Review of Once Upon a Time in America (1984) by Matt M — 20 Jul 2013

Set in New York City during the Prohibitioon era, this is the story of a quintet of mobsters from boyhood to old age. Once Upon a Time is the only film that Leone got to direct outside of the western genre and certainly ranks among the great filmmaker's works.

Here, Leone is particularly not afraid to push the boundaries of the anti-hero structure and sugar coating his lead characters by painting them as lowlife hoodlums and giving way to some disturbingly violent scenes mixed with an atmosphere of melancholia which makes this one of the most compelling films of the crime genre and the anti-Godfather par excellence.

Apart from it being thematically and psychologically compelling, the film is also a visually majestic, with its wonderful sets and astounding cinematophaphy which highlights the perfectionism of its filmmaker.

Furthermore, it is yet another fantastic collaboration between Leone and Morricone, whose score for Once Upon a Time in America is among the best he ever composed.