Once Upon a Time in America
Last night, I watched this film for the first time - the 4 1/2 hour cut that screened at the festivals, rather than the 1 1/2 hour cut the studio thought more appropriate for less discriminating moviegoers...
What a fantastic movie. On the one hand, Sergio Leone is certainly the catalyst for so much of the violence in our storytelling today, and it's because he uses shocking visuals to such great effect.
On the other hand, Once Upon a Time in America, for all it's immorality and the peace it finds within that, is one of the great Hollywood melodramas, as emotionally rich as Gone With the Wind. With his editing and cinematography, Leone blends those two worlds seamlessly - the world of seventies exploitation with the sweeping visuals of epic Hollywood romance - and that borderline, where New York truly shines... Has New York ever looked so good on film?
No. Not to my knowledge.
It deals with the search of one man for love and peace in his life, and uses that life a vehicle to illustrate the evolution of crime in the United States. Each scene in this film is the stuff of Hollywood legend, and without a doubt, Robert Deniro shines. To see so many actors that are only now getting their due working so hard and so well in this film... Even Jennifer Connelly is in it! It's her first role, she couldn't be more than fifteen, and she gets about twenty minutes of front-and-center screentime.
There's no way to cut this film and make it work. I actually felt it needed one or two more details - like a stronger indication of Max's ambition, prior to the "big score" itself. I thought Max was showing himself to be less of a thug than Noodles, and it surprised me. At the same time, it's in keeping with melodrama... To me, it seems likely Max would have said something. Noodles would have forgotten, as people do.
Anyhow, they didn't just cut bits like that before showing it in theaters, they cut THREE QUARTERS of the movie! No wonder nobody sees it.
See it.
What a fantastic movie. On the one hand, Sergio Leone is certainly the catalyst for so much of the violence in our storytelling today, and it's because he uses shocking visuals to such great effect.
On the other hand, Once Upon a Time in America, for all it's immorality and the peace it finds within that, is one of the great Hollywood melodramas, as emotionally rich as Gone With the Wind. With his editing and cinematography, Leone blends those two worlds seamlessly - the world of seventies exploitation with the sweeping visuals of epic Hollywood romance - and that borderline, where New York truly shines... Has New York ever looked so good on film?
No. Not to my knowledge.
It deals with the search of one man for love and peace in his life, and uses that life a vehicle to illustrate the evolution of crime in the United States. Each scene in this film is the stuff of Hollywood legend, and without a doubt, Robert Deniro shines. To see so many actors that are only now getting their due working so hard and so well in this film... Even Jennifer Connelly is in it! It's her first role, she couldn't be more than fifteen, and she gets about twenty minutes of front-and-center screentime.
There's no way to cut this film and make it work. I actually felt it needed one or two more details - like a stronger indication of Max's ambition, prior to the "big score" itself. I thought Max was showing himself to be less of a thug than Noodles, and it surprised me. At the same time, it's in keeping with melodrama... To me, it seems likely Max would have said something. Noodles would have forgotten, as people do.
Anyhow, they didn't just cut bits like that before showing it in theaters, they cut THREE QUARTERS of the movie! No wonder nobody sees it.
See it.
I've seen both versions, and while I find the "uncut" to be a superior vision, I think I was jaded by the shorter cut.
That, and quite frankly, I didn't find the story all that compelling. A good, solid movie to be sure, but I think that's as far as I'd take it.
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Definitely, the story grabbed me. Melodrama so rarely deals with the conflicts that come up between men... Ultimate betrayal, and ultimate forgiveness between men that were never taught how to forgive. I loved it!
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The story depicts the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to fame in New York City's world of organized crime. The theme of the story is about childhood friendships, love, loss, greed, violence, relationship in American society.
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I don't how fantastic was the video you have watched. Anyway, that sounds very intriguing and I would like to watch it too. Thanks for your impression with the said movie.
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