Once Upon a Time in America by Sergio Leone

By Simone Malacrida

"Once Upon a Time in America" is Sergio Leone's latest film, what the director himself defined as "my cinema".
With a very troubled gestation, so much so that it took fifteen years from the first idea to the final realization, and with an overall duration much longer than the normal extension of a cinematographic film, this film turns into a discussion on time, in a way of transposing, with the infinite wisdom of those who know how to mix music and photography, scenography and color, environments and dialogues, life itself and the delicate relationships that each of us establishes during the course of our existence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simone Malacrida
• Release date: Apr 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224831920

Simone Malacrida

Simone Malacrida (1977) Ha lavorato nel settore della ricerca (ottica e nanotecnologie) e, in seguito, in quello industriale-impiantistico, in particolare nel Power, nell'Oil&Gas e nelle infrastrutture. E' interessato a problematiche finanziarie ed energetiche. Ha pubblicato un primo ciclo di 21 libri principali (10 divulgativi e didattici e 11 romanzi) + 91 manuali didattici derivati. Un secondo ciclo, sempre di 21 libri, è in corso di elaborazione e sviluppo.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1 - TECHNICAL SHEET OF THE FILM

CHAPTER 2 – THE IDEA AND THE STRUCTURE

CHAPTER 3 – THEMES AND MEANINGS

CHAPTER 4 – CORRESPONDENCES

CHAPTER 5 – FINDINGS AND SUBSEQUENT EVOLUTIONS

CONCLUSIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

The opinions and reflections present in this book represent the author's personal ideas and are the result of multiple viewings of all versions of Once Upon a Time in America (and other works by director Sergio Leone).

All this has been integrated with what is present in the Bibliography section, drawing valid ideas from books, interviews and past analyses.

Once upon a time in America is Sergio Leone's latest film, what the director himself defined as my cinema.

With a very troubled gestation, so much so that it took fifteen years from the first idea to the final realization, and with an overall duration much longer than the normal extension of a cinematographic film, this film turns into a discussion on time, in a way of transposing, with the infinite wisdom of those who know how to mix music and photography, scenography and colour, environments and dialogues, life itself and the delicate relationships that each of us establishes during the course of our existence.

" Once Upon a Time in America is the end of the world, the end of a genre, the end of cinema ."

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Statement by Sergio Leone present in the book Once upon a time there was cinema.

INTRODUCTION

In 1984, therefore forty years ago compared to the date of writing of this short booklet and essay, Once Upon a Time in America was distributed, Sergio Leone's last film which completed the trilogy of the time, which began fifteen years ago. first with Once Upon a Time in the West.

Incidentally, this was also the last film of the Italian director, who suffered a heart attack five years later.

After such a considerable time, Sergio Leone's work has not ended up in the closet of memories, on the contrary it is better known and noted than ever.

Mainly thanks to the Dollar Trilogy, which had completely redesigned the western genre, decreeing its end.

A very specific watershed, which today we consider insurmountable.

Every western before Leone's seems completely dated in terms of themes, arguments, presentation of characters and environments.

For Once Upon a Time in America, the matter is much more complex.

The long gestation of the work, which covered a period of fifteen years, the difficulty in finding a suitable subject and the progressive processes which ended up extending the time, gave life to a film with a thousand implications, whose duration alone made it difficult the public and the enjoyment of the film are a tough test.

If we combine this with the different versions circulating and the fact that, within it, myriads of connections are hidden, we understand how the approach to this film is more difficult.

Despite this, the film does not belong to that circle of works known only to professionals or to a niche audience.

There is considerable popularity of this work, which has grown over time without showing signs of aging.

Cyclically, it has been shown on television and now there are people who know the plot and the characters, recognize the music and the quotes, even though they were born after 1984.

The interest in the film is also denoted by a restoration work carried out in 2012 which returned to the public numerous scenes cut for distribution reasons, as well as a color more similar to the original and the digitalisation, necessary to preserve the work from the effects harmful to destruction.

You have to ask yourself the reason for all this.

It lies, in the writer's opinion, in the extreme modernity of the contents and topics covered.

Even though we immediately understood the age of the work (indeed, we can safely say that it seems to belong to the 1960s and not the 1980s) and despite having a deliberately slow pace, what is being discussed is universal.

Much more than the subject taken into consideration to describe the gangster period at the time of American Prohibition, i.e. from 1918 to 1933.

The inspiration came from a biographical novel of a former American gangster of Ukrainian origin and belonging to the Jewish community of New York.

That was the initial light, since Leone was looking for something set in that world and at that time.

The rest, however, was the work of the Italian director.

Additions of entire parts of the plot, of a new historical period to be considered as present, even if in reality already ancient compared to 1984.

And then the narrative technique of continuous references to the past and references to the future, the analysis of detail, photography and music, costumes and scenography.

Last but not least, the reconstruction of places and environments, a kind of search for a lost time and place, to tell how it was and how it is no longer.

All this could denote a very particular and difficult to understand approach.

Something unknown to everyone, since no one had more experience with it, not even the Americans themselves.

Usually, when faced with a situation like this, we try to stereotype the scenes.

The good and the bad, the struggle between good and evil or judicial, family and historical events.

None of this in Leo.

The vision is personal and introspective.

The man with his own doubts.

Remorse, regrets, dealing with conscience.

Above all, universal themes such as love, friendship and betrayal.

The topics emerged progressively, like a slow discovery and a slow march of approach, not without contradictions and antitheses, parallels and violence.

Nothing is spared the protagonist and the spectators.

Finally, the perspective touch of dream and projection, of an illusion that could very well coincide with life itself.

So what remains?

Maybe just the nostalgia for a lost time, that of our youth.

In staging every little detail, Sergio Leone poured his personal experience and training.

A way of expressing a univocal point of view, but potentially abstractable from the particular condition, given that neither judgments nor sentences are issued.

The ending itself, open to at least two different interpretations, leaves the viewer filled with that sense of loss and abandonment, sweet and melancholy like the soundtrack which, from the beginning, rises to an absolute masterpiece.

Each of us can find, in the events of Noodles, part of ourselves or part of our own history.

Hence modernity and generational crossover.

The continuous renewal of a film that does not stop at the gangster movie, rather the story told is only a pretext and the entire genre is demolished.

More, the entire cinema and the entire world.

That narrated world.

The director was aware of this, he knew it from the first screening, going so far as to declare this at the opening.

The end of everything, the end of the world, the end of cinema.

The title could easily be transliterated into Once upon a time there was cinema.

There are many emblematic expressions in this sense, but here it is appropriate to remember Noodles' final and lapidary response to his friend Max, who transformed into Senator Bailey.

It's just the way I see things.

You don't pull the trigger, even though logic would say that a betrayed friend has no choice but to shoot.

Faced with the theft of life, money, happiness, love and time, the answer is to exit through a back door.

A way of carrying with you the stink of the street, that sense of belonging typical of a world that no longer exists, but which each of us can admire for the four hours of the film.

CHAPTER 1 - TECHNICAL SHEET OF THE FILM