America and the romantic Gangster illustrated to perfection

Rating: Null/10 (11 May 2003)

Sergio Leone and Marconi have brought us some of the most beautiful scenes of cinematic beauty in their Italian made Western's. They showed a more real version of the wild west then American directors dared to show. The West was wild and lawless. We felt that all had no choice but to work outside of law as it did not exist. America, from the 20s to the 60s and 70s, is a modern world of Democracy and Law. Those who chose to be gangsters, did so out of their own choice. Especially the Jewish ones, as they could all have gone to school and become successful in a totally acceptable manner. This is the main difference between the world of "Once Upon a Time in the West", and the world of "Once Upon a Time in America". Two different worlds and two completely different films. Both mesmerizing. We see the world and life of two Jewish Gangsters (Deniro and Woods) being Noodles and Max. We see them from school children, to old men. All parts important and shown in various forms of flashbacks. All the flashbacks edited with music and scenery as to blend together in a dream. The Actors who play the children, look like child versions of Deniro and woods. The attention to details is wonderful. The music is part of the characters and part of their lives. At one point one of the charactors plays the main movie theme on a wind pipe. We are watching a poetic fairy tale of gangsters in love. They are in love with their image, themselves and their friends and sweethearts. The movie is about temptation. In one of the childhood scenes, a 12 year old boy is waiting to have a sexual experience with the local girl tramp. Her price is an ice cream Sunday. He has to wait until she finishes with someone else. While he is waiting, the ice cream starts to melt and the camera pans the boys face. He licks the melted cream and watches it. After a little while he has forgotten the girl and finishes the ice cream. He is just a boy after all. His real temptation the ice cream and the sex just a result of peer pressure. The scene is without dialogue and is beautiful.

This is a Leone film and our hero is still thoughtful and silent. Here he is played by Deniro and we are in awe as to how a great actor can convey the silent hero with expressions and emotional force. Deniro is superb.

The constant flashbacks in this film should make it hard to follow the story line, but instead sucks us into the characters, their motives and their life. It sucks us in and we are captivated. This captivation this interest allows us to follow the story with ease. This is brilliance of the movie.
Leone has made a different film then he has made before and he has kept his style and reinvented the Hollywood version of the Gangster film. There is no glamour in our thugs. Even Deniro does not know how to make love to a woman. After all he was in prison for many years. He is a thug. This is not "The Godfather". It is real and stunning.
The ending is perfect as it makes you think. A smile give out the last fact in the story that is missing, but it lets you figure this out for yourself. Remember the smile. Remember Deniro in his greatest role. Remember Leone.
Great film. A must see for all who love what is good in the movies.