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Once Upon a Time in America

Embassy International Pictures

The Ladd Company

Rafran Cinematografica

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עִבְרִית

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Robert De Niro

James Woods

Elizabeth McGovern

Treat Williams

Tuesday Weld

Joe Pesci

Burt Young

James Hayden

William Forsythe

Larry Rapp

Amy Ryder

Scott Schutzman Tiler

Rusty Jacobs

Jennifer Connelly

Brian Bloom

Adrian Curran

Mike Monetti

Noah Moazezi

James Russo

Darlanne Fluegel

Danny Aiello

Richard Bright

Frank Gio

Ray Dittrich

Mario Brega

Julie Cohen

Richard Foronjy

Olga Karlatos

Clem Caserta

Frank Sisto

Jerry Strivelli

Mike Gendel

Sandra Solberg

Margherita Pace

Paul Herman

Bruno Iannone

Bruno Bilotta

Angelo Florio

Marcia Jean Kurtz

Gerard Murphy

Dutch Miller

Robert Harper

Karen Shallo

Frankie Caserta

Joey Marzella

Marvin Scott

Ann Neville

Joey Faye

Linda Ipanema

Tandy Cronyn

Richard Zobel

Baxter Harris

Arnon Milchan

Marty Licata

Estelle Harris

Gerritt Debeer

Alexander Godfrey

Cliff Cudney

Paul Farentino

Bruce Bahrenburg

Mort Freeman

Massimo Liti

Jay Zeely

Salvatore Billa

Scott Coffey

Marco Stefanelli

Nunzio Giuliani

Nelson Camp

Dario Iori

Ole Jorgensen

Francesca Leone

Chuck Low

Ron Nummi

Ryan Paris

Nicola Roberto

Gianni Sanjust

Alex Serra

Susan Spafford

Mark Frazer

Maria Pia Monicelli

Claudio Mancini

Rossana Canghiari

Gabe Videla

Joy Todd

Sergio Leone

Danilo Bollettini

Enrico Medioli

Ennio Morricone

Cis Corman

Stuart Kaminsky

Carlo Tafani

Piero De Bernardi

Franco Arcalli

Gabriella Pescucci

Giovanni Corridori

Romano Mancini

Leonardo Benvenuti

Franco Ferrini

Harry Grey

Jacques Godbout

Nilo Jacoponi

Maria Teresa Corridoni

Randy Coronato

Mario Cotone

Ginette Hardy

Renata Magnanti

Walter Massi

Vincenzo Cardella

Fred C. Caruso

Gino Zamprioli

Manlio Rocchetti

Nino Baragli

David Bailey

Luca Morsella

Nello Giorgetti

Tullio Lullo

Bruno Charier

Elliot Tyson

Louis Craig

Walter Klymkiw

John Newby

Patrizia Ceresani

Lizi Gelber

Dominique Bruballa

Maurizio Cusano

Italo Cameracanna

Jean-Pierre Ruh

Edward Cohen

Diana Di Michele

Simona Patitucci

Fabio Ancillai

Fernando Caso

Daniele Quadroli

Augusto Diamanti

Antonio Scaramuzza

Dougie Hawkes

Francesca Alatri

Eric P. Steckler

Eugene Rizzo

Bruno Cesari

Gretchen Rau

Giancarlo De Leonardis

Jacques Thomas-Gérard

Brian Campbell

Steve Baker

Flo Gallant

Elvira Tonini

Reuben Gonzalez

Tonino Delli Colli

Giovanni Natalucci

Fabrizio Sergenti Castellani

Elio Bosi

Helen P. Butler

Gail Kearns

Roberto Magagnini

Dan Mahoney

Luigi Porto

Zach Staenberg

Lucie Drolet

Osvaldo Desideri

Amy Wells

Carlo Vinciguerra

Jean Courteau

Ornella Chistolini

Howard Heard

Pierluigi Pietroniro

Enzo Diliberto

Gheorghe Zamfir

Jennifer W. Shore

Carlo Simi

Alain Giguère

Olivier Zenenski

Normand Guy

Robert Benmussa

Fausto Capozzi

Andres Gomez

Stereotypical Sergio Leone film with endless waitings and sight crossings.

One of the performances that made Robert de Niro de actor he is and an interesting way of telling a story and the evolution of America during the years of the alcohol prohibition.

Filipe Manuel Neto

**It's an excellent film, which proves the importance of good post-production, and how bad editing can ruin the whole thing.**

There are certain films that impress us so much when we see them that we are really surprised when we discover how ignored they were by the great awards. This film is one of them: I was really shocked to find that it wasn't even nominated for an Oscar or a Golden Globe… and I had to read a bit to understand why that happened.

The film is perhaps one of the best in Sérgio Leone's extensive filmography, and is often compared to other great gangster films such as "Godfather". I, personally, wouldn't dare to do that, but I could still put this film in the “top ten” of the great mobster films. Amazingly, it was a huge box office failure in the US because they insisted on releasing there an extremely cut version, with about two and a half hours. A version so forgettable and badly edited that no one understood the story and that the film had no chance of running for the highest awards in the industry! It was a shot in the foot and proves the importance of a good edition for the quality of the product. Sometimes a longer film is preferable to a sterile, abridged version.

The script is wonderful and follows the criminal path of a small group of youngsters from a Jewish community in New York, stretching from the 20s to the 60s. The story revolves around Noodles, but the main character ends up being Max, who becomes the gang's boss. The relationship between them is very well explored. However, not everything went well: there is a love sub-plot between Noodles and Deborah that is never taken further, there are several characters that seem too sketchy and underdeveloped and there are situations that the film doesn't know how to explore as it should (the most glaring being the violent death of the youngest gang member). I just can't say how many of these problems started in the editing room, with radical cuts in the story told.

Robert DeNiro was one of the first names to be hired for the cast, and had a say in the choice of several other actors. DeNiro is impeccable, and he provides us with excellent quality work. Moreover, I think that this helped to glue the actor's image a little to the criminal films in the popular imagination, along with “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas”. James Woods is also amazing in the role he has been given and leaves with this film his greatest film work. Elizabeth McGovern also does very well here, although I feel that the actress was not able to make her career take off afterward (I only saw her really successful now, with “Downton Abbey”). I also liked the brief, but remarkable, participation of Jennifer Connelly, still very young. And I feel sorry for Joe Pesci, because the actor is wasted by appearing only in a couple of scenes (perhaps another victim of the radical cuts in the editing room).

Leone uses everything he knows in this film and provides us with incredible, beautiful cinematography, which knows how to take advantage of slow camera movements, close-ups in the most striking scenes and intense colors. The flashbacks are quite well-marked, and anyone familiar with the cinematic resource will have no difficulty in following the temporal advances and retreats that take place. The special effects do their job well, the costumes are excellent, and the characterization has its moments (DeNiro has been masterfully aged, and very much resembles what he is today). As a film where crime and violence are things we expect to find, we have an array of violent scenes and graphic situations that include not only brutal murders, beatings and shootings but also teen sex, voyeurism and, most notably, a long and particularly graphic rape scene. It's not a movie for the faint-hearted. A final word for the soundtrack, by Ennio Morricone. It is highly regarded by connoisseurs and I admit it works, but I'm not a fan of the pan pipe. I feel it gives the film an oriental touch, it would be something I would expect more from a martial arts film soundtrack.

CinemaSerf

Told by way of a really potent (and well scored by Morricone) retrospective, this sits us down and takes us through a forty year period in the life of the now down-at-heel "Noodles" (Robert De Niro) and of the development of the city of New York. The contents of an old briefcase serve as an aide memoire as the retrospective illustrates just how he and three of his childhood friends decided that the gutter was not for them, and that using the "system" to get on was the only way. Prohibition, violence, crime, brutality were the currency back then and "Noodles" learned not to have scruples about such things. Love, romance feature too - choices, compromises and tragedy all feature as Sergio Leone and De Niro immerses us in the characterful and emotionally charged chronology. The film looks great, the attention to detail is superb, and a really strong supporting cast help offer us s sense that we are actually there for much of the time. Living and breathing the squalor, the danger, the opportunity and perhaps, the inevitability, of the paths these kids took in a the 1930s. It is very long, but that's effective rather than dull. It allows the characters to develop, to breathe and then to disappear - only, perhaps, to reappear in a different guise later on. Ageing is also a factor here too - just as they rose, others rise too with differing standards and ethics - their sense of loyalty and integrity not quite marrying up! No Oscar nominations which is really rather odd - this is easily one of the best, most authentic-looking, depictions of the rise of NYC that cinema has ever delivered. Director's cut on a big screen if you can - it helps focus the attention, shows the cinematography to best effect and helps appreciate just how vast Leone's vision was.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA: (Extended Director's Cut) - Trailer - Sergio Leone, Robert De Niro

Once Upon A Time in America ≣ 1984 ≣ Trailer

Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Official Trailer #1 - Robert De Niro, James Woods Gangster Drama

Extended Director's Cut | Mausoleum

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