Case Study:Once upon a Time in America ("Looking for noodles" scene and "Opium Visions" scene)

Director: Sergio Leone
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Plot: A tale of the lives of a small group of New York City Jewish gangsters spanning over 40 years. Told mostly in flashbacks and flash-forwards, the movie centers on  David 'Noodles' Aaronson and his lifelong partners in crime; Max, Cockeye and Patsy and their friends from growing up in the rough Jewish neighborhood of New York's Lower East Side in the 1920s, to the last years of Prohibition in the early 1930s, and then to the late 1960s where an elderly Noodles returns to New York after many years in hiding to look into the past.

Information from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087843/plotsummary

"Looking For Noodles" Scene:

In the opening scene "God Bless America" is playing quietly as the titles and opening credits appear. Sergio Leoni plays this song to create irony, it signifies that America really isn't what people think it is and how its portrayed in the song.In the film he has portrayed it as a corrupt and violent place. He shows this in the opening scene where Eve is murdered and another character is beaten by police officers. He demonstrates that it isn't the "American dream".

Continuing from the credits, there are the sounds of footsteps and of the door opening. This creates suspense as someone is about to enter a room and your wondering who it is. As soon as eve opens the door and enters the audience can automatically realise the genre because of the noir lighting as she walks through the door.We assume Eve is a femme fatale because of the pearls around her neck. These  pearls resemble glamour and beauty as well as a mysterious feel. A femme fatale uses beauty,charm and sexual allure to achieve her hidden purpose. We can infer that Eve is a femme fatale because of the genre and the way in which she flaunts her vices. We see that Eve is distraught and innocent in this scene but it is all an act.

As Eve enters the room she attempts to turn on the light: the darkness of the room promotes a creepy feel and cause the audience to feel anxious because of it being a of the thriller genre they may be expecting something to happen. As she is flicking the switch when it isn't working it is causing tension within the audience. This shot of Eve demonstrates her resemblance with the lamp, it is beautiful and glamorous just as she is but when she is killed later on the light is turned out and it could resemble her death.

The camera pans out as she pulls the covers off to reveal the gun shot holes in the bed, this creates suspense and shock as it pans outward to reveal what is going on. The holes in the shape of a body resembles when police mark where a dead body has been, it signifies danger has happened or is going to happen. It is also ironic because the police did this but not to help, this was to scare. Eve also shadows the outline, we could infer that this is where she is going to die.


This shot of the corrupt police is a long shot,  it is used to capture all of the characters and what they are doing. This shot demonstrates their corruption as they are holding guns and forcing her to reveal information and then killing. It contributes to the idea of the portrayal of how sinister and corrupted America really is. Low key lighting is used as well as key lighting which captures the characters costumes and faces in the light, it instantly makes the viewer think corrupt police or mobsters when seeing the classic outfits. The use of close ups and mid shots is also repeatedly used throughout this scene this is because Sergio Leoni wants to capture their emotions, especially Eve's.

The use of claustrophobic space is another aspect of the thriller genre and the room they are n is small,enclosed and crowded. This adds fear,anticipation and shock to the scene because the small space makes everything seem scarier and more thrilling.


The whole point of this opening scene is to get Leoni's point across that  America isn't what people think it is, to do this he has used all of these thriller aspects and within three minutes and forty three seconds there is a brutal killing of a vulnerable femme fatale.


"Opium Visions" Scene:

 The next scene is called "Opium Visions", it opens with the same corrupt police officers beating up a friend of Noodles which is who they are looking for. The use of violence and death in the first opening scenes demonstrate corruption and that the police are ruthless and determined to get what they want. The close up is used to show the intense pain that the character is going through. After this section it cuts to Noodles in an opium den/brothel,Noodles is in a trance of Opium which is another aspect of the corrupt "American dream". Noodles is a flawed hero, he is flawed by his use of drugs (Opium) and in most thriller films, the hero or main character is flawed in some way. The flawed hero is a repeated aspect of the thriller genre. While Noodles is in a trance Leoni uses the sound of a phone ringing which is non-diagetic to create a dramatic effect, it makes the audience wonder why there is a phone ringing and entices them to want it to be picked up to find out who it is. It is technically used as a sound bridge between two scenes. Noodles then has a flash back to when his three friends were killed. Throughout this part of the scene the phone is still ringing and not in view, it creates tension and becomes irritating.
The streets are low lit and Leoni uses dark noir lighting and wet gloomy streets to connote the feeling of a classic noir thriller as well as representing the corruption within the area of America in which they live.
Then it cuts to the ballroom where the phone is still ringing and it gives a different effect to the part of the scene, it adds anticipation. The night of his friends death and the ballroom party is the end of the prohibition in America. Leoni makes a reference to history, making the day that Noodle's friends were killed and prohibition ended the 5th of December 1933. 
The scene then cuts to a phone, the phone is still ringing in the background. Noodles enters the room and picks up the phone and starts dialling but the ringing does not stop,it is the phone across from him. This creates shock because you think Noodles is going to cease the ringing but he doesn't it continues because the police are not there to receive it.

The lift that Noodles uses when he has regained consciousness is used as a signifier of a generic thriller, especially this old low lit lift which creates a menacing feel. The extreme low angle shot of the lift also connotes a menacing and frightening feel as it descends down the shaft, it could represent a lift going down into the depths of hell.

 When Noodles enters the room in which his friend is held captive, a worm's eye shot is used to give Noodles status but also to show Noodles from his friends point of view thus positioning the audience with Noodles to engage them into the film. The shot is also slightly canted connoting that his friend is disorientated. The shot from Fat Moe's point of view also connects the audience with him and shows them what it was like for him in this point in time.

At the end of the scene Noodles opens a locker, which is a another generic thriller signifier props as well as the briefcase. In Pulp Fiction the contents of the briefcase are never revealed, the same happens with Noodles and his briefcase. The suitcase is an enigma. The location which is Grand Central station is a cultural signifier, it informs people that it is America. Many directors use Grand Central station as a location within their films such as Witness by Peter Weir.


Resmebelance to The Godfather Films:
Once upon a time in America pays tribute to The Godfather films through looks and narrative. The film is very similar in looks because of the gangster/mobster look from between 1910 and 1950. The way that the people from this time were portrayed was very similar in both films, connoting corruption in both. Godfather Part 2 has a similar narrative to Once Upon a Time in America, it jumps from present to past.


User Reviews:

A masterpiece and an atrocity! 11 January 2005 | by oldguybc (somewhere in CA) 

A Profound Expression of Truth Regarding Friendship andBetrayal, 17 January 2000

Author: RobertCartland (RobertCartland@oco.net) from Los Angeles

A sprawling, deliberately paced, and generally a superbly crafted piece of work, 19 October 2003

Author: doctorlightning from United States

 On par with "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas"..., 19 August 2003

Author: MovieAddict2010 from UK

Make sure you get the director's cut!, 19 September 2004

Author: Philip Van der Veken from Tessenderlo, Belgium
These are all reviews i have linked to IMDB, they all suggest that the film is 10 stars and these were the first reviews i came across, this film obviously had a great impact on the viewers. The reviews suggest that most of the viewers are lovers of Sergio Leoni or Gangster movies or both. A lot of people go to see films just because of the genre or maker.