Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Regisseur:

Sergio Leone

Drehbuchautoren:

Harry Grey (novel)
Leonardo Benvenuti (writer) ...

Premierendatum:

1. Juni 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Krimi | Drama

Werbezeile:

Crime, passion and lust for power - Sergio Leone's explosive saga of gangland America. [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.

Plot Keywords:

Masturbation | Surreal | Female Rear Nudity | Criminal Syndicate | Cop Killer

Filmpreise:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 11 wins & 3 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

An operatic epic

Besetzung

Robert De Niro	...	David 'Noodles' Aaronson
James Woods	...	Maximilian 'Max' Bercovicz
Elizabeth McGovern	...	Deborah Gelly
Tuesday Weld	...	Carol
Treat Williams	...	James Conway O'Donnell
James Hayden	...	Patrick 'Patsy' Goldberg
Joe Pesci	...	Frankie Minaldi
Larry Rapp	...	'Fat' Moe Gelly
Danny Aiello	...	Police Chief Vincent Aiello
William Forsythe	...	Philip 'Cockeye' Stein
Burt Young	...	Joe
Darlanne Fluegel	...	Eve (as Darlanne Fleugel)
Dutch Miller	...	Van Linden
Robert Harper	...	Sharkey
Richard Bright	...	Chicken Joe

Alternativ:

C'era una volta in America (Italy)
Es war einmal in Amerika (Österreich) (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, language and some drug use. (edited version)

Länge:

229 Min | USA:139 Min (re-cut)

Produktionsland:

Italy | USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Italienisch | Französisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Technicolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

1.85 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono

Altersfreigabe:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | West Germany:18 (f) (original rating) (1984-2003) | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Brazil:18 | Finland:K-18 (1984) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Germany:16 (f) (re-rating) (2003) | Portugal:M/16 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (1990) | UK:18 (cut) | Australia:R | France:-12 (re-rating) (2003) | France:-16 (original rating) | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Netherlands:16 (re-rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Drehorte:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Firma:

Embassy International Pictures

Dies und das:

A few days before the premier in 1984, Treat Williams found out the 2 hour version, not the 4 hour version would be shown in theaters. He was heard to have said that no one would understand the movie in the shortened version. Indeed, the film did not do well at theaters and the film was shut out of the Oscars and received zero nominations. When the video and DVD versions were released in the original 4 hour versions, the film ultimately found commercial and critical success.

Pannen:

Anachronismus: A 1950s New York housing project is visible when Bugsy shoots Dominic in the early 1920s.

Dialogzitate:

[first lines]
Beefy: Where is he? Where's he hiding?
Eve: I don't know... I've been looking for him since yesterday.
[a second goon slaps her harshly]
Beefy: I'm gonna ask you for the last time: Where is he?
Eve: I don't know... What are you gonna do to him?

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Ausschnittsweise enthalten in De Niro: A Self Portrait (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

NIGHT AND DAY

An operatic epic

Once Upon a Time in America, which bookends Once Upon a Time in the West as director Sergio Leone's best work, is a powerhouse of a movie. A gangster epic told in a very different style than the standard of the genre, The Godfather, it is in some ways (at least to this viewer) even more emotionally compelling. Although the movie was sabotaged upon release by an edited studio version eliminating about 40% of its original length, the version now available for rental is thankfully the nearly 4 hour version intended by Leone. The story is at essence a basic one about friendship among thieves, telling the story of a group of Jewish kids in New York near the turn of the century who grow up to become powerful and ruthless mobsters, while maintaining (or trying to) their bond with one another. As was most famously done in the taxi scene between Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront, the movie again makes the point that bad people can have good aspects to them, such as loyalty, devotion, and even love. I think this movie includes one of Deniro's best roles, and far and away James Woods best film work. The score, by arguably the greatest movie composer of all time, Ennio Morricone, is incredibly haunting in its beauty and sadness (with no fewer than three separate themes that are breathtakingly beautiful). The non-chronological manner in which the story is told results in a wonderfully effective narrative device: the movie begins and ends with the same scene. The first time you see the scene, it is a frantic jumble, without meaning or context, and you do not know why it is so important. When the scene recurs at the end of the film, everything has become clear, and the scene has an incredible poignancy and sadness to it: although it occurs in the middle of events chronologically, you realize that, in a real sense, life stopped at this point for one of the film's main characters. There is no other event that matters anymore to him. This is not a simple movie, and it merits repeated viewings. Indeed, in my view one cannot fully appreciate the greatness of the film until the second viewing, when the full story is known, and the events of the film resonate with knowledge of where they ultimately, and tragically, lead.