This is the fifth or sixth time I've seen Once Upon a Time in America and I'm still overwhelmed. It's such an immense film, and blows me away every time I see it. This is despite knowing almost every scene and remembering many lines of dialogue before characters say it. There's just something to this that makes it all unforgettable.
Everything that could be praised is worth praising, and it would probably make for an uninteresting review to get too in-depth. So, music is obviously perfect. Cinematography: unmatched. Performances: great from everyone, but especially De Niro. He plays gangsters all the time, but Noodles is someone different - colder, more brutal, and more tragic than most De Niro gangsters (tragic in a way where I don't feel sorry for him, I should make that clear, but in the sense that he brings about his own misery so directly). I love the structure, even though those first 15 to 20 minutes are always confounding. And the set design might be the best-ever? I just love the way every interior looks in this. We don't even spend much time in places like the opium den, but the detail and intricacy of that set are astounding.
The only commentary of interest I think I can offer is that it's fascinating watching Once Upon a Time in America post-The Irishman, which is another De Niro gangster epic that's exceedingly long; plus another I love and have seen several times. The Irishman sees an old De Niro playing a younger character, while Once Upon a Time in America sees a younger De Niro playing an older character. Both span decades narratively, have ambitious structures, revolve around friendship/betrayal, explore regret and the unpleasantries of aging after a life of immorality, and also, both have something of a motif surrounding doors, and leaving them open or shut. There's also a great emphasis placed on De Niro's character making a phone call in both.
Anyway, rambling aside, this film is fantastic (and so is The Irishman). It's one of three Sergio Leone films that I think are perfect, and I wish we lived in a world where he ended up making as many films as Scorsese has.
Everything that could be praised is worth praising, and it would probably make for an uninteresting review to get too in-depth. So, music is obviously perfect. Cinematography: unmatched. Performances: great from everyone, but especially De Niro. He plays gangsters all the time, but Noodles is someone different - colder, more brutal, and more tragic than most De Niro gangsters (tragic in a way where I don't feel sorry for him, I should make that clear, but in the sense that he brings about his own misery so directly). I love the structure, even though those first 15 to 20 minutes are always confounding. And the set design might be the best-ever? I just love the way every interior looks in this. We don't even spend much time in places like the opium den, but the detail and intricacy of that set are astounding.
The only commentary of interest I think I can offer is that it's fascinating watching Once Upon a Time in America post-The Irishman, which is another De Niro gangster epic that's exceedingly long; plus another I love and have seen several times. The Irishman sees an old De Niro playing a younger character, while Once Upon a Time in America sees a younger De Niro playing an older character. Both span decades narratively, have ambitious structures, revolve around friendship/betrayal, explore regret and the unpleasantries of aging after a life of immorality, and also, both have something of a motif surrounding doors, and leaving them open or shut. There's also a great emphasis placed on De Niro's character making a phone call in both.
Anyway, rambling aside, this film is fantastic (and so is The Irishman). It's one of three Sergio Leone films that I think are perfect, and I wish we lived in a world where he ended up making as many films as Scorsese has.