A Potpourri of Vestiges Review: Leone's magnum opus and a testament to the free spirit of Art

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2011)

In order to cater to their everlasting lust for making money, the movie production studios have always endorsed the motto of quid pro quo – "A favor in return of another". Every movie-maker capable enough to be called an auteur—by the virtue of his knack for eccentricity and novelty—has had to borne the brunt of this naked opportunism: be it D.W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Orson Welles or Stanley Kubrick. Sergio Leone too had to pay collaterally by having to make five Westerns in order to get funding for his dream project, Once Upon a time in America (OUTA). OUTA is a masterpiece of epic proportions and is consummate on almost every level. The uniqueness of the movie is such that it can be looked upon from various angles with each perspective adding immensely to movie's substance and profundity. The movie not only transcends genres by making simultaneous forays into the realms of Crime, Drama, Mystery, Suspense and Fantasy, but also crosses on several occasions the fine line that separates Dream from Reality.
At the beginning of his career, Leone got widely proclaimed as a master of technique and style as he added new dimensions to cinematography and screenplay. Leone's directorial debut was 'A Fistful of dollars'. Movie's success was marred when Akira Kurosawa sued the production house for plagiarizing Yojimbo. Leone bounced back with 'For a Few More Dollars'. He single-handedly reinvented the Western genre by providing a completely different perspective to the Old West, which was hitherto portrayed as the battle ground for the epic battle of virtue versus vice in the backdrop of chivalry and machismo. With 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly', Leone perpetuated what would become his trademark: Spaghetti Western. Leone's distinctive style included juxtapositions, super close- ups, long continuous shots, and the rotating camera shots. Leone's collaboration with master-composer Ennio Morricone gave cinema some of its most mellifluous compositions. Once Upon a Time in the West elevated Leone from the position of a showman to a serious movie-maker—an auteur capable of much profound works. Leone refused a multitude of projects, including the opportunity to direct 'The Godfather', in a bid to realize his dream project.
OUTA is an epic crime saga based on the lives of Jewish gangsters from their humble childhood in the ghettos of New York to their rise in world of organized crime. 'Noodles', 'Patsy', 'Cockeye', and little Dominic struggle as street kids in the East Side of Manhattan in the early 1920s. They work for 'Bugsy', a local gangster, until they meet 'Max' and decide to start an independent operation, triggering a series of incidents which changes their lives for ever. Robert De Niro as 'Noodles' gives one of the most subtle performances of his career. James Woods is chillingly menacing as 'Max'. Young 13-year-old Jennifer Connelly as 'Deborah' serves as a pulchritudinous delight for the sour eyes, and I say this as a testament to her ethereal, nymphean charm that was evident even at such a tender age. The rest of the cast gives a great support to the actors in lead with special mention of Elizabeth McGovern, James Hayden and Joe Pesci. The music is composed by Leone's long-time collaborator Ennio Morricone, who once again works his magic by creating music that is so plaintively divine that even Mozart would be proud of it.
The film poignantly explores the themes of love, lust, friendship, greed, betrayal and loss of innocence in the backdrop of the 20th century America. For the European release, Leone cut down his original version to 229 minutes to appease the distributors. However, for the US release, OUTA was ignominiously edited down to 139 minutes by the muddle-headed studio personnel against the director's wishes. In this short version, the flashback narrative was omitted as the scenes were put back in the chronological order. Many of the movie's most beautiful shots are not present in the shorter version, including the nigh magical sequence in which time-switching is indicated by the conjuration of a Frisbee. Movie's abysmal show in the US is attributed to this sabotage. Leone was reportedly heartbroken by the American cut, and never made another film again.
The dreamlike screenplay of OUTA gives it a lyrical, almost hypnotic feel. OUTA is a tapestry of highly complex mesh work: the story depicts the lives of same individuals across three different timelines. The time-switching techniques used in the movie are so effective that the switching seems absolutely seem-less. The mystical ringing tone that the viewer gets to hear in the beginning of the movie provides a great subterfuge in unison with the dream-like finale, and adds surrealistic elements to the movie by raising doubts that the events depicted in the movie could well have been a part of a drug-induced dream that Noodles would have been experiencing under the hypnotic effect of opium. The movie has a multitude of unforgettable moments, which can be cherished again and again with the same levels of indulgence. The sequence in which little Dominic—caught between the want to satiate his newly attained puberty and the fundamental urges—buys a pastry to charm a neighborhood girl, but succumbs to the universal temptation and ends up eating it himself is pure gold. The scene which depicts Robert De Niro molesting his childhood love represents cinema at its most macabre. The make-up, set designing and costume designing are all top- notch. The make-up artists have gone about their business with such meticulousness that the actors seem to genuinely represent their character's age in each era.
Overall, OUTA is a testament to Sergio Leone's dedication to the free spirit of Art. It succeeds at multiple levels and makes the viewer go through an entire gamut of emotions, keeping him engaged throughout. It is sanguinary and is surfeited with blood-cuddling violence that makes it unsuitable for the weak-hearted. OUTA, however, is as a must for the enthusiasts of the genre and the cineastes worldwide. 10/10
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