Extraordinary film. Reminds me why I love cinema.

Rating: 10/10 (21 August 2007)

I love this film. It is one of the films that truly made me fall in love with cinema as an art form. "Once Upon A Time In America" is one of the rarest of films where all cinematic elements such as writing,directing,acting, cinematography and score simply fit together and compliment each other so perfectly.
The story concerns the rise and fall of Jewish gangsters in New York during the Prohibition period. However, there is much,much more to this film than that. In a post-Tarantino cinematic landscape, just about every crime or gangster film has a post-ironic, knowing sense of its own 'coolness' and posturing. Most of the time, this comes off as pretentious and lazy filmaking.
"Once Upon A Time In America" is truly a film without irony. There is this very powerful sense of melancholy and regret that infuses just about every frame of the film where the characters are adults. In the early flashbacks to the characters as children, this is absent until the scene of Bugsy's murder and the subsequent arrest of Noodles.
There is an unforgettable and key scene with Noodles in the back of the police wagon waving goodbye to his friends as he's taken away to jail. The sense of regret and sheer emotional pain that Noodles will feel as the story and his life progresses is first evident in that extraordinary sequence.
This is an incredibly ambiguous film that is very much open to one's own interpretation. A viewer could watch the film believing that everything on screen takes place. However, another way of looking at the story is that nothing progressed past 1933 and that the 1968 sequences were in fact an opium-induced dream that Noodles was having while in the opium den. I can see both sides and try not to make a decision either way. I love how this film can be viewed and interpreted in so many ways.
The acting in this film is an absolute joy to behold. This is one of the best De Niro performances.While an unlikeable character, Noodles is a very interesting study of a broken life. He is matched every step of the way by an exceptional James Woods as Max. Woods has said that this is his favourite performance of his. The younger cast members, including a 10 year-old Jennifer Connelly, are especially effective during the flashback sequences.
I cannot recommend this film highly enough. Admittedly, it is a very demanding film upon its viewer. However, concentrate and the rewards will be immense. I still find myself going back to it every so often. This film and David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" are the two films that taught me a great deal about subtext and how to truly 'watch' and appreciate cinema when I was discovering a love for this art form.
For that, I'll always have a soft spot for this film. This is undoubtedly my pick as Leone's best film.