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tones of grey and black that cast a chromatic uniformity on both landscape and characters.
The characters stand motionless in the rain, demarcated by another symbolic use of space
with each group positioned on opposite sides of a field ;
whose fencing is reminiscent of Nazi concentration
camps (see image). Certain stylized visual elements in
violent movies, in Steven Prince's view, unmistakably
'impose an intellectualized perspective' on sequences,
and this is a perspective that can be applied to 1900, (Prince, 1998: xix) the peasants'
execution occurring a scene in which the deglamourization of violence maintains continuity
with the film's previous sequences of brutality in terms of the way the violence signifies 'the
crippling or diminishment of human identity* (Prince, 1998: 122).
Allegiance with a collective protagonist
The notions of viewer allegiance and the hierarchy of preference that viewers establish when
evaluating the morality of characters, can be used to discuss the different evaluations elicited
from viewers via Bertolucci's character portrayals. As regards the Berlinghieri family, the
film only cues brief moments of sympathetic response towards the grandfather who
personifies an ancient, rural capitalism which had a personal knowledge of, and respect for,
the labourers. By contrast, the film cues unadulterated repulsion towards Alfredo's father,
who symbolizes a radical change in the attitude of Italian capitalism towards labour - a
capitalism which facilitated and supported Fascism. As illustrated earlier, it is Alfredo's
trajectory that invites an evaluation of him as the worst of the Berlinghieris. Regarding the
Dalco family, the narrative creates forms of allegiance that are probably weaker than one
would expect given the film's political perspective. The grandfather's charisma is evident but
remains ephemeral in the context of the film's structure, due to the characters brief screen
presence. Olmo's rectitude and idealistic enthusiasm never equals his grandfather's
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