History Trivia / Novecento

* FakeNationality: The setting and characters are Italian, but its ([[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters very large]]) cast includes Americans (Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/SterlingHayden, Creator/BurtLancaster), French (Creator/GerardDepardieu, Dominique Sanda), Germans (Werner Bruhns, Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer, Ellen Schwiers), and a lone Canadian (Creator/DonaldSutherland).

* AllStarCast: Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/GerardDepardieu, Creator/DonaldSutherland, Creator/BurtLancaster, Creator/SterlingHayden, Dominique Sanda, Laura Betti, Stefania Sandrelli, Francesca Bertini, Stefania Casini, and Creator/AlidaValli. In total, some of the biggest American, Italian, and French actors of the 1970s.

* FakeNationality: The film's setting and characters are Italian, but its ([[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters very large]]) cast includes Americans (Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/SterlingHayden, Creator/BurtLancaster), French (Creator/GerardDepardieu, Dominique Sanda), Germans (Werner Bruhns, Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer, Ellen Schwiers), and a lone Canadian (Creator/DonaldSutherland).

* FakeNationality: The film's setting and characters are Italian, but its ([[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters very large]]) cast includes various Americans (Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/SterlingHayden, Creator/BurtLancaster), French (Creator/GerardDepardieu, Dominique Sanda), Germans (Werner Bruhns, Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer, Ellen Schwiers), and a lone Canadian (Creator/DonaldSutherland).

** Creator/OliverReed was considered for Attila Mellanchini.

* FakeNationality: The film's setting and characters are Italian, but it's ([[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters very large]]) cast includes various Americans (Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/SterlingHayden, Creator/BurtLancaster), French (Creator/GerardDepardieu, Dominique Sanda), Germans (Werner Bruhns, Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer, Ellen Schwiers), and a lone Canadian (Creator/DonaldSutherland).

* FakeNationality: The film's setting and characters are Italian, but it's ([[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters very large]]) cast includes various Americans (Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/SterlingHayden, Creator/BurtLancaster), Frenchmen (Creator/GerardDepardieu, Dominique Sanda), Germans (Werner Bruhns, Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer, Ellen Schwiers), and a lone Canadian (Creator/DonaldSutherland).

* FakeNationality: The film's setting and characters are Italian, but it's (EnsembleCast very large) cast includes various Americans (Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/SterlingHayden, Creator/BurtLancaster), Frenchmen (Creator/GerardDepardieu, Dominique Sanda), Germans (Werner Bruhns, Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer, Ellen Schwiers), and a lone Canadian (Creator/DonaldSutherland).

* FakeNationality: The film's setting and characters are Italian, but it's (very large) cast includes various Americans (Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/SterlingHayden, Creator/BurtLancaster), Frenchmen (Creator/GerardDepardieu, Dominique Sanda), Germans (Werner Bruhns, Anna Henkel-Grönemeyer, Ellen Schwiers), and a lone Canadian (Creator/DonaldSutherland).

** Sutherland, in contrast, found his part expanding throughout filming (the infamous cat headbutting scene was added literally at the last minute), not always to his benefit. He read several books on fascism to understand Attila's mindset, and believed that many of Bertolucci's alterations made Attila too absurd to be a credible villain. He recalled Bertolucci telling him "let's do [the character] your way and my way," a conflict that Sutherland [[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/sep/03/usa.film notes]] "never works in the actor's favor."
** Depardieu, meanwhile, resented being paid less than his costars and clashed with both of them while filming their scenes together; that he didn't speak English at the time further isolated him. Though Depardieu eventually managed a cordial relationship with Sutherland (in part because the latter spoke French), he and De Niro never warmed to each other and their interactions remained tense throughout the shoot.

** Sutherland, meanwhile, found his part expanding throughout filming (the infamous cat headbutting scene was added literally at the last minute), not always to his benefit. He read several books on fascism to understand Attila's mindset, and believed that many of Bertolucci's alterations made Attila too absurd to be a credible villain. He recalled Bertolucci telling him "let's do [the character] your way and my way," a conflict that Sutherland [[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/sep/03/usa.film notes]] "never works in the actor's favor."

** De Niro, who had only worked in American films until then, found that his Method acting did not agree with Bertolucci's meticulous direction. The two frequently argued over De Niro's performance and their differing approaches to the character; Bertolucci said that working with De Niro was "a nightmare", while De Niro admitted that his problem with Bertolucci was that "he told me what to do." De Niro also felt that he had the weakest of the three male leads and projected his resentment onto his costars.

* HostilityOnTheSet: Creator/BernardoBertolucci's directing style did not agree with Creator/RobertDeNiro's Method approach to acting and the two clashed repeatedly during filming (Bertolucci later said that working with De Niro was "a nightmare"). De Niro also resented the attention given to his costars Creator/GerardDepardieu and Creator/DonaldSutherland (especially the latter, whose character had several scenes added to the script during late rewrites) and felt that he had the weakest character of the three. Depardieu, meanwhile, resented being paid less than De Niro and Sutherland and butted heads with both of them while filming their scenes together; that he didn't speak English at the time further isolated him from his costars. Though Depardieu eventually managed a cordial relationship with Sutherland (in part because he spoke French), he and De Niro never warmed to each other and their interactions remained tense throughout filming.

** Bertolucci's initial casting choices included Creator/JackNicholson as Alfredo, Creator/PeterBoyle as Attila and Maria Schneider as Neve the prostitute. Nicholson and Boyle weren't able to commit to the project, while Schneider refused to work with Bertolucci again after her experiences making ''Film/LastTangoInParis''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bertolucci's initial casting choices included Creator/JackNicholson as Alfredo, Creator/PeterBoyle as Attila and Maria Schneider as Neve the prostitute. Nicholson and Boyle weren't able to commit to the project, while Schneider refused to work with Bertolucci again after her experiences making ''Film/LastTangoInParis''.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Creator/BernardoBertolucci was contractually obliged by Paramount to deliver a 195 minute cut, but refused to edit the film when he completed the movie. Nor was Paramount keen on Bertolucci's initial idea of releasing the film in two separate parts. Producer Alberto Grimaldi went behind Bertolucci's back and edited a 190 minute version, which so disgusted Bertolucci that agreed to supervise a 245 minute version. This version played overseas, while the longer 317 minute version was released in Europe.