuous as it does here. Some grade-A, top-notch cinematography went into the making of this rich and luxurious movie.

Obsession in the Time of Cholera
Based on Thomas Mann's famous novella, Luchino Visconti's DEATH IN VENICE is the account of a middle-aged man and his obsession with a teenage boy. Gustav Aschenbach, a German composer, (Dirk Bogarde) on holiday in Venice in 1911, sees the young Tadzio and his Polish family at the hotel where they are staying and becomes sexually obsessed with him. Visconti has the difficult task of keeping the viewer interested in this sometimes slow-moving film since there is very little dialogue here. (The man and boy never speak.) What Aschenbach is thinking must be shown by facial expressions and body language. Both director and actor, however, are superb in conveying what is going on inside Aschenbach's head.

DEATH IN VENICE is a beauty to behold. The opening scenes of the city are lush and beautiful; however, as the film progresses and Aschenbach begins his frenetic attempts to find out why many of the visitors are leaving Venice-- the city fathers are afraid they will lose the tourist lira if they are aware of a cholera outbreak-- the scenery takes on a sinister, deathly quality as the city becomes deserted. Visconti leaves no stone unturned in his attention to detail to create the mood and time period of this movie. Gustav Mahler's music (Bogarde looks a little like the composer) adds the final touch on this nearly flawless production.

Visconti is a master director.

Thank you for the DVD
This had been one of my favorite movies when I had seen it years ago in the theatre, but I was only able to get a VHS tape 6 months ago. Unfortunately it was a full screen version and while the movie was recognizeable, it lacked the impact that I remembered from the theatre.

This dvd makes all the difference. The sets and camera work are largely what make this movie work and the pan and scan used with the tape just about destroyed it. Now with the DVD, I can see that virtually every shot, set-up I think it is called in the business, is a work of art of composition and color. This is a film from Italy, a nation with a preeminent tradition in the visual arts and Death In Venice shows this visual sense to perfection. I have never seen another movie as artistically shot as this.

The plot and story line are very much underplayed and frankly many people I know don't get this film. The story developes, more than is told as in a conventional film. Rather than watching it, you live this movie. You watch it in delight at the what you are seeing and experiencing of being in Venice at the turn of the century. The story just sort of unfolds around around this visual experience, rather like real life.

While the picture quality of the DVD is very much better than the VHS tape, the sound is only somewhat better. Nevertheless there is less wow and flutter than in the tape or than I remember from the theatre. Unfortunately the movie predates the general adoption of stereo sound, let alone Dolby surround. Given the extensive use of music, especially Mahler's 5'th symphony, one can only dream as to what this movie would be like with modern sound. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

An Overlooked Classic in Pacino's Portfolio
This has got to be one of Pacino's best -- and deserves to stand alongside his more well-known classics. But if you're looking for the slow burn-to-rage formula Pacino mastered in "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon," look elsewhere. This is an altogether different film. Silence is used to great effect. The viewer is left to ponder dialogue and action rather than having the characters explain.

As the rigid Formula One driver who has never considered death -- until a crash and a dying girl are suddenly thrust upon him -- we watch Pacino undergo a convincing change. Little by little we see a simple adage, 'everything is sweeter when you take a risk,' take hold and help him reclaim the reality of his life.

Deerfield's story -- and the power of that little phrase -- should be a motto for us all! And the irony of this movie is that the story upon which it is based, by Erich Maria Remarque, is called Heaven Has No Favorites.

Pacino once said that he felt closer in spirit to this character than any other he'd played, and it's not difficult to see why. The onscreen romance between Deerfield and Lillian Moretti also became an true-life love affair between Pacino and actress Marthe Keller, who gives a remarkably sympathetic peformance.

It doesn't hurt that the setting for this film is summer in late '70s Europe, with terrific scenes in Switzerland, Paris, Florence, and the Tuscan countryside. (Someday, this viewer will treat himself to Leukerbad to Milan drive a la Bobby). And it also doesn't hurt that the soundtrack was composed by the master of '70s movie music, Dave Grusin.

Now if the powers that be will only re-release "Bobby Deerfield" on DVD, concurrently with the soundtrack on CD, we'll all find a bit more happiness in our lives.

An excellent film
Charming, if slightly patronising 70's drama. Superb direction. Subtle and under-stated script. Pacino at his most gorgeous. Howlingly funny, despite it's tragic subject matter. A memorable ending, brilliantly realised. I'd forgotten about the "look, it's Bobby Deerfield" scene as well as all that stuff about Salami. Pacino's reactions, especially after dropping Marthe Keller off at her uncles, are perfectly pitched, dead pan gems.
Inexplicably maligned by many, this hidden jewel may be due a timely re-accessment, not least because Keller's performance now seems perfectly in tune with the Ritalin generation.

underappreciated gem
This is a great movie based on an original story by the German author Erich-Maria Remarque (of "all quiet on the western front" fame). The story sees Pacino as the main protagonist Deerfield transform from a controlled and efficient race driver to a confused and soft-hearted lover. He meets the love of his live while visiting a Swiss sanatorium. She is terminally ill with cancer. Despite the tragic topic the movie and the characters achieve an air of lightness and sublimity that is almost unreal. So is the wonderful and sensitive cinematography and direction of the great Sydney Pollack. Long before we would go ooh! and ahhh! over his "out of Africa" splendor he created this perfect and minimalistic mood piece, where the camera work is right on, be it on the race track or in quiet apartment scenes. Marthe Keller and Al Pacino are wonderful as well and the soundtrack will haunt your memory.

return to life!!
one of the best and misunderstood movie by Sydney Pollack
It is not "just a trivial story about love" as lot of people said, but a very subtle and original tale about what beeing alive means! The races of Bobby (played by an amazing and uncommon Al Pacino ) are useless until he learns, at least, what Compation is opening his own heart to Beauty, to Love, and to Death too, of course. his breaf and intense encounter with a dying woman (Marthe Keller) is going to be a success by giving birth to a new man who could go back among alive people... A really good movie we could absolutaly ask for a DVD release!

This movie is good, but not for everyone
I saw this movie a while ago and I could not let others be misguided by those who think it's not worth it. I won't say it's Pacino's best, but there is a certain mood and subttlety about this flick that really captivated me when I first watched it on cable. I believe many of us can relate to the main character's drifting away from his everyday, stressing life and wandering into something new, that will give him a broader view of life, his life. This is not a movie to watch with all your friends, but rather to enjoy by yourself on a lazy saturday afternoon. ... Read more