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settings express the stratification of centuries of economic differences; the costumes define
engrained identities and attitudes; the declamatory acting performances convey the vulgarity
of the oppressors and the pride of the oppressed; the use of space emblemizes the
relationships between the different social strata. However, Bertolucci's visual representation
of the landscape also emphasizes its potential role as a natural, unifying force, where social
cohesion and co-operation should be possible. It conveys a sense of harmony and community
which, with the advent of mass production, has disappeared leaving individuals alienated
from their environments and from other people. Consequently, it can be inferred that 1900
encourages reflection on the way human greed underpins social conflict and generates
violence, and the film enables viewers - especially the younger generations - to understand
the nature of history in the making. Bearing in mind George Santayana's famous idiom,
'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it', it is arguable that if films
like 1900 had been aired in Italy in the recent past, then perhaps the nation would have
avoided having to re-experience a quasi regime, again generated by an alliance between
unrestrained capitalism headed by a ruthless individual, and endorsed by the Church. In terms
of Bertolucci's career, 1900 represents the first of several films in which the emotional
component of the narration is amplified, and distanciation effects were achieved through
mechanisms that no longer included unveiling the presence of the cinematic medium, an
effect that would only begin to recur in the director's work with lo ballo da sola/Stealing
Beauty.
Notes
1. Issues such as the increasing presence of the proletariat as a political force, and their nobility in
moral terms, emerged in the French realists' depictions of scenes of working class life. The
painting The Stonebreakers (1849) by Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), which focuses on the simple
dignity of a labourer s existence, constituted a model for Segantini and Fattori who also
highlighted the socioeconomic conditions typifying the lives of the rural peasantry. In De Vecchi
P. and Cerchiari E. (1991-1992) Arte ml tempo, Vol.3,1 Tomo, Milan: Bompiani Editore.
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