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38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A curious yarn, October 3, 2002
THE LEGEND OF 1900 has as its protagonist a man named D.B.T.D.L. 1900. The "1900" is indicative of the year he was born and found abandoned on a luxury ocean liner, the "Virginian", after its passengers had disembarked in New York. Let it suffice to say that the other initials stand for the ship's crewman that discovered him, and the brand name on the produce crate in which he was lying.The time frame of this film can be tricky at the beginning unless one pays attention. The "now" is, apparently, after WWII. After pawning his trumpet in an English hockshop, Max (Pruitt Taylor Vince) begs to play it one last time. While doing so, the pawnbroker recognizes the melody as that played on a piano on an old record. He spins it for Max, who identifies the pianist as 1900, whom he met in 1927 when he (Max) signed aboard the Virginian as a band member. In a flashback, he recalls the story of 1900's birth, emphasizing that the man never ever left the liner to set foot on solid land. On being asked where he found the disk, purportedly the master copy of the recording session and the only one in existence, the shop owner says it was hidden in a piano that came off an old hospital ship berthed in the harbor. On going to the dock, Max recognizes the rusting hulk as the Virginian, which is in the process of being loaded with explosives designed to scuttle the vessel. Convinced that 1900 is still aboard and hiding, he insists on a search. Interspersed with this activity are more flashbacks to the 20s and 30s when Max played with 1900 in the ship's main ballroom. THE LEGEND OF 1900 is not a perfect film by any means. The character of The Girl (Melanie Thierry) and her relationship with 1900 are left frustratingly underdeveloped. Sad-faced Tim Roth is wonderful as the enigmatic 1900, who is perhaps too inscrutable. (But, then, legends generally are, or they wouldn't be legends. Remember the old saw, "Familiarity breeds contempt.") Without the monolog by 1900 towards the end when he explains himself to Max, the viewer would be left with precious little of the former to fathom. However, one thing is known for sure - 1900 is a phenomenal musical talent. He can play a melody on the piano, no matter how complex, after having heard it only once. He demonstrates this and more (wow!) during a "dueling pianos" session with Jelly Roll Morton (Clarence Williams III), the "inventor" of jazz, who comes aboard for an Atlantic crossing just so he can challenge the famous upstart. And, in perhaps the film's most entrancing scene, 1900 plays the piano in the deserted ballroom while the ship rolls in the ocean swells. 1900 has unlocked the piano's anchor wheels, so the instrument glides serenely back and forth over the dance floor while managing not to hit anything until ... well, you have to see it. Viewed as a tragic figure, the viewer will understand 1900 when he says, "The world has passed me by 2000 people at a time." The film is bittersweet to be sure, but well done. See it if you're looking for something on the slightly eccentric side of ordinary.
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