1900 (film)

1900
U.S. theatrical release poster
Directed by	Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenplay by	Franco Arcalli Giuseppe Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci
Produced by	Alberto Grimaldi
Starring	Robert De Niro Gérard Depardieu Laura Betti Werner Bruhns Stefania Casini Sterling Hayden Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer Ellen Schwiers Alida Valli Romolo Valli Stefania Sandrelli Donald Sutherland Burt Lancaster
Cinematography	Vittorio Storaro
Edited by	Franco Arcalli
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Production companies	Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA) Les Productions Artistes Associés Artemis Film
Distributed by	20th Century Fox (Italy and UK) Paramount Pictures (US) United Artists (International)
Release dates	21 May 1976 (1976-05-21) (Cannes) 28 August 1976 (1976-08-28) (Venice) 3 September 1976 (1976-09-03) (Part 1) 24 September 1976 (1976-09-24) (Part 2)
Running time	317 minutes 162 minutes (Part 1) 154 minutes (Part 2) 247 minutes[1] (Edited version)
Countries	Italy France West Germany
Languages	Italian French German English
Budget	$9 million[2]

1900 (Italian: Novecento, "Twentieth Century") is a 1976 epic historical drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and featuring an international ensemble cast including Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Francesca Bertini, Laura Betti, Stefania Casini, Ellen Schwiers, Sterling Hayden, Alida Valli, Romolo Valli, Stefania Sandrelli, Donald Sutherland, and Burt Lancaster. Set in Bertolucci's ancestral region of Emilia, the film chronicles the lives and friendship of two men – the landowning Alfredo Berlinghieri (De Niro) and the peasant Olmo Dalcò (Depardieu) – as they witness and participate in the political conflicts between fascism and communism that took place in Italy in the first half of the 20th century. The film premiered out of competition at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.^[3]

With a runtime of 317 minutes in its original version, 1900 is known for being one of the longest commercially released films ever made. Its great length led to its being presented in two parts when originally released in many countries, including Italy, East and West Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Colombia, Pakistan and Japan. In other countries, such as the United States, a single edited-down version of the film was released.^[4] 1900 has become widely regarded as a cult classic, and has received several special edition home video releases from a variety of distributors.^[5][6] A restoration of the film premiered out of competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival in 2017.^[7]

In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."^[8]