[Film Review] Martyrdom for Dreams ――1Appreciation of Legends in 900 Years

The Legend of 1900 (also known as Sound and Light Fly with Me) is one of Tonatore's time and space trilogy, and the other two parts are The Beautiful Legend of Sicily (also known as True Love Walks with Me) and Paradise Cinema (also known as Starlight with My Heart). These three most famous films undoubtedly represent the highest achievement of this Italian neo-realistic director.

The film tells the legendary story of a piano genius named 1900 who has been at sea all his life and never set foot on land. The whole film is smooth and natural in the aspects of time and space interleaving, scene change and lens connection, so that the audience can be there and experience the feelings. The most exciting part of the film is "Piano Duel", and the audio-visual characteristics of the film will be discussed below.

During the "Piano Duel", the director chose the scene on the magnificent dance floor in an ingenious way. There are 2000 people from different places, different identities and different personalities here. Some of them follow the trend, others follow the trend, and they have no opinions. This small dance floor bearing different social ideologies also constitutes the whole world of 1900. He was born in "Virginia" and never went ashore, even though "it was only a small step forward". He is a "piano genius" in everyone's eyes, but geniuses are mostly lonely and unfortunate.

Piano, for him, is not a tool to make a fortune, a weapon to suppress others, nor a magic weapon to flatter, but a spontaneous emotional expression. However, it is this kind of "standing aloof from the world" that attracts the jealousy and challenge of Jerry, the so-called "inventor of jazz". As soon as jelly appeared, he was an image wrapped in money and fame. He is attracted by the public, arrogant and boastful. In the duel, his character was more thoroughly shaped. He looked at 1900 with contempt and arrogance, bent on defeating him, which was in sharp contrast to 1900 who was moved to tears while enjoying Jerry's music. Jelly pays attention to the result of duel, applause and glory; But for 1900, the sea is his world and music is his life. And all this, you don't need to compare with others, and you don't need everyone to understand your own music. Because, the world of genius, mortals don't understand.

In the film, the director used a lot of panoramic shots, which made the picture wide and the depth of field long. This not only helps to explain the environment to the audience, but also leaves sufficient display space for the characters. At the same time, it exaggerates the environment and creates a peaceful artistic conception.

The film always uses Mequez's dialogue with others to push back the story, and the picture keeps switching between reality and memory. It is particularly noteworthy that the director's switching point between two time and space is very accurate and naturally unpretentious. Tell the past story with Mequez's realistic words, and then cut into the past scene with one of the key and related words, and so on.

In the process of Piano Duel, the director created a wonderful space scheduling by fading in and out. The picture shows 1900 trying to finish the duel, even sweating. At this time, the director used a set of 1900 facial close-ups, the close-ups of piano players and the reaction shots of jelly and the audience, which gradually entered and exited, and the spatial jump was active and the visual effect was obvious, which made people throw themselves into the music. There is no denying that the director's originality and personal style add a lot of color to this film.

Compared with ordinary movies, which use head-up shooting in a large number, it is still well-behaved. The Legend of 1900 is really one of the few excellent films that boldly apply lens movement to the extreme. In this film, the director used a large number of various shooting techniques, such as shooting up, shooting down, pushing and pulling, and so on, which became the most remarkable audio-visual feature of this film.

The use of any creative technique is to express some kind of poetry or convey the director's specific creative intention. Shoot the lens from high to low and from top to bottom, forming a overlooking line of sight, producing a feeling of depression, smallness and melancholy. For example, in a piano duel, the dialogue between Jelly and 1900 is always displayed in a condescending manner, which also shows Jelly's disdain and contempt for 1900. The bottom-up shooting method can create a lofty, open and admirable feeling. It's like when Mequez tried his best to find 1900 on the soon-to-be-blasted "Virginia", when the two finally embraced and said goodbye, the director slowly climbed up from the shabby bottom of the boat with a backhand, and finally the lens was fixed on the protagonist. This is not a brief parting of the "Italian girl" at the landing meeting, but a life-and-death parting. Pat up, let us realize 1900' s persistent pursuit of dreams and personal world. Although death is glorious and tragic, it is more noble.

The soundtrack of this film comes from the famous Italian musician ennio morricone. His melody is broad, simple and smooth, touching and fascinating.

Music has always played an important role in the film, and it can even be said that it is the soul of this film. Don't like Nye's music and Tonatore's pictures are almost seamless, wonderful and touching. In Piano Duel, the last piece played by 1900, the surging music and the rapid switching of the picture complement each other, which is very tense.

Not only the soundtrack, but also the director's grasp of the live sound is amazing. After the duel, the film fell silent. The silent lens that lasted for more than ten seconds, coupled with the audience's dumbfounded expression, brought the audience's emotions to a peak of excitement and the ultimate state of appreciation. Even people who don't know music will be attracted and moved by 1900 music, and his piano skills seem to have reached a peak. At this point, silence is better than sound.

From the beginning, the film used low-key photography to create a subtle and tragic atmosphere, and this tone has been running through. The film rarely shows fresh and bright colors in the use of light. In Piano Duel, the picture gradually changed from cold color to warm color with the crowd entering. Although Jelly and 1900 both wore white dresses, and many people in the crowd wore white dresses, the director always paid attention to highlighting the light of the subject and distinguishing it from others. Moreover, after the final defeat of Jelly's duel, the side light was used, which made some of them hidden in the dark, showing the protagonist's inner feelings of suppressing loneliness after failure.

I also wonder why Mequez tried his best to find 1900 and tried to persuade him to disembark, but he was knocked unconscious with a stick and forced to disembark. But if you think about it carefully, it is somewhat deviated from the director's creative intention. 1900, stateless, nameless, does not exist for others. But Mequez knows him, his music and his heart. He knew that 1900 "can't live without this ship, but he can end his life." He spent his whole life here. This is his world, his paradise, and the source of all his sadness and happiness. Maybe if you leave, 1900 will eventually become a mortal.

Before that, 1900 tried to go ashore, but when he stood by the boat, he didn't know which street he should step into. Of all the beautiful girls, which one will accompany him to his old age? He doesn't know how to continue his life, and he doesn't know where to find the piano that suits him and continue to play his life. From a modern point of view, 1900 has extreme selection phobia. He didn't dare to get off the boat, because everything seemed endless in the face of the disturbing mainland, and he didn't know how to choose. Unlike the piano, which has only 88 keys, there are not many keys and many keys. He can play infinite music in these limited 88 keys, which is the moral of music art and the uniqueness of 1900.

Although he is afraid of choice, he is still different and lives with peace of mind. In today's materialistic world, too many of us have lost our individuality in order to resonate with art and seek synaesthesia, but in the end, we can't find our original selves. Sinking with the ship, a generation of musicians will disappear, which is a huge psychological shock to the audience and makes them feel sad. Perhaps from another angle, we can applaud 1900. He insisted on not letting his music flow out, nor did he lose his soul and pursuit. For 30 years, he watched the world coldly, but he got the essence.

May heaven have a piano.