This is Master Cinema!

Rating: 10/10 (24 March 2016)

Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian-American epic crime drama film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niroand James Woods. Based on Harry Grey's novel The Hoods, it chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime. The film explores themes of childhood friendships, love, lust, greed, betrayal, loss, broken relationships, and the rise of mobsters in American society. It was the final film of Leone's career and the first feature film he had directed in thirteen years.
The runtime of the film is 3h 50min and I didn't even go to the toilet all through it. It may be too long for most people but I can tell you that my wifey and me weren't even bored in the slightest. This is Sergio Leone at the height of his game and his direction is masterclass. His sketches of the characters are brief but underscored with verve. Words cannot begin to describe what he has accomplished here. The opening sequences kept me spellbound - a scene of violence, a sickening death, leading to De Niro at an opium den. You know the dragnet is closing in on him, then the fricking ringing phone that never stops ringing. I kept looking for an elusive ringing phone but it never comes. We are treated to images like three dead bodies which makes no sense at all, but dammit I couldn't tear my eyes and ears away, and then we flash forward 35 years and we see the bloody phone. What audacity! What spunk! The opening had me on the palm of its hand. I was minced meat, ready to be pounded, tenderised and moulded to become a viewer Sergio Leone wants. Such opacity in the images but you will instantly know you are in the hands of a master and have complete trust in him. Every scene is handcrafted to perfection with such a high level of meticulosity.
Don't get me talking about the ending. This is an ending that is impossible to shut up about. You will want to discuss with someone with at least some measure of acuity WTF was that about. For me there are two ways to look at the ending and what it means for the preceding over 3 hours you have just seen. This is as good as a mindfcuk but with such brilliance. I can say this is not a film for all tastes but it is definitely for cineastes out there