Back stabbing

Once upon a time in America (1984)

In my last blog I talked about studio executives not going nuts and leaving Airplane! uncut, well on it's state side release the opposite happened for Sergio Leone's final film. When Leone's final cut came in at over 3 hours long the studio panicked and went on an manic cutting spree. The film's narrative relies heavily on it's flash back sequence to make sense so when the movie was cut down to a 2 hour run time and the remaining scenes were shown in chronological order the film bombed. One critic is said to have called the studio cut the worst film of the 80s and the directors cut the best film of the 80s.

The film centres on the story of a young group of hoodlums in their childhood and exploits during the prohibition era from the point of view of the gang member that betrays the others. As with many crime stories this is a tale of friendship, betrayal and the destructive nature of greed (a common theme in Leone's works). Despite the long run time the film does not drag and there is another excellent and haunting score from Ennio Morricone. There are some good performances from the cast which includes Robert De Niro and a very young Jennifer Connelly.

While this is a very good film it falls short of being a great film as it lacks the stand out cinematography as well as the tension and atmosphere of Leone's other work. What in America does have is a mysterious nature to it's plot that it manages to maintain well until the final moments and does not bash the audience over the head with a solution.

I give it a 4/5