Once Upon a Time in America

A drawn-out macho mafia saga that gets old as the characters become sparser and the dialogue becomes shallower. There are flashes of Leone's brilliance, of course, but the film is generally similar to Morricone's music. It's quite impressive, but too familiar; the Pan almost kills even the phenomenal Picnic at Hanging Rock. It turns this festival of plaintive glances by human exclamation marks into a nostalgic museum exhibit of a film world that fortunately belongs to yesterday. (03/01/2023)

Once Upon a Time in America is a capriciously simple and fragmented film. And yet I was greatly impressed by it. Whenever I think of Morricone’s central motif, a feeling of warmth washes over me joined by visions of the silhouette of the greying Robert De Niro, the young and beautiful Jennifer Connelly and the enormous Brooklyn Bridge. Once Upon a Time in America is both tough and tender, but is primarily a beautifully poetic film that will slowly unfold in your thoughts and take on greater importance with each passing day. (05/07/2004)

I could bend over backward, and I still probably wouldn't find any mistakes in Once Upon a Time in America. For almost four hours, Sergio Leone tells us what it means to have a friendship beyond the grave. With an almost unhealthy precision, it closely observes the three-generational clash of men who had no other choice but to do what they did since their youth. Building an empire with all its pleasures and problems. Love, hate, virtue, mistakes, and that friendship... All this in a mesmerizing audiovisual setting. Hypnotic music by Ennio Morricone with a beautifully catchy melody. Long and slow camera "walks." A brilliant shot focuses on a street where a group of boys is crossing, with the iconic Brooklyn Bridge towering in the background, nestled between two buildings. Perfection. Which time period is the best? That's a tough question. Youth, with all its worries, abounds with that childlike look of boys whom the street has forced to grow up all too soon. The central and longest part depicts their built empire during its peak prosperity until the final stage, where the inevitable reckoning of their past actions takes center stage. Leone transitions between these periods subtly and unobtrusively, but always the contrast of period diversity is incredibly beautiful. I have a warm feeling in my heart that I sacrificed four hours for something so spectacular and hard to describe. Master, from the bottom of my heart, thank you... (16/02/2005)

[251 minute extended] Leaving aside the scale of the work and the incredible set and camera work, there remains a bit of a taste on the palate that Leone has sold out his previous revisionist approach to film genres here for a purely academic perspective, which is most evident in his work with the characters, which isn't very well developed due to the fact that they aren't given as much space as the sets. With de Niro's endless silent and melancholic glances at the recollection of his mafia youth, after a while I just saw... well, de Niro staring. And apart from that the story, namely building a giant sophisticated mafia saga on a restrained, yet actually stupid gangster, seems good to me. The heretic in me can almost imagine a good 140-minute cut of that film, except there would be cutting not of scenes but within scenes. (18/07/2021)

What Sergio Leone delivers here is almost perfect. Amazing atmosphere and storytelling, and flawless performances. The brilliant script and its three timelines are a testament to genius. Leone was originally meant to direct The Godfather, but he knew why to wait. This film is better. (18/05/2004)