When talking about Sergio Leone, his Western masterpieces “For a Fistful of Dollars”, “Play Me a Song of Death” or “Two Glorious Scoundrels” are primarily mentioned. With his last film, Once Upon a Time in America, which will only be available up to and including August 31, 2022 Netflix is running, the Italian director legend has taken on the classic gangster cinema. For us, the epic with Robert De Niro, which is shown here in the European theatrical version (220 minutes), is one of the best gangster films of all time.
By the way: After “Play me the song of death” and “Death Melody”, “Once upon a time in America” is the conclusion of Sergio Leone’s unofficial America trilogy. While you can get your hands on “Play Me the Song of Death” on Blu-ray or DVD via Amazon…
›› “Play me the song of death” on Amazon Prime Video*
… “Todesmelodie” is currently available in the MGM channel on Amazon Prime Video, which you can also test for free.
›› “Death Melody” on Amazon Prime Video*
David Aaronson (Robert De Niro), known only as Noodles, visits his old companion Fat Moe Gelly (Larry Rapp). His remaining friends, Maximilian “Max” Bercovisz (James Woods), Philip “Cockeye” Stein (William Forsythe) and Patrick “Patsy” Goldberg (James Hayden) were shot dead during a police operation. Noodles, who donated a memorial to his friends in a New York cemetery, remembers his past and the times they shared.
Noodles, Max and Co. grew up on the Lower East Side in the late 1920s. They decided early on that they didn’t want to spend their whole lives in poverty. Petty rip-offs were the youth gang’s first offenses until Noodles was sentenced to ten years in prison for double murder. When he is released from prison, his friends have built a well-functioning organization of bars, restaurants and gambling dens – and Noodles finds itself in a downward spiral again…
Sergio Leone worked on Once Upon a Time in America for almost ten years. When the film hit the cinemas in 1984, the international critics were only moderately enthusiastic about the sprawling piece of gangster film. Only after Leone’s death should the epic receive the fame it deserved from the start. Cinema can hardly be bigger, more mythically charged and more magnificent.
No wonder that the official DashFUN review gave it the absolute highest rating of 5 out of 5 stars. Our author Ulrich Behrens appreciates the diversity of content in “Once Upon a Time in America”, with which he covers the big themes and questions of life: “The film is about memories, the meaning of memories, evaluating one’s own life and above all about guilt and atonement, love and violence, hate and failure, success and disappointment.”
Because the story of “Once Upon a Time in America” spans several decades, we embark with Noodles and Co. on a journey that is as brutal as it is tragic. At the end, Sergio Leone talks about how friendship can fall apart – and how much you regret having allowed it to happen. The film succeeds in never staging its characters as dazzling heroes, but as cruel powerful peoplewho do not shy away from murder or rape. Nobody is sympathetic in “Once Upon a Time in America”. Instead, the protagonists are products of a time in which violence was the primary means of communication.
As bitter and depressing as Once Upon a Time in America may be, the gangster epic is also one of the greatest films of all time. Cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli’s graceful images line up one painting-like take after the next, while maestro Ennio Morricone lays one of his best compositions over the action and can always give you goosebumps. It goes without saying that Sergio Leone is also a thoroughly outstanding director. “Once Upon a Time in America” is also permeated with moments for eternity.
This is a re-release of an article previously published on DashFUN.
*The links to the Amazon offer are so-called affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we will receive a commission.
