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CibbuanoOnce Upon a Time in America
May 23rd 2006 14:01
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
The story isn't anything particularly new - some Jewish-American hoods form a gang and promise to stick together and work for nobody. From here we follow their 'career' as gangsters-for-hire throughout the prohibition era. Whatever the plot may lack is made up by the film's engaging structure. It starts with the collapse of the gang, flashing forward to it's sole surviving member thirty years later, and then flashing back to their beginnings. At first it misleads the audience and risks serious dangers of losing them, but as the film continues the audience is shown various gaps in the narrative - spots open to interpretation that surprisingly enhance the quality of the film. It's hard to explain without giving anything away, but it isn't as complex as it may sound, and it's a triumph of filmmaking that it works as well as it does.
The performances are capable, but don't take centrestage. De Niro underplays, letting a lot of the more colourful supporting players step up. James Woods is in fine form, and Joe Pesci dominates in a small part that's not really anything more than a cameo. All this is secondary though, the driving force of this film is it's direction - Leone has an operatic eye (if not a little melodramatic in parts) that lends an epic feel to even the smallest and most inconsequential of scenes. The dialogue didn't really do much for me, but it’s intermittent at best, lending the film an opiate dream-like quality.
James Woods and Robert De Niro
This isn't a film that will be to everyone’s taste. Indeed, it starts rather slowly, and relies heavily on visuals to hold it's audience. But there's a sort of magic at work here that is seldom seen in 'gangster' movies. The final shot (before the credits roll) burnt itself into my brain so badly that it changed the way I thought I'd feel about this film.
TRIVIA: Studios of the time forced Leone to make extensive cuts to the film so that it would be short enough to show to audiences... after nearly unanimous praise from critics and the like the original cut was restored.
DIRECTOR: Sergio Leone
WRITER: Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Franco Arcalli, Franco Ferrini, Sergio Leone
ACTORS: Robert De Niro, James Wood, Elizabeth McGovern, Treat Williams, Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Danny Aiello, William Forsythe.
SOURCE: “The Hoods” by Harry Gray.
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
About Once Upon a Time... I thought it dragged on and was quite dull, actually...even deNiro didn't hold it up, in my opinion, and I hate James Wood.
I think Once Upon a Time in the West is sheer brilliance, instead...
The part with a young Jennifer Connelly is surprising and uncomfortably sexual...