1900 (Novecento)

"Never bite the hand that feeds you, as long as you need to be fed."

Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 (1976) was a monumental act of hubris. Clocking in at 5 hours 16 minutes, it was butchered by distributors, released to mixed reviews and indifferent audiences, a colossal letdown after Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris proved an international smash. It's hard not to admire 1900, engrossing for all its preachy excess.

Alfredo Berlinghieri (Robert De Niro) and Olmo Dalco (Gerard Depardieu) are born simultaneously in 1901 to Italian landowners and peasants, respectively. ...