Novecento,Nineteen Hundred 1976) 2dsic Full Virsion English, French, Italian Dub by Bernardo Bertolucci / NEW DVD - NTSC, All Region STARVISION

It could be that I didn't get the Collector's edition, or that the review which informs us that it includes a non-English dubbed version has been conscripted by an Amazon algorithm to this page from its proper subject. The small print on the box (which has an identical external presentation apart from a "collector's edition sticker" to that shown on the Amazon page, doesn't make any reference to any such matter, though it informs me I am getting 16:9 ratio, 301 minutes and English 2.0 - along with a version for the hearing impaired and one scene of "strong real sex" in rather larger print, so presumably I got what I paid Amazon for, whatever that was. Dialogue appears to be conducted in English, but the populace as a group communicates in what is clearly Italian. Worse, the English speaking dub artists have fake Italian accents. This may not be Bertolucci's greatest film, but it deserves better respect than that. I suppose I'm lucky I didn't get permanent Korean subtitles. This is just lazy marketing.However, this time with "Twentieth Century Fox", and its logo almost invisible at the back right hand lower corner, you CAN, by searching for "Nove Cento" rather than "1900" get a Blu-ray edition flying some sort of Murdochian flag ("Eureka!") at least promising both Italian "audio" with English subtitles, and English "audio" with English subtitles, not to mention 9 mins more running time. No doubt there are Korean oaths suitable for the occasion and President Trump is probably learning them as I write - I should think the Murdoch Empire is proof against most English language ones.

I first watched this film back in the 80s when Channel 4 was young and put out a lot of really strong cinema. I can't remember which cut they used but it could well have been the director's cut as it was nigh on 6 hours, shown in 3 episodes night after night. It had a very strong effect on me then but then the film seemed to fade into obscurity. A little while ago I rented the DVD and although it was good to revisit the story, the visual image was disappointing.When I ordered this Blu Ray, I was a little fearful that I might have gone for the wrong one as the information about the audio was a little unclear. Happily, there is an English dubbed version on the disc. There is no surround mix. The Master audio 2.0 is in Italian throughout with the English speaking actors overdubbed in Italian but the English dubbed version in plain 2.0 is perfectly acceptable and to be clear, what this gives you is the English speaking actors all speaking English as recorded with the Italian voices overdubbed in English. This is a little 'false' at first but it's been well done and you soon get used to it so the story is easy to follow. I have not seen the US version of the Blu Ray which apparently has more audio and subtitle options but I may well get that for comparison and post back on that.Now to the visuals. In my opinion, the image quality is massively improved on the DVD I saw a while ago. It's so clear, detailed and rich that you could almost watch the whole movie with the sound off and still be rewarded. Bertolucci and his cinematographer Storaro are like landscape painters who clearly relish in the light and detail of every scene. Elsewhere on the web you will find detailed comparisons between the various versions but if you value superb cinematography you will not be disappointed with this disc, I promise.This film may not hold a record for length but it is very, very long. If I had to watch this in the cinema, it would be a struggle but at home, it can be broken down into whatever sized chunks you care to, so don't let the length put you off.After a short 'flash forward', the story starts at the beginning of the 20th Century with the birth of two boys in the same village, one the son of the Padrone in the mansion, the other to a poverty struck family in the village. The two boys eventually become friends and the film then meanders through the decades into WW2, charting their lives against key events in Italy, most notably the rise of fascism. Sometimes the film portrays hardship of Italian peasant life and sometimes major upheavals in personal and national history. It's this rise and fall in the drama which makes the story pass quite effortlessly.The acting is of the high standard you would expect from a cast of this calibre although I personally find one of the major cast rather irritating but I won't say who that is to avoid prejudice. The task of keeping a script going with a multi lingual cast does show itself from time to time but something this ambitious is always going struggle here and there.A short word about the score which is by Morricone. in my view it's one of his best. Unlike 'Once upon a time in America' for example, which makes its presence felt too strongly and too repetitively, here it supports the action in a much more subtle way and you never feel it intruding.Much has been said elsewhere about some of the challenging scenes that exist throughout the movie. Be in no doubt, it's not for the prudish, faint-hearted or sentimental. Check out the parental guide on IMDb if you are at all wary. Expect full frontal male and female nudity, explicit sexuality, human abuse and suffering and sadly, actual animal slaughter. The infamous scene involving a cat was undoubtably simulated but I didn't enjoy seeing the poor thing subjected to some quite rough handling. The film is visceral (sometimes literally) but taken in context it's acceptable as part of a powerful piece of story telling.In summary, I would hesitate to call it a masterpiece. It's monumental but it is certainly flawed. Having said that, it's definitely in my top10 favourite films and I would heartily recommend it.

I originally saw this film in a 4 hour version over 30 years ago and always remembered if fondly. However viewing it now in its full 5 hours and one minute directors cut I find it a mixed bag. There is no doubt there is a sweeping good tale with great characters within this epic but there is also a lot of pretentiousness. The dubbing of some actors (Cast is part Italian, part American) is an unusual and sometimes annoying feature. The acting varies from over the top - Burt Lancaster/Donald Sutherland to the quite moving. One truly wonderful feature however is the magnificent cinematography. If you've not seen it before and and wish to fill a long wet evening you could do worse but ultimately its just too damn long.

1900 sets out to render the ideological difference between left and right, as good and evil, succeeds and overlays romance and the dilemmas associated with growing up in a world of conflict. Sutherland is suitably unpleasant and as we find out in the opening reel gets forked for his ways. De Niro amusingly looking nothing like his real old age version, Depardieu does what Gerard does best. A long ramble that is wonderful to look at if a bit stagey at times, there's overacting and underacting in equal measure due to the language (&star versus ordinary villagers as actors) mismatch, is there an Italian with english subtitles version?, if so I would prefer it. the frank and shock tactics still work, strangely, despite the passage of time since its release.

One of my favourite films ever, a four-hour operatically constructed review of the Italy of the early twentieth century. The roles are all brilliantly played and Bertolucci cleverly pastiches social realism in some amazingly choreographed scenes. The farm is itself a symbol for Italy as the main characters play their roles to the leitmotifs of this period in Italian political, economic and cultural history. The photography is also superb.