June 14 (Lunar calendar: April 27), 2023 Wednesday | Dawnxisoul393art

 
《The Legend of 1900》， painted by dawnxisoul393

First Part:

That day, we watched the film "The Legend of 1900" on the computer on a rock on the beach of Peng Chau Island. After watching the film, we closed our eyes and listened to the piano music of 1900 over and over again, imagining ourselves sitting on the "Virginian" ship, with the waves fluctuating, our minds swarming with thoughts, but we didn't know how to organize them, and we felt a lot of emotions, but we didn't know where to start. The Legend of 1900 is like a glass of whiskey, sweet, bitter, and endless. The Legend of 1900 flowed slowly through our hearts like a clear stream, unknowingly occupying all our thoughts. Under the moonlight, we painted the eponymous painting "The Legend of 1900" on the beach. At the beginning of the 20th century, at the same time as the decline of former dominant Europe, America became a place to which many Europeans aspired. A large number of immigrants went to the United States through "Virginia". 

Illustrated by dawnxisoul393

The supertanker Virginia, which traveled between Europe and the United States all year round, carried about 2,000 passengers per trip. Between the old and the new era, people always rush from the old era to the new era, with the most open attitude to meet the arrival of the new era, eager to grasp the first opportunity of the times. On the first day of the twentieth century, Danny, a worker on the ship, found an abandoned baby in the first-class cabin, and the kind-hearted Danny adopted him. 1900 was born on the ship as a product of passion, and when the ship arrived at his parents' "dream destination", his mother or parents abandoned the "product of love" and ran alone to the "dream destination". Because it happened on the first day of the first month of the first year of the new century, Danny named the orphan "1900", and so 1900 began his life at sea. At the age of eight, the orphan's adoptive father, Danny, died in an accident, and the orphan's tenuous connection to the world was severed until he rediscovered it through music.

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We can find ourselves in "1900": The Talent of 1900, the love of the people on the Super Cruise for him, the innocence of 1900, and his insistence on innocence. After the death of his adoptive father, the orphan became a piano prodigy without a teacher. 1900 found that music could carry his emotions and 1900 knew how to express them on the piano. The time on the ship was carefree. The captain would teach him what was right and what was wrong, and the cooks would laugh and spoil him when he stole the cake. Everyone never asked him to be a genius, just to be decent and happy. The orphan's amazing musical talent brought him into the public eye. 1900 was like a "musical genie of the sea", and one night, people were awakened by the sudden appearance of a melody in the concert hall, but to their surprise, it was the little boy, 1900, who was sitting in front of the piano playing the tune. 

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The visitors were very surprised that such a small child could play the piano so well. The crew was even more amazed because they knew that no one had taught 1900 to play the piano at all. All the people present at the time thought that 1900 was a genius. As the story unfolded, Max, a good trumpet player, came on board and became a member of the ship's band. At first, Max was new to everything on the ship and was curious about life at sea. But within a few days, the ship encountered a storm at sea, and the wobbly ship made Max throw up and almost collapse. Max stumbled out of his room into the concert hall and was shocked to meet 1900, who let Max sit on the piano bench with him. On the rocking ship, 1900 took Max to play the piano while sliding in the concert hall with the piano, a very romantic scene that was reminiscent of the dream.

Second Part:

The reason why "unknown faraway places" was portrayed so poetically and desirably was that it became a goal and hope for people to escape from the present. But there was no end to faraway places, because once people arrived, "unknown faraway places" became the present again, and then there was a new faraway place calling. People were in constant pursuit and transformation, ignoring the present. Just like Max once asked 1900 why he didn't get off the boat and see for himself, Max thought he played the piano so well, people would go crazy for him, he would surely make a lot of money, he could buy a mansion, find a good wife and have many children. But 1900 rejected all Max's suggestions. It seems to be a simple decision, but behind it is full of determination for 1900 to see through human nature and stick to his philosophy. 

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Although he had never set foot on land, he saw a microcosm of land from the people coming and going on the ship. Most of the people are full of sadness, smoking noblewomen seemed to be at odds with their husbands, the girls accompanying the dance spun and danced while shedding tears, which made the makeup on the girls' faces melt, stowaways who stole other people's suits mixed into the first-class cabin looking for sex, the wooden and expressionless men looked full of joy, but it was clear that they were preoccupied...... They were running from the other shore to this shore, about to arrive in the "dream of the far side", but their faces still have the inescapable confusion, "the far side" of the arrival did not let them throw away the heart of the bitterness. 1900 could look at a sad old woman and play a mournful piece, see a dancer with tears in her eyes and his tune became elusive, and see a man who was thinking about something and would play a deep melody for him...... 

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Because 1900's piano playing was so good, it soon attracted many visitors who came specifically to hear him play, some of them, such as that American senator who insisted on listening to 1900 play the piano in third class even though he had to cover his nose with his hand, and those who, like that inventor of jazz, wanted to come and find out what it was all about...... The challenge of being called the inventor of jazz also led to one of the most exciting scenes in the movie - the piano fight. The challenger played the piano before lighting a cigarette, did not smoke, just put it on top of the piano, his performance soon began, the listeners were mesmerized. The first time the piano was played, the cigarette was not only not extinguished, but even the ashes did not fall off, so it was clear how gentle and smooth the challenger was when he played the piano, and his piano skills were excellent.  

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1900 also brought a cigarette before he played the piano, but did not light it. What people didn't expect was that 1900 played a tune that required at least two people to complete, and after the tune was finished, 1900 stood up and put the cigarette that he hadn't lit on the piano strings, and then a magical scene appeared, the cigarette was directly lit. It is clear that 1900 played the piano so fast that the temperature of the strings rose to the point that the cigarette was lit. The fight ended with a victory for 1900, who became even more famous after that. Soon the record company came to him to make a record, and 1900 continued at first with his indifferent attitude to everything, playing fragmented and confused tunes, until 1900 met his muse and he played the most beautiful music of his life. 1900 wanted to give the girl his only record, but 1900, who had never chased a girl and never had any inner contact with the outside world, acted overwhelmed and eventually the record was not given to the girl.

Third Part:

The girl gave 1900 her home address and invited 1900 to be her guest, kissing 1900 on the cheek before she left. 1900 fell in love completely, and one fine day, 1900 said goodbye to everyone on the ship, determined to get off the ship and find true love. He picked up his luggage for the first time and headed for shore. But when he reached the middle of the gangway, he stopped and gazed far into the city with its tall buildings, the city he was about to integrate into and of which he knew nothing. The city was close at hand, and the land was only a few steps away. 1900 stopped on the gangway and stood for a long time, the city in front of him spread out clearly before him, countless layers of tall buildings, the streets stretched out in front of him full of unknown, he hesitated. The world in front of him was wide and unknown, full of the good promises people had told him, hiding the fame and fortune he might have, and the reunion with the girl he loved, all full of temptation, but 1900 stopped. 

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He took off his gentleman's hat, a wave of his hand, the gentleman's hat in the air through a beautiful arc, gently fell on the sea, signaling his complete abandonment of the land. 1990 blossomed into a frank smile, turned to walk back to the cabin, from then on decided not to leave the ship for life. Facing the new century, for most people, the meaning of life may lie in the call from the Statue of Liberty, the lure of money and fame. The land was tempting to him, that's why he moved the idea of going ashore to see, but when everything was within reach, that step so close and so easy to cross, he finally guarded his own boundaries. The most difficult thing for people is not to cross the line in the face of desire and temptation, Rather, the bottom line is to keep the line of what you know you can do but don't do it. The stop of 1900 on the gangway is full of allegory, people often lack the moment to stop and think in front of their desires.

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If what the heart desires can be obtained by crossing certain boundaries, we will inevitably have the urge to try and resist, so much so that we only see what we want and ignore the unseen risks that lie behind. The reason we go astray is that we often lose the thought of stopping before crossing the boundary. 1900 gave up crossing the boundary and chose to continue his legend in the limited space onboard by retreating. It is easy to understand why 1900 chose to return to the ship. In the limited space of the ship, he was able to keep his love and play infinite music on the limited keys. 1900 chose to retreat precisely because he knew the boundaries of his existence, he knew that land was not for him, and he did not want to lose himself in it. 1900 continued his life at sea. For 1990, the meaning of life was to hold on to the purity of one's heart. What people saw was the prosperity of the city, but what 1990 saw was an endless unknown. 

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In the end, it was not what he saw, but what he could not see that prevented him from moving to land. In that infinitely spreading city, anything was possible, but there was no end to it. What he could not see was the end of everything he could see, the end of the world. Each of us is the engine of the city, we burn our endless desires, endlessly running to the distance. When we are in the big, bustling city, looking at the ten thousand feet tall buildings, traffic, we can often feel our own small, feel ourselves being the great city pressure could not breathe, we want to fly around, looking for a place to live. All this prosperity is built by countless desires, but in turn, dragging us to meet the pace of desire, and finally exhausted. Perhaps 1990 felt this exhaustion and depression, so 1990 chose to stay outside this complicated world and became a counter-current of the new century alone.

Fourth Part:

1990's life seemed absurd, but he was obsessed with his own heart, and while people saw land as the beginning of their dreams, he saw it as the end of the meaning of life. There are two crucial female characters in this film. The unnamed young girl, who passed through 1900's life, dreamlike and mesmerizing. The girl was 1900's first and perhaps only love, and she was 1900's "inspirational muse". The second female character was the Statue of Liberty, which was only a statue, but it was the origin of the film and the story of the ship. The Statue of Liberty represents America and freedom as if anyone could start over from scratch in this land as they wished as if all dreams could come true. It was such a sweet dream that Virginian was filled with a batch of immigrants, crossing the ocean to the embrace of Lady Liberty. It was also the case that one moment people were immersed in the music of 1900, and the next moment they would scatter with the sound of "America".

From the beginning to the end, the music of the sea was just a small episode in the journey of life, while Lady Liberty was the other shore that people really cared about and aspired to. Even if it was full of unknowns, it was an unknown full of hope, endless freedom that allowed one to realize one's dreams. These two female figures shared similarities. Lady Liberty symbolized freedom, and freedom and the unknown went hand in hand, and there was the possibility of dreams coming true and dreams being shattered. The immigrants who loved Lady Liberty saw only the hope of a new life in their eyes but ignored that reality could be cruel. The girl symbolized the good life of 1900.

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When the girl says she likes to look at the sea, and the unintentional disclosure of her life, it draws the 1900's heart closer. The girl and Lady Liberty, they can both create a beautiful dream for people. The movie is not only about 1900 who never got off the ship, but also about the people who did. As one group of passengers after another get off the ship and go on to an unknown life, we don't know how they will end up, but we see Max who tells the story. When he saved enough money to leave the cruise ship, he did not get the perfect life he dreamed of. Experienced the war, gave up music, and was finally forced to sell his beloved trumpet to make ends meet.

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The people at the bottom who got off the ship and threw themselves into the arms of Lady Liberty did not necessarily have a better life. So 1900, who stayed at sea, became a dream that people used to soothe their ordinary lives. Perhaps there are still many people who can't forget 1900, or perhaps the girl who, after all the hardships of life, still smiles as she remembers a talented piano player she had met as a teenager. So there is the classic film "The Legend of 1900", whose innocence and unworldliness doomed him to fail to land. Perhaps we are moved and saddened by the desire for a better life, but also for the innocence that was defeated by reality. 1990 plays the piano in his heart, the quiet melody mixed with discordant notes, as if it were a baby with toddling steps, looking at the world with curiosity, but gazing at it with relief.

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In any case, 1990 left this world together with the cruise ship. 1900 belonged to the sea and returned to the sea.

The End

Reflections after Watching the Film "The Legend of 1900"  (one of our spiritual self-healing thoughts), dawnxisoul393(2754w=1+2+3+4)