Set in Italy, the film follows the lives and interactions of two boys/men, one born a bastard of peasant stock, Olmo, the other born to a land owner, Alfredo. The drama spans from 1900 to about 1945, and focuses mainly on the rise of Fascism and the peasants' eventual reaction by supporting Communism, and how these events shape the destinies of the two main characters.
Where to Watch 1900
- Chris MilkshakeOctober 22, 2026A powerful film examining a very important aspect of history, that could have been amazing. But it was sh*t-coated with genuine (not faked) animal cruelty, unnecessarily-detailed and lurid sexual abuse of children, and gratuitous use of graphic, near-pornographic sexuality in general (including inbetween minors). Why?? Was the cost of these things (i.e., giving every neo-fascist a slam-dunk easy way to discredit the valid criticisms levied by the film, by virtue of its bizarre perversity) *really* worth whatever is gained by it? Could the message of human near-enslavement and degradation being intimately tied to sexual abuse have been gotten across without inviting the audience to enjoy it? Does every weird sexual scene really need to be in there, in pornographic detail? Do we need to have a sexually-abused little girl smiling cheerfully right after the act? Did you really need to inflict very real, actual painful suffering and actual trauma on a clearly-trusting, domesticated pet cat to establish the psychopathy of the villain? (I have the same problem with the Ramsay/Theon basement torture scenes in the third season of the Game of Thrones series, and stopped watching it in disgust for that reason.) This is a film that has a twisted ethical/moral compass, taking a moral stand. It ruins its own credibility, and is useful for smearing people who would embrace its valid criticisms. If you're trying to raise consciousness of something as a person of conscience, try not to come off as a complete degenerate in doing so. There are ways of depicting these things without reveling in them, and without literally strapping a cat to the wall in a physically torturous position for 20 seconds so we can all watch it. (Note that I am not talking about faked animal cruelty, as in the scene where he throws a cat across the room; that's fine, whatever. But the cat strapped to the wall by Donald Sutherland was excrutiatingly unfaked and genuine.) I hate this film because it would have otherwise been an important and awareness/literacy-raising film. It offers something truly valuable, and then poisons it. And it's not beating the rap on negative stereotypes about European films. --- NOTE: Just to let you know where I'm coming from in writing this, I'm no fainting violet. I like the hard stuff. I believe that deep empathy and understanding require exposure to difficult things. Everyone should absolutely see difficult, challenging subject matter in films. Watch Garage Olimpo. Watch Life Is Hard in Cracktown. Watch Save the Green Planet. Watch The Act of Killing. Watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Of Mice and Men. Definitely watch Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe and Death of a Salesman. They hurt, but they improve you; they make you understand some of the things that are in this world, while simultaneously cultivating empathy, moral compass, aesthetic sense, understanding. But there's a line that should not be crossed, the line that separates consciousness-raising from exploitation, exposure from tourism, art from porn. This film crosses that line very early and keeps making bold offensives in the territory beyond it, unnecessarily, and often in a way that invites the audience to enjoy it, rather than feel its pain.
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1900 was released on September 1, 1976.
1900 was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
1900 has a runtime of 5h 17m.
1900 was produced by Alberto Grimaldi, H.F. Di Mauro.
Set in Italy, the film follows the lives and interactions of two boys/men, one born a bastard of peasant stock, Olmo, the other born to a land owner, Alfredo. The drama spans from 1900 to about 1945, and focuses mainly on the rise of Fascism and the peasants' eventual reaction by supporting Communism, and how these events shape the destinies of the two main characters.
The key characters in 1900 are Alfredo Berlinghieri (Robert De Niro), Olmo Dalcò (Gérard Depardieu), Ada Fiestri Paulhan (Dominique Sanda).
1900 is rated R.
1900 is a Drama, History film.
1900 has an audience rating of 8.4 out of 10.
1900 had a budget of $9M.
1900 has made $4,776 at the box office.