Once Upon a Time in America
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Once Upon a Time in America (Italian title C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime. The film explores themes of childhood friendships, love, loss, greed, violence, the passage of time, broken relationships, and the appearance of mobsters in American society. The film premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival in its original running time of 229 minutes (3 hours 49 minutes). However, it was released in the United States in a heavily edited and truncated version almost ninety minutes shorter than the original version released in Europe, against Leone's wishes. The short version eliminates the elaborate flashback structure of the film, instead placing all of the scenes in chronological order. It is the third and final part of a loose trilogy of epic called Once Upon a Time Trilogy, follows 1968's Once Upon a Time in the West and 1971's A Fistful of Dynamite (known alternatively as Once Upon a Time... the Revolution or Duck, You Sucker).
Once Upon a Time in America was Sergio Leone's final film.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by Leone's long-time collaborator, Ennio Morricone. Due to the film's unusually long gestation, Morricone had finished composing most of the soundtrack before many scenes had even been filmed. Some of Morricone's pieces were actually played on set as filming took place (a technique that Leone had used for Once Upon a Time in the West). "Deborah's Theme", considered by many to be the best piece of this soundtrack, was in fact originally written for another film in the 1970s but rejected; Morricone presented the piece to Leone, who was initially reluctant, considering it too similar to Morricone's main title for Once Upon a Time in the West. Track listing: Once Upon a Time in America
Poverty
Deborah's Theme
Childhood Memories
Amapola
Friends
Prohibition Dirge
Cockeye's Song
Amapola, Pt. 2
Childhood Poverty
Photographic Memories
Friends
Friendship & Love
Speakeasy
Deborah's Theme-Amapola
Suite from Once Upon a Time in America (Includes Amapola) [#]
Poverty [Temp. Version][#]
Unused Theme [#]
Unused Theme [Version 2][#]
Besides the original music, the movie also used several pieces of "found" music, including: "God Bless America" (written by Irving Berlin, performed by Kate Smith - 1943) - Plays over the opening credits from a radio in Eve's bedroom and briefly at the film's ending. Incidentally, the recording of the song used was not sung until 1943, for the film This is the Army, so its use is a slight anachronism on Leone's part.
"Yesterday" (written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney - 1965) - A muzak version of this piece plays when Noodles first returns to New York in 1968, examining himself in a train station mirror. An instrumental version of the song also plays briefly during the dialogue scene between Noodles and "Bailey" towards the end of the film.
"Amapola" (written by Joseph LaCalle (American lyrics by Albert Gamse) - 1923) - Originally an opera piece, several instrumental versions of this song were played during the film; a jazzy version which played on the gramophone danced to by young Deborah in 1922; a similar version played by Fat Moe's jazz band in the speakeasy in 1932; and a string version, during Noodles' date with Deborah. It has been suggested that Leone used this piece after seeing a version of it in the film Carnal Knowledge, though this has not been confirmed. Both versions are available on the soundtrack.
"The Thieving Magpie (Overture)" (Gioacchino Rossini - 1817) - Used during the famous baby-switching scene in the hospital.
"Summertime" (George Gershwin - 1935) - Played by a jazz band during the beach scene after the beachgoers receive word of Prohibition's repeal. This song post-dates the events of the film by two/three years, so like the version of "God Bless America" used in the film's opening, it's a slight but understandable anachronism.
"Night and Day" (written and sung by Cole Porter - 1932) - Plays during Secretary Bailey's party in 1968.
Once Upon a Time in America is widely regarded as Morricone's best work, but was disqualified, on a technicality, from Oscar consideration.[8] In the original American print, Morricone's name was accidentally left off of the opening credits by the producers. One of the unique aspects of this score is Ennio’s incorporation of Gheorghe Zamfir, who plays a pan flute. At times this music is used to convey remembrance, at other times terror. Zamfir’s flute playing was also used to haunting effect in Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock.[9] |
