Rating: - boxing and piano--another kind of "great white hope" movie
This is an interesting, entertaining movie in many respects, and certainly the acting is excellent. What stands out to me, however, is that this is a kind of "great white hope" story. The character "1900" (Tim Roth) is sui generis--a unique oceanic human that is born, lives, and dies on an ocean liner without ever setting foot on land. Of course, he is the offspring of an unknown European immigrant mother, who abandoned him; notwithstanding his de facto adoptive black father (Bill Nunn), "1900" he still represents Eurocentric values and attitudes.

Like Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky," Giuseppe Tornatore's "1900" is a fictional character whose greatness is ultimately measured by his ability to beat the black champion. In Rocky's case, of course, the opponent-champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers)was also a fictional character. But it doesn't take a doctorate to see that Creed's character represented the reality of heavyweight championship fighting being dominated by black fighters. "Rocky II" (the come-back episode where Rocky beats Creed) was necessarily birthed out of the white psyche's need to justify themselves as the necessary center of western society.

Tornatore's story of the oceanic keyboard player, which is supposed to be based upon another Italian theatrical production, is pretty much the same kind of story when viewed from the lens of "race" and racism. Tornatore's "1900" is also the white upstart facing a black champion, except the contest is musical, though hardly less combative. Of course, in contrast to Apollo Creed, Tornatore's "great white hope" faces off against a real historical figure, and a giant in the annals of African American music, Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton (1890-1941). In one of the most dramatic moments of the movie, Roth's "1900" hesitantly faces off with an arrogant but brilliant Morton (Clarence Williams III) [Roth and Williams were also co-stars in "Bumpy Johnson"]. At first "1900" only dabbles at the keys, showing respect to the great black master (the narrator is sure to tell us that Morton's greatness lies in the fact that he invented a music that could be played in whorehouses with much success). Then "1900" reproduces Morton's brilliant playing like a virtual recording, further infuriating his black opponent. In the last round of their musical competition, "1900" unleashes his master-race abilities at the piano, and humiliates Morton by almost literally burning up the keys. As if that weren't enough, Tornotare has "1900" smarting off as the defeated Morton quietly slips off the boat at port. "F--k Jazz," says "1900."

"The Legend of 1900" is ultimately a tale of white-racial oneupmanship more than it is a story about music and musicians, or about a man who is afraid to live on land because it seems endless and mind-boggling to him. Nor is it just a fantasy about a white super-musician who can exceed and excel the great classical music tradition of the U.S.A., Jazz. At its fullest, it is a story that illustrates the white man's belief that no matter how brilliant and powerful the contributions of his black fellow man, white people's music--like everything else in the construct of western culture--affirms white-centeredness, even white supremacy.

It is no surprise that such a figure as the stubborn "1900" must be blown up at the end of the story, dying with the only ocean home he knew. This is where the parallel between "1900" and "Rocky" ends. The "Italian Stallion" series continued, probably because the majority psyche of the U.S.A. is much more desperately in need of a "great white hope," and much more likely to market them to the point of absurdity. On the other hand, Tornatore understands that to perfect his white "legend," he must blow him up at the end--kill him off quickly so that the character "1900" can transcend (escape) Tornatore's disingenous and disrespectful use of the real genius of "Jelly Roll" Morton. "1900" is not only a "legend," he is a fake legend, and if anyone deserves to be dismissed with the "f-word," it's him. Unlike Morton, he never existed. What really exists, however, is a pervasive mentality among too many whites (but not all of them!)which requires them to feel themselves superior and to dismiss dark humanity and its great contributions as secondary to their own.

The Legend of 1900