Review of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) by Jonathan B — 08 Aug 2013
When we think of the best mob-movies of all time, "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas" come to mind. Nevertheless, "The Godfather" portrayed the Corleone family as kind criminals, and "Goodfellas" had too little heart for me.
Of course, I'm comparing some of the best films of all time and nitpicking. Then comes "Once Upon a Time in America," a film with enough heart, and rugged truth about mob-life to rival the two above films.
Director Sergio Leone left with guns blazing (no pun intended) with his final feature.Its an epic-crime drama revolving around a Jewish boy and his Jewish friends who start off as hooligans and become elevated into the mafia.
The score by Ennio Morricone, arguably the best film composer, is beautiful and evokes a certain melancholia that I have never felt in a film. The cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli is magnificent and fits the epic tale perfectly.
The large bridges and buildings are captured perfectly as well as the small dimly lit rooms I truly believe that he is the most underrated cinematographer of all time. The screenplay written by a whopping eight people is the heart of this film.
It does not pose us easy questions. It does not give us easy answers. That is what life is truly like. The mafia is portrayed as grotesque in an honest way. They do not care about anyone except for themselves and their money.
I applaud Leone for shooting some extremely brutal scenes for this film without hesitation. You live the life of the main character, David 'Noodles' Aaronson, for four hours. It is not a pretty life, but at least it is depicted truthfully.
The cast is filled with big names like DeNiro, Pesci, James Woods, etc. None of them disappoint and my favorite performance has to be a toss up between Woods and DeNiro. "Once Upon a Time in America" is a miraculous epic which is perfect in every technical way and is my favorite mob movie since it asks difficult questions, does not give us concrete answers, and reveals the cold-hard truth behind the mafia.
This review of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) was written by Jonathan B on 08 Aug 2013.
Once Upon a Time in America has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
