{"id":2572,"date":"2024-08-19T04:20:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T04:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2572"},"modified":"2024-10-13T18:25:46","modified_gmt":"2024-10-13T22:25:46","slug":"once-upon-a-time-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/19\/once-upon-a-time-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Once Upon a Time in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Once Upon a Time in America <\/strong>(1984)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Ladd Company\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 229 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong violence including rape, sexual content, language, some drug use)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Sergio Leone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini and Sergio Leone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Ennio Morricone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 1, 1984 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, Treat Williams, Danny Aiello, Richard Bright, James Hayden, William Forsythe, Darlanne Fluegel, Larry Rapp, Richard Foronji, Scott Tiler, Rusty Jacobs, Brian Bloom, Adrian Curran, Noah Moazezi, Mike Monetti, Jennifer Connelly, James Russo, Robert Harper, Dutch Miller, Gerard Murphy, Amy Ryder, Julie Cohen, Arnon Milchan, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Estelle Harris, Joey Faye, Olga Karlatos, Frank Gio, Ray Dittrich, Mario Brega, Chuck Low, Francesca Leone.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $5.3M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0If murdering a movie was a felony, those that butchered Sergio Leone\u2019s masterpiece Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong> prior to its US release would be serving life sentences without parole. In their infinite wisdom, the folks at the now-defunct Ladd Company decided it would be a good idea to cut the nearly four-hour gangster drama by 90 minutes and rearrange the non-chronological story into chronological order. They believed it would make it more commercially viable and clarify the plot for audiences. Instead, they turned it into an incomprehensible mess that not even Sherlock Holmes could decipher. It bombed as I expected and disappeared quickly from theaters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0By way of protest, I refused to see the shortened version of Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong>. It\u2019s bad enough the studio did a total botch job on it. It\u2019s made worse by them doing it against Leone\u2019s wishes. It still angers me to this day. I decided to hold out until I could see it in its intended form; it was my way of showing support for the artist and his original version. Luckily, the studio wisely released the (almost) full version on video the following February. That\u2019s when I saw it and it was excellent. I didn\u2019t know it then, but it was trimmed by three minutes due to two rape scenes and some graphic violence. It was finally released in its entirety on DVD in \u201903. Well, not exactly its entirety. Leone originally delivered a 269-minute cut of Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong>, but was convinced by distributors to shorten it to 229 minutes. A restored version of the 4-hour 29-minute movie is currently in the works (according to Wikipedia).<\/p>\n

\u00a0There is no easy way to explain the plot of Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong> with its mosaic-like narrative. It doesn\u2019t mean I won\u2019t try. I\u2019ll start with the framing device set in 1968. After 35 years of self-exile, former gangster Noodles (De Niro, Raging Bull) returns to his old stomping grounds in Manhattan\u2019s Lower East Side to confront demons from his past. All these years, he\u2019s been carrying the guilt of betraying his friends to the police and causing their deaths. He soon learns he\u2019s not the betrayer but the betrayed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The events leading up to the incident that changed Noodles\u2019 life for the worse are related through a series of flashbacks starting in 1918 when he just a young street punk who roamed the streets with his friends doing odd jobs for local crime boss Bugsy (Russo, Beverly Hills Cop). He\u2019s in love with a girl named Deborah (Connelly in her debut), an aspiring actress and dancer who\u2019s obviously too good for him. She tells him as much. One day, he meets Max who convinces them to start their own gang independent of Bugsy. They briefly enjoy success before their old boss murders one of the boys. Noodles kills him in retaliation and goes to prison for it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0When he gets out circa 1930, he learns his old gang- Max (Woods, Against All Odds), Cockeye (Forsythe, Extreme Prejudice) and Patsy (Hayden who died before the film\u2019s release)- made it big in the bootlegging business while he was away. They operate out of a speakeasy owned by their childhood friend Fat Moe (Rapp). That\u2019s not the only illegal enterprise they\u2019re into. They also provide protection for a labor union boss (Williams, Prince of the City) who goes from idealistic to corrupt upon realizing there\u2019s no room for an honest man in the union racket. Meanwhile, Noodles tries to rekindle his relationship with Deborah (McGovern, Ragtime) who realized her dream of becoming a dancer. Feelings haven\u2019t changed much on either side. He\u2019s still very much in love with her. She still thinks he\u2019s not good enough for her.<\/p>\n

\u00a0When Prohibition ends, it effectively leaves the gang unemployed. Max comes up with the idea for a robbery that could get them all killed. In a decision not made lightly, Noodles informs on his friends to save their lives. It doesn\u2019t work out the way he intends. His lifelong friends get killed and Noodles has to leave town to avoid three determined hitmen. That brings us full circle to \u201968 where Noodles begins to piece together what really happened 35 years earlier. It\u2019s all connected to a mysterious rich politician who invites Noodles to a party at his mansion.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It might seem like I\u2019ve given way too much information about Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong>, but I assure you that\u2019s not the case. A lot happens over the course of nearly four hours. I\u2019m not going to sit here and list all of it. What I will say is it might or might not be a reflection of reality. This is precisely why it\u2019s bad that the studio tampered with it. Audiences unlucky enough to witness that crime against cinema didn\u2019t know what to make of it. When seen in its intended form, it becomes clearer what Leone is going for.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The key to understanding is in the narrative structure. Past, present and future blend together. Not everything makes sense. Flashbacks and flash-forwards occur at unexpected times. In one of the movie\u2019s best shots, a flashback is signaled by the sudden appearance of a frisbee. Music plays an important role here too. When it first flashes forward to \u201968, a forlorn rendition of \u201cYesterday\u201d plays over the soundtrack. ANYWAY, what does it all mean? That\u2019s not so simple. It could all be an opium dream experienced by De Niro\u2019s character. Or maybe a nightmare. Or it could simply be his memory made hazy by the passage of time. Leone\u2019s exquisite story construction of Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong> leaves it open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0De Niro delivers one of his finest performances as Noodles, a complex individual haunted by a past that might not be as he remembers it, if<\/em> he remembers it at all. As always, he wears his aging makeup quite well. He isn\u2019t afraid to get his hands dirty either. Noodles isn\u2019t a particularly decent person. He\u2019s pretty unlikable at times. After Deborah turns down his marriage proposal in favor of her career, he rapes her in the back of a chauffeur-driven car. This is more guilt he carries with him if it indeed happened at all. Woods is at his intense best as Max whose mental instability is confirmed by his violent reaction to Noodles calling him \u201ccrazy\u201d. He\u2019s the electrical current that gives Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong> a huge jolt of power. The powerhouse cast includes Joe Pesci (Goodfellas) and Burt Young (Rocky I-VI) as a couple of Detroit mobsters who hire the guys for a job, Tuesday Weld (Thief) as the inside girl who becomes Max\u2019s girlfriend and Danny Aiello (Do the Right Thing) as a police chief determined to break the workers\u2019 strike only to be brought to his knees by Noodles and the gang. Richard Bright (The Godfather I-III) and Darlanne Fluegel (To Live and Die in L.A.) show up in brief roles. Young Connelly shows tremendous promise in her debut.<\/p>\n

\u00a0On an artistic level, Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong> scores an A+++. It\u2019s not just a movie; it\u2019s a work of art. It\u2019s a perfect example of the poetry of cinema. Not only is it Sergio Leone\u2019s final film, it\u2019s his finest film. It\u2019s a great companion piece to his 1968 western Once Upon a Time in the West. I love his style. He has an eye for detail. He recreates each time period with complete authenticity with regards to clothing, cars, interior d\u00e9cor and everything else. The score by the wonderful Ennio Morricone is simply beautiful. The cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli is gorgeous. Leone couldn\u2019t have done what he does with Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong> without the help of editor Nino Baragli. It\u2019s that rare film that\u2019s as beautiful as it is brilliant.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong> is one of the greatest gangster dramas of all times. It\u2019s marvelous in its original form. It\u2019s long, violent, complex, compelling and consistently watchable. It doesn\u2019t feel like four hours at all. I never grew bored or restless. It grabs you and pulls you right into a world that possibly exists only in an opium-induced hallucination. I can\u2019t think of a single negative thing to say about it. It\u2019s perfect.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Ladd Company\/Drama\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 229 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (strong violence including rape, sexual content, language, some drug use)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Sergio Leone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini and Sergio Leone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Ennio Morricone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Tonino Delli Colli\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 1, 1984 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-these-are-some-classic-flicks","category-dramas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Once-Upon-a-Time-in-America.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2572"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3373,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2572\/revisions\/3373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}