Review of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) by Brandon M — 03 Jan 2010

Between this and Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas", "Once Upon A Time in America" is one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) gangster film of all time, from the cinematography, to Ennio Morricone's absolutely gorgeous film score, to the performances. Sergio Leone on this film of all what he was truly capable of, and it is a damned shame he is no longer with us.

There are scenes of utter beauty, and scenes of utter brutality, the hardest scene to watch is between Deborah (played by the gorgeous Elizabeth McGovern) and David "Noodles" Aronson (Robert DeNiro) after there dinner date by the shore, but its meant to convey a hidden message Noodles has, his inability to correctly show his emotions to women and at time violence is the only way he can. The final scene with James Woods and DeNiro are both simply gorgeous and tense you dont know what happens but you know whats gonna happen.

The film is blessed with 4 things, amazing attention to detail and shooting locations (the rooftop scenes when they are kids are simply phenomenal), A great cast, Ennio Morricone's hauntingly beautiful score and the most important Sergio Leones broad audacity to undertake such a project and eschewing his "spaghetti western" background to give us something the italian master wanted to do. For Leone he said with each shot he lost 5 years off his life, it is a testament to one mans love for movies and to tell a story. This now ties with Schindler's List as my all time favorite film, at 3 hours and 49 minutes it may seem a bit daunting but its a viewing that will leave you breathless.