Once Upon a Time in America Movie (1984)
Sergio Leone’s Epic About Jewish Mobsters Stars De Niro, Woods
Mar 18, 2009
By turns stunning, confusing and brilliant, Once Upon a Time in America is an epic masterwork by one of the world’s great filmmakers. At its heart is a non-linear story, filtered through the memories and experiences of Robert De Niro’s character. The sweeping, ellipse-filled film jumps back and forth in time, often leaving viewers bewildered but, more significantly, allowing them the experience of interpreting the meaning of this rich cinematic mosaic.
Sergio Leone's Final Film
The film was directed by Italy’s Sergio Leone, best known for his “spaghetti westerns” of the 1960s. As Leone’s final film, America conforms to his trademark of creating a huge canvas featuring mythic, prototypical characters plopped down into a real historical context. He did it in many of his earlier movies, including this film’s natural predecessors, Once Upon a Time in the West and A Fistful of Dynamite. (The films are sometimes called an unofficial trilogy.)
De Niro and Woods as Jewish Gangsters?
In this case, Jewish gangsters -- the Meyer Lanskys and Bugsy Siegels, et al. -- are represented by fictional stand-ins including Robert De Niro (as David “Noodles” Aaronson) and James Woods (as Max Bercowicz). Noodles, Max and three others meet as boys in Brooklyn’s Jewish ghetto of the 1920s.
But their Jewishness is incidental; these are among the most secular, cynical children you’ll see in a movie about a “simpler” time. In fact, there’s little point in thinking of them as Jewish, because they’ve mostly thrown off the shackles of their parents’ culture. They might as well be Italian or Irish. None even looks Jewish. Maybe that’s Leone’s point: a thug is a thug, regardless of ethnicity.
Their childhood street crimes form the basis for an adulthood of racketeering, drug smuggling and other criminal activity. And they’re the heroes!
Elizabeth McGovern and Jennifer Connelly Share Role
The film is not without problems. Maybe most noticeable is the issue of casting. None of the teen actors from the 1920s scenes resemble the adult actors they’re supposed to grow into. This is especially true of De Niro’s teenaged counterpart, actor Scott Tiler.
(However, one exception involves two actresses. Elizabeth McGovern plays a key role as the adult incarnation of Noodles’ love interest, Deborah. In 1920s scenes, Deborah is played by then-12-year-old Jennifer Connelly. The resemblance is noticeable, except they have different colored eyes. Details, details…)
Bromance at Heart of Film
James Woods is electric as Max, and his bromance with Noodles is at the heart of the story. Even when they betray each other – for quite opposite reasons – there remains an ironic and loyal connection that spans decades of estrangement.
The film spans roughly 40 years, between the late 1920s and 1968. But because of the complex flashback and flash-forward structure, it’s open to wide interpretation as to what everything means, and whether whole chunks are meant to be a dream.
Especially enigmatic is the meaning of the final shot, which some have interpreted as Noodles’ emotional reconciliation – in the face of anguish and disaster – with the life he shared with Max and the others.
Tuesday Weld, Danny Aiello in Supporting Roles
The strong cast includes Tuesday Weld in an intriguing supporting role as a masochistic moll; Treat Williams as a union organizer; Danny Aiello as a corrupt police chief; two relative unknowns as Noodles’ and Max’s adult cohorts – William Forsythe as Philip “Cockeye” Stein and James Hayden as Patrick “Patsy” Goldberg; and Larry Rapp as “Fat Moe,” whose family restaurant/bar-and-grille serves as the gang's lifelong hangout.
Morricone Delivers Magnificent Score
There are many fine performances, but perhaps the film’s real star is Leone’s longtime musical alter ego, legendary Italian film composer Ennio Morricone. His operatic main theme and other compositions (which link many scenes) comprise one of the most moving scores ever wedded to a film story. They suggest the sweeping nature of that story, define characters such as Cockeye and help build and sustain moods that permeate the film and the people in it.
Beware the Ladd Company's Butchered American Release
This movie deserves to be seen in its original European cut, all 3 hours, 49 minutes of it. On first release in 1984, the original American distributor, The Ladd Co., hacked it down to 2 hours 19 minutes to satisfy anxious American theater owners. By rearranging the entire film to make it chronological, The Ladd Co. effectively gutted it -- by destroying the cumulative power and sweep of Leone’s radical structure.
Do not settle for the bastardized short version. Accept no substitute! Set aside an entire evening and let this unique film wash over you. Once Upon a Time in America invites viewers to fill in the gaps themselves. To create their own version of what it all means. To be an artist right along with Leone. Few movies ever challenge their audiences so audaciously, and fewer actually deliver. This one does both.
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