Just re watched this last night, what an experience. Fantastic acting (probably De Niro's best performance), brilliant and tragic storytelling, visually stunning and a phenomenal score.
Why isn't this talked about more? Is it because of the run time?
>Is it because of the run time?
Yes.
Not watching a fucking four hour movie, not if it isn't Return of the King.
Honestly didn't feel like it was 4 hours while watching it.
Not only because of the run time, but by the time it was released, the studio cut version was the one shown in the States.
That version, only 1h30 long, is a complete butchering of the original film and got really bad reviews, which sorely dissapointed Leone.
By the time people found out the full movie was around 4h long, Once Upon A Time In America already had got a bad reputation, and never fully recovered from the studio's moves.
But yes, it's a spetacular film, Leone's undisputed masterpiece, gorgeous in every way and, imho, even better than The Godfather movies.
Also, Elizabeth McGovern is my cheekfu.
Go back and discuss how Moonlight is the best film of the century.
Masterpiece. I listen to Deborah's Theme every day.
holy shit, how pleb can you fucking get?
This movie is great, but all the kid actors (except for J Connelly) were pretty shitty
I have never actually bothered to watch the studio cut. I wonder how much of the story they had to gut in order to chop it down to that length.
Several different versions of Once Upon a Time in America have been shown. The original European release version (1984, 229 minutes) was shown internationally as well as when the film was shown in limited release and for film critics in America, where it was slightly trimmed to secure an 'R' rating. These cuts were made to two rape scenes and some of the more graphic violence at the beginning. Noodles' meeting with Bailey in 1968 was also excised. The film gained a mediocre reception at several sneak premieres in North America. Because of this early audience reaction, the fear of its length, its graphic violence, and the inability of theaters to have multiple showings in one day, the decision was made by The Ladd Company to make many edits and cut entire scenes without the supervision of Sergio Leone.[12] This American wide release (1984, 139 minutes) was drastically different from the European release, as the non-chronological story was rearranged into chronological order. Other major cuts involved many of the childhood sequences, making the adult 1933 sections more prominent. Noodles' 1968 meeting with Deborah was excised, and the scene with Bailey ends with him shooting himself (with the sound of a gunshot off screen), rather than the garbage truck conclusion of the 229-minute version.
In the Soviet Union, the film was theatrically shown in the late 1980s, with other Hollywood blockbusters such as the two King Kong films. The story was rearranged in chronological order and the film was shown in two parts, one containing all childhood scenes and the other for adulthood scenes. The parts were run as two films.[21] Despite the rearrangement, no major scene deletions were made. It was rated as "16+" by the Goskino.
And to top it off Sergio was so pissed by how his film had been butchered he wanted nothing to do with hollywood for a while. He finally got around to working on a new film (would have been about the siege of Leningrad) in 1989 but died while they were negotiating a budget.
brainlet
Good god the studio version sounds like crap, they cut out pretty key parts of the the story.
>DeNiro's best?
Inb4 Taxi Driver & Deer Hunter
It's not talked about often - and for good reason - because of a seriously problematical scene where the main character violently rapes a woman.
It's also 4 hours long and boring as fuck.
What movie?
Jews Jewing Jews
>Is it because of the run time?
Yeah desu it is. Such a long time to commit. I could watch 2 kinos in that time
The first half of the movie is pretty shitty, and all the kid actors were shit. The ending saves the movie though.
>Problematic scene
But it plays a tragic role in the Noodles/Deborah's story.
I assume you are baiting though.
I love the exploration of nostalgia that this movie is absolutely drenched in. Every character is as violently obsessed with the past as we are today. Not many movies really explore themes like this.
Max' kid actor was good though
Why did he rape?
What did the garbage truck mean?
One of the best films of all-time.
The rape sequence is possibly the most upsetting one out there.
>seriously problematical scene where the main character violently rapes a woman.
Idiot, that's called a character flaw.
The implication that Max killed himself or would pretty soon. You can look at it as him literally jumping into the garbage truck and get pulverized but that's a retarded way to an hero so it works better symbolically.
This film is as close to GOAT as cinema gets. It is not my favorite, but it excels in just about every way that a movie can: writing, visuals, music, sets, acting, everything. There's a feeling of grandiosity that no other movie achieves. Not even Lawrence of Arabia or The Godfather Part II---the other pre-eminent personal epics of cinematic history---stack up in this regard. What appeals to me the most about this film is its ability to put me in a certain state of mind. Indeed, I think each great film takes you to a certain place within yourself and---after its runtime is complete---leaves you there to reflect on the world and your life in a unique way.
This is the shortest 4 hour movie I ever watched. Literally sucked into a trance. Felt shorter than some 90 minute movies.
As far as long movies go, have you watched O.J.: Made in America?
That'll be the fastest 7.5 hours of your life
So well said