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Bernardo Bertolucci's 255-minute "1900" was a gargantuan undertaking, requiring the resources of three European countries and a trio of American movie studios. Set in the Italian town of Parma, the film's continuity backtracks from Liberation Day in 1945 to the occasion of composer/patriot Giuseppe Verdi's death in 1901. We follow the lives of two men born on that day in 1901, who grow up to be Robert DeNiro and Gerard Depardieu. Wealthy DeNiro sinks into dissipation, while poverty-stricken Depardieu becomes a firebrand labor leader and communist. After WWI, DeNiro is allowed to peacefully retain his land holdings by playing nice with the burgeoning fascists; Depardieu, on the other hand, engages in a long-standing battle against the minions of Mussolini. The two protagonists are reunited when DeNiro returns to Parma to preside over Depardieu's trial for "political crimes." Costar Burt Lancaster is cast as DeNiro's wealthy grandfather, who hates to see the old values buried beneath the social travails of the twentieth century. Many American prints of "1900" were shortened to 243 minutes, rendering the story hard to follow at times. 1976
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