Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Sergio Leone was known as the master of the Spaghetti Western. His contemporaries like Federico Felini were very unique and never delved into specific genres. However, Leone, like his contemporaries, created a style all on his own. The close-up in a Leone film has so much impact that it gives you a sense of that character's emotions. We can feel that Clint Eastwood is serious about anybody being in his territory. And in Once Upon a Time in the West, we can feel the pain that Charles Bronson is going through as he faces his past. In many ways, the craft of his films really did shine in the Western genre, and he managed to establish an art that was once heralded by John Ford, and completely change the landscape for all Westerns to follow (such as Wild Bunch and Unforgiven, the film to change the entire morality of the characters in that timeframe). But for many years, he had wanted to tackle another genre. One that I feel cemented his legacy as one of the finest filmmakers to ever live. And that film was Once Upon a Time in America.

I think Once Upon a Time in America was the film that Leone was building up to for years. His knowledge on America and his I'm love for the book "The Hoods" made him want to make a gangster film, and this fervor took up a whole decade of his career. He eventually secured a producer, and convinced him to produce his magnum opus. The producer said that Leone had actually relayed the script in what seemed like 3hrs and 49 minutes, which was the running time of the film (taking the recent Extended Director's Cut out of account). He had already shot the film in his mind, and on the set, he would supposedly enact every single action that the young and Adult actors had to do. And you can see the delicacy of every movement in the film. Even moments like when the young Patsy (an uprising gangster) is eating a Charlotte Rouse, and he's trying to make it look like it hasn't been touched at all, so that he could give it to Peggy to achieve his desires with her, he can't stop the desire he has to eat the Charlotte Rouse, and this is like a trigger to the way gangsters lose control throughout the entire film. It is one of the simplest vignettes ever, yet it leaves such an impact.

I mentioned that Leone had to direct both young and Adult actors, and this lets me segue into the narrative structure of the film. It is set up in three different periods of time. You have the 1920's Prohibition era that focuses on the young uprising gangsters, how they hustle drunks for a bit of money, settle ordeals, how they got their liquor, and it establishes the crucial relationship between Noodles (the main character who is played by Robert De Niro in his adult years) and Max (the leader who is played by James Woods) and the power of both friendship and betrayal is represented throughout. Max is looking to build a massive empire, and Noodles just wants money, and the love of his life, Deborah (played by a young Jennifer Connelly and Elizabeth McGovern). As the years go on, these characters become tied to their own goals, and it becomes a very visceral experience. We see all Noodles desires is his beloved Deborah, who has higher hopes in life, and couldn't settle the on the one she loves, and even in prison, he couldn't stop fantasizing about her. Whereas Max's desire to succeed far surpasses any love he has for his woman, Carol (played by the wonderful Tuesday Weld), who takes it on the chin. Noodles, and his friends Patsy, Cockeye and Max are probably one of the first times that Jewish gangsters have been portrayed in film, and it provides a refreshing experience to behold. And we also have the 1960's where we see Noodles as an old man, riddled with grief, and left with nothing but his memories. Something has came to his attention though that has made him come back to his hometown after years spent in Buffalo (we can only assume what he was doing during that time).
Now while the film is set up in three different periods, it is the telling of the story that makes it so profound (which is the reason why the theatrical version of the film was such a disaster). See from the very beginning, we already suspect that Noodles is a wanted man, yet we haven't found out who he is yet. De Niro always manage to pull off an intense performance in his eyes, and as Ennio Morricone's splendidly resonant score takes place, we can feel that he is no longer the man that he used to be. In fact, in some ways the film could even be interpreted as a dream since there's so many connections to the opium den where Noodles goes to decompress. The use of transition such as the light fade out which brings us to a moment of revelation and the use of a Frisby to bring us back to the past is some of the most technically proficient moments of storytelling that I have ever witnessed and it makes me fall for the world that the film creates. It is a puzzle that rarely falls into place, and even with the Extended Director's Cut, it can still spellbound you by its power. The extended edition throws in some really interesting scenes like when Noodles is trying to find out who the mysterious person is, the origins of the cemetery where his friends were buried, and what happened when they went for a "swim". It even adds an extra layer of emotion to the reunion between Noodles and Deborah.

The use of "Yesterday" truly does bring a lot of the regret of Noodles' and Max's characters to the surface. They grew up together, yet their minds were in completely different places. And even in their Adult years before old age, you feel how withdrawn Noodles becomes with their heist operations. He even asks his friend after committing an extremely violent act: "Today they ask me to get rid of Joe; tomorrow they ask me to get rid of you? Is that okay with you? Because it's not okay with me". It is a battle between heart and mind, and the film does a tremendous job at absorbing us into that, whether we like the characters or not. 4hrs and 6 minutes of the film may be a bit long for some, but to experience a film like this is to experience the growth of a wonderful genre and the power of time itself.  "When you are betrayed by a friend, you fight back".