《海上钢琴师》是意大利著名导演朱塞佩·托纳托雷的三部曲之一。讲述了一个被命名为1900的弃婴在一艘远洋客轮上与钢琴结缘，成为钢琴大师的传奇故事。电影是由亚历山卓·巴利科根据1994年的剧场文本《1900：独白》改编而成。

　　男主角1900(人名)的整个人生都已经是一场悲剧了。他是一个被人遗弃在蒸气船上的孤儿，被船上一位好心的烧炉工收养，然而好人不得好报，烧炉工在一次意外中死亡，只有几岁大的1900又再度成为了孤儿。过人的天赋使他无师自通成了一名钢琴大师，但宿命也令他天然地对红尘俗世深怀戒意，他从不敢离船上岸去，只因纽约无际的高楼和川流不息的人群令他没有安全感。纵使后来遇上了一位一见钟情的少女，他思量再三后，还是放弃了上岸寻找初恋情人的冲动。他永远地留在船上了，直到唯一的好朋友警告他废船将要被炸毁，他也不愿离开，于是从出生开始就没有离开过维吉尼亚号的1900殉船于海底。1990，这个既没有出生纪录，也没有身份证明的人，没有留下一点痕迹就在人间蒸发，就如流逝了的音符一样，渺无踪影了。

海上钢琴师经典台词

　　1、Why why why why why… I think land people waste a lot of time wondering why. Winter comes they can't wait for summer; summer comes they're living dread of winter. That's why you're never tired of travelling, with chasing some place far away, where there's always summer. That doesn't sound like a good bet to me.

　　陆上的人喜欢寻根问底，虚度了大好光阴。冬天忧虑夏天的姗姗来迟，夏天则担心冬天的将至。所以他们不停四处游走，追求一个遥不可及、四季如夏的地方我并不羡慕。

　　2、All that city. You just couldn't see the end to it. The end? Please? You please just show me where it ends? It was all very fine on that gangway. And I was grand too, in my overcoat. I cut quite a figure. And I was getting off. Guaranteed. There was no problem. It wasn't what I saw that stopped me, Max. It was what I didn't see. You understand that? What I didn't see. In all that sprawling city there was everything except an end. There was no end. What I did not see was where the whole thing came to an end. The end of the world…