Once Upon a Time in America

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Movie
German title Once Upon a Time in America
Original title Once Upon a Time in America
Once upon a time in America Schriftzug.png
Country of production Italy , USA
original language English
Publishing year 1984
length Extended Director's Cut : 251 min.,
Europ. Theatrical Version: 229 minutes,
US Theatrical Version: 139 minutes
Age rating FSK 16 (previously 18)
Rod
Director Sergio Leone
script Sergio Leone
Leonardo Benvenuti
Piero De Bernardi
Enrico Medioli
Franco Arcalli
Franco Ferrini
production Arnon Milchan
Fred Caruso
music Ennio Morricone
camera Tonino Delli Colli
cut Nino Baragli
occupation
synchronization
chronology

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Sergio Leone on the set of "Once Upon a Time in America"

Once Upon a Time in America (original title: Once Upon a Time in America ) is a gangster epic from 1984. It is the last film directed by Sergio Leone . The main roles are played by Robert De Niro and James Woods . The German dubbing was done by the dubbing company Blackbird Music GmbH, Berlin.

The plot is based in part on the autobiographical novel The Hoods by Harry Gray (a pseudonym of Herschel Goldberg). Grey's book inspired Leone; he met the author for a personal interview and fought for a long time for film rights. The script ultimately borrowed only a few (according to Leone at most 20%) from the novel.

The film tells the story of a gang in New York in three interwoven periods of time (1922, 1932/33 and 1968) . She gained fortune and power quickly through extortion , the violent elimination of competitors, and alcohol smuggling during alcohol prohibition in the United States . After the end of prohibition , which was in force from 1920 to 1933 , the group has to decide whether to switch to organized crime and political corruption on a large scale. Greed and arrogance put the friendship of the protagonists to the test - until betrayal.

There are different versions of the film around the world. They differ in length and partly in the narrative structure. A digitally restored 25-minute longer version commissioned by Martin Scorsese had its premiere on May 18, 2012 at the Cannes Film Festival .

The film is considered the third part of the "America Trilogy". The first two parts are Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod (1968) and Todesmelodie (1971) about the conquest of the Wild West by the railroad companies and the turmoil of the revolution in Mexico. Apart from their marginally recognizable criticism of capitalism, the three films show no historical or content-related references to one another.

action

1922

The youth "Noodles", actually David Aaronson, lives in a Jewish quarter in the Lower East Side of New York City. There he and his friends of the same age, Patrick “Patsy” Goldberg, Philip “Cockeye” Stein and Dominic, rob drunk people and carry out small commissioned work for the criminal Bugsy. His love for Deborah, the sister of his friend "Fat Moe" Gelly, is reciprocated, but she does not allow it because she follows her own path. The elder Maximilian Bercovicz beats them to their plan to steal a pocket watch from a drunk man . Eventually, however, the stolen watch is taken away from them by the neighborhood's corrupt police officer, Officer "Fartface" Whitey. Noodles and Max become friends.

While trying to gain the favor of the girl next door Peggy, Patsy discovers that she is engaged in prostitution . By chance they observe Officer Whitey on the way to Peggy, and they manage to photograph the policeman red-handed during sex with the underage prostitute . Since they now have the policeman in their hands, Max not only gets the watch back, but from now on - like Bugsy and his gang - they have nothing to fear from the policeman in their illegal business.

At Passover , Noodles and Deborah get closer in the back room of Gelly's restaurant. When Max and Noodles meet in the courtyard, they are surprised and brutally beaten up by Bugsy and his people, as the latter does not want to tolerate their independence from him. When the bleeding Noodles knocked on Deborah's door, she didn't open it for him and showed all her determination.

They get into business with alcohol smugglers when they manage to prepare cargo in such a way that after being submerged in the water, after a while, it reappears by itself. The smugglers use the sinking of the cargo in raids by the police in order to avoid charges due to a lack of evidence. The cargoes are weighed down with sacks of salt and air-filled balls. The balls act as a float and bring the valuable cargo back to the surface after the salt has dissolved in the water. The income from the business of the five friends is kept in a station locker and the corresponding key is deposited with "Fat Moe". When they bump into Bugsy again, he shoots them and hits Dominic. Noodles lunges at the armed Bugsy and stabs him several times, as well as one of the police officers who have rushed up. He is arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison.

1932/33

Max picks up the released noodles directly from the prison gate. Noodles' friends now run a flourishing speakeasy , in whose adjoining rooms Peggy runs a noble brothel .

The Minaldi brothers from Chicago give them an assignment to steal diamonds from a jeweler. During the robbery, Noodles raped one of the victims, the employee Carol - who enjoyed this treatment (she had asked in advance that he would "finally" hit her after he refused). She later becomes Max's friend when he meets her again at Peggy's.

When the booty is handed over, Joe Minaldi is killed, as previously discussed with Frankie Minaldi. Noodles, unaware of this, reacts angrily and drives the car into a lake.

The gang also got into the "Labor Racketeering" ; d. H. in labor disputes she supports union officials against the employers' thugs. The latter are personally supported by the police chief, who escorted strikebreakers to a factory on strike with police protection . The police chief's wife, however, has just become a mother, and the gang arbitrarily swaps the newborns among themselves in the nursery. Since the police chief wants his first son back - his wife had only given birth to girls until then - he pulls the police officers away. Whether he will really have his own son remains questionable, however, since the gang did not remember the exact assignment of the babies and practically played the lottery with the name slips .

Still courting his childhood sweetheart, Noodles rents an entire restaurant with an orchestra to meet Deborah. Dinner is very romantic until she admits that she wants to leave for Hollywood the next day . On the way back, Deborah approaches Noodles in the car and kisses him shyly. The kisses get harder until Noodles can no longer control his desire for her. He rapes her in the back seat of a chauffeur-driven car; even after his first climax he does not let go of her and continues to pass on her until the chauffeur stops abruptly and opens the car door without a word, whereupon Noodles gets out and the chauffeur Deborah drives home alone. The next day, when they leave the train station, they only see each other for a moment through the outside window of their train compartment.

The alcohol ban is about to be lifted, and the gang's main source of income is drying up. Sharkey, a politician involved in the racketeering laboratory, tries to win the gang over to politics; However, Noodles refuses and travels to Florida with Max and her lovers Carol and Eve , where Max is planning a robbery on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York .

Noodles is concerned about the plan and, on Carol's advice, calls the police during the "Prohibition Funeral Service" to give an anonymous tip about one last planned alcohol smuggling trip. But instead of just being arrested, apparently all gang members except Noodles die, his best friend Max burned to death after he was shot down by the police. After seeing the unwanted result of his betrayal, Noodles retreats into an opium den to deal with his guilt ( the film ends with this scene and Noodle's opium- induced grin). He is pursued by hit men who kill his girlfriend Eve and almost beat Moe to death to find out where Noodles is (the film begins with these two scenes); he can just escape them through a back door and flees to Moe, but his pub is closed. He enters the pub via a back entrance, which was also the location of the speakeasy facility at the time, and can thus surprise and shoot one of the hit men and save Moe's life. When he learns of Eve's death, he wants to flee, takes the key to the locker with him and then discovers that the gang's money has already been taken out of the locker and only a suitcase with newspaper is left in the locker. He leaves New York with his last money and now lives under a different identity.

1968

After many years, Noodles received a letter from New York in his self-chosen exile , asking him to come back to the city. It's about the alleged reburial of his three friends from the old Jewish cemetery. He also receives an invitation to a celebration by Senator Bailey. Noodles visits Moe in his restaurant and they both discover that it was not they who took the money from the locker back then. Moe had received the ward letter regarding the relatives' reburial eight months earlier. Noodles realizes that his true identity has been exposed and that he has to face his past.

In the mausoleum of the Jewish cemetery , where his deceased friends are buried, Noodles discovers a plaque on the wall with the inscription: "Erected in the eternal memory of your friend and brother David Aaronson, Noodles' 1967". Underneath is another key for a train station locker with a suitcase full of money and the note “advance payment for your next order”. Moe advises Noodles to go away with the money and not bother with these matters.

The TV news reports on the so-called "Bailey Scandal". Against Senator Bailey is because of corruption detected and the investigating prosecutor was a car bomb killed. Because of the allegations and entanglements, Bailey is now to appear before a committee of inquiry.

Noodles visits Carol, Max's ex-girlfriend, and they talk about the old days. Carol is convinced that Max wanted to die at the time so as not to end up in an asylum like his father . This seems logical, because the two friends only got into a serious argument with one another when Noodles Max replied banally in a dispute over the planned robbery of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that Max was insane. After all, it is said to have been Max on the “last evening of Prohibition” who opened fire on the police only to perish himself in the battle. During the visit, Noodles discovers Deborah in a photo showing Secretary of State Bailey's foundation .

Noodles continues researching Bailey and finds that Bailey was in a relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Deborah. He attends the play Antonius and Cleopatra , in which Deborah plays the leading female role. After the performance, he visits Deborah in her dressing room. The actress is reserved about him and initially denies knowing Bailey. She then asks Noodles not to attend Bailey's party on Long Island . Against Deborah's will, Noodles meets her son David, who is also Bailey's son and whose appearance reminds him very much of the young Max. Now he decides to go to the party against the advice of Deborah and Moe, knowing that Bailey and Max are identical. He breaks with Deborah, which is why she freezes to a "pillar of salt".

During the party he meets Secretary of State Bailey, who was believed to be dead. Noodles gradually understands the connections: With the last alcohol smuggling in 1934, Max set a trap for Noodles and made him commit betrayal of his gang. After a shootout he arranged with the corrupt police, Max only faked his own death with the help of a cremated corpse. He accepted the death of his friends, stole the gang's money and was given a new identity. He later made a career as State Secretary, won Noodles' childhood sweetheart and lived with her for years. The supposed traitor Noodles, who blamed himself for the death of his friends for 35 years, now turns out to be a victim of betrayal.

During the last conversation between the two of them, Noodles always addresses Max as "Mister Bailey" and saves him, making it clear that for him his former friend Max died at that time and that Bailey is just a stranger to him. The situation seems to escalate when Noodles confirms again that he is insane. Out of remorse for the betrayed Noodles, from whom he took the money and his girlfriend, and in view of his now hopeless political situation as well as for fear of the murder, Max asks his former friend Noodles to shoot him. Noodles refuses and wishes Secretary of State Bailey luck with the investigation so that his life's work does not end in the trash. Then he leaves the property.

When he reached the street, he passed a parked garbage truck , which slowly began to move like a threatening black monster. Max appears and follows the garbage truck, which obscures Noodles' view of him and is now making grinding noises. Amazed, Noodles registers Max's disappearance and stares at the rotating blades in the rear of the vehicle as it drives away. As an allusion to Noodles' lost 35 years of life, the garbage truck is number 35, which suggests that Max ordered it. Max's fate thus remains uncertain; but it appears he threw himself in the garbage truck to be ripped apart by the blades. Noodles ponders as a boisterous party party drifts past him in cars from the 1930s.

(In the final scene - as well as some other time leaps in the film, which can be interpreted as memories - Noodles goes to the opium den attached to the Chinese theater in 1932/33, smokes an opium pipe ... and grins. It remains to be seen whether the events were real or what happened in the course of the Film was reality and what only happened in his imaginations in an opium intoxication.)

Reviews

The film was only appreciated internationally by film critics after the death of Sergio Leone . The complex material, which was highly budgeted at 30 million US dollars and on which Sergio Leone worked for almost ten years, did not find an audience when it was published, was cut and shortened without being successful.

The film received mostly positive reviews, earning an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 47 reviews.

"America epic of rampant splendor, classic format and mythical force."

- Lexicon of international film

The Wiesbaden Film Assessment Office gave the film the rating of “Particularly Valuable”. In the justification of the FBW report it says u. a .:

“A gangster, an action film that attributes almost mythical greatness to its characters; a fable that deals with the question of friendship and betrayal, of human integrity in gangsters. And it spans a period of around 50 years in a wide arc, repeatedly relating it to the current event in an associative and fascinating way by fading it over. Almost four hours of film full of tension in the plot, full of tension also through the human relationships. "

- Filmbewertungsstelle Wiesbaden

"[...] slow but never boring study of gangster activities in New York [...] story of two boys, excellently portrayed by Robert De Niro and James Woods [...]"

- prism

Alternative versions

In Europe, the original version was always shown with its time leaps. For the USA there was an additional variant without time leaps, which should make it easier for the audience there to understand. However, since the footage was never designed to tell the story chronologically, a great many scenes had to be cut, and characters are introduced and explained in a completely different way than was intended in the original version.

The opening scene that was never filmed

Originally, the transition from 1933 to 1968 should be presented more elaborate, but eventually, the scene turned out to be very complex and would have blown up financially with the budget, since Leone this sequence in a setting wanted to shoot (no cut). From the original script:

“You can see Noodles standing on a track in a 1933 truck. In the background is a wide natural landscape. You can hear the howling of the wheels of a train and the loud screaming of a whistle. It's a train on its way from Detroit to New York, going through the picture from left to right. The view over the tracks is blocked by the locomotive, the tender and the wagons - wagon after wagon is loaded with 1933 Fords. Then another train comes from the other side. The train continues to pass, but the cars are no longer loaded with 1933 Fords. There are 1968 products in pink, turquoise and emerald green that announce the title that appears on the screen: ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA. The train and its noises disappear and the barriers rise. But we no longer stare at an open natural landscape. Instead, we see an endless row of skyscrapers. You don't see Noodles sitting in a 1933 truck anymore, but in a 1960 Chevy . Noodles 35 years later ... "

Unpublished scenes

The original script, which was completed in October 1981, was 317 pages long and up to seven authors were involved in the development of the script.

After shooting, Leone had about 8 to 10 hours of footage. With his film editor Nino Baragli, Leone cut it to about 6 hours and wanted to publish the film in two three-hour parts. The producers refused (in part because of the commercial failure of Bertolucci's 1900 two- parter ), and Leone was forced to cut his film further. This resulted in a complete (i.e., dubbed, edited, and music set) film of 220 minutes ( PAL ).

Leone said he saw the film "anywhere between four hours ten minutes and four hours twenty-five minutes" (ie 250 to 265 minutes) as ideal, and that such an edit would have mainly served to re-create scenes that illustrate Noodles' relationships with women . Certainly this would have explained the rape in both the jewel theft and in the car through Noodles' behavior pattern more clearly and not as surprising.

Scenes that did not appear in the 220-minute version:

  • The young Noodles returns to his rented apartment, discovers his parents praying, and no dinner is on the table. When his parents call him "godless", Noodles replies that money is his god.
  • A short scene in the 1921 sequence that shows local gang boss Bugsy ( James Russo ) and his gang being arrested by the police for smuggling alcohol while Noodles and his gang watched. This would take place right before the gang's meeting with the Capuano brothers at the port. The main purpose of this scene would be to explain why the Noodles gang works with the Capuanos. Dialogue from this scene suggests Bugsy had worked with them, but because he and his thugs are now in jail, Noodles and his friends have taken over his old job.
  • Shot of a black limousine shadowing Noodles.
  • An ominous garbage truck that served as a link between 1933 and 1968.
  • Secretary of State Bailey arguing over pension fraud with an elderly Jimmy O'Donnell just before meeting Noodles. (Included in the Extended Cut from 2012.)
  • An opium flashback from Noodles and the gang as children.
  • Scenes with Louise Fletcher as director of the Riversdale Cemetery. (Included in the Extended Cut from 2012.)
  • Noodle's first meeting with Eve and many other trivial scenes with Eve. In the original script, this happens after Deborah was raped (which occurs at night or in the early morning). A very drunk Noodles meets Eve in a speakeasy , goes to bed with her and calls her “Deborah”. (Included in the Extended Cut from 2012.)
  • Scenes of Noodles watching Deborah in a nightclub appearing on a Busby Berkeley musical scene just before their date, as well as scenes from Shakespeare's “ Antony and Cleopatra ” (The DVD image gallery contains a picture of Elizabeth McGovern , dressed as Cleopatra , holding a snake). (Included in the Extended Cut from 2012.)
  • A scene that shows Noodles talking to the chauffeur before meeting Deborah. The two argue about how Jewish gangsters are perceived by bourgeois Jews - this shows the gap between the two characters. The scene was cut at the request of producer Arnon Milchan , who played the chauffeur. He felt that his character shouldn't have a significant and recognizable role in the film and that people would just make a big deal of his appearance. (Included in the Extended Cut from 2012.)
  • A long scene showing Police Chief Aiello ( Danny Aiello ) and his involvement with the strike breakers (some of the dialogue in the scene was dealt with again in a short interview with Aiello on the steps of the police station). As a sequel there is a scene in which the gang plans the famous baby swap with the crooked politician Sharkey (Robert Harper). Noodles wants to kill Aiello, but is dissuaded by Max and Sharkey.
  • A short scene while Noodles, Max, Carol and Eve are on vacation in Florida in which a lifeguard, who has heard of the lifting of prohibition , digs a bottle of alcohol from the sandy beach and drinks it thirstily.
  • An older Carol ( Tuesday Weld ) who reveals to Noodles that Eve had syphilis . In the original script, Carol also tells Noodles details of Eve's death in this scene (lying in front of the Federal Reserve Bank ; between the beach scene described above and Carol and Noodles' scene): "Oh, how she waited, but you never showed up ... She did shut the windows and locked the door and no one bothered to check on her. She was in there the whole time, with her little capsules ... there was no one at the funeral but me ”(The last part of this scene may even have never been filmed because the death of Eve is portrayed very differently in the film).

These scenes were all shot, and the footage still exists. But it's in a completely unedited state, uncut and not dubbed. Leone and his editor wanted to finish these scenes for later publication, but this was prevented by Leone's death.

Incorrectly suspected scenes and versions

There have been rumors of a longer version to appear on Italian television, but according to Christopher Frayling's book Something To Do With Death , those rumors are false. The longest version until 2012 is the 220-minute version (PAL), which was shown out of competition in Cannes in 1984 and is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.

Many people assume that Joe Pesci's short second appearance was part of a longer scene. In the original script, this appearance only serves to justify Max's further involvement with the merger. Others also believe that several additional scenes were filmed with the character Pescis, but the original script shows that this rumor is false. The reason Pesci, a big-name actor, was cast in such a relatively small role was because he had been promised the role of Max, but Leone preferred Woods to play . As a favor to De Niro , Leone allowed Pesci to choose one role from several available, and Pesci chose the role of Frankie.

Many also assume (including film critic Richard Schickel , who provided the audio commentary on the DVD) that the scene of the flying frisbee was part of a longer sequence. Leone biographer Christopher Frayling has a different interpretation:

“It's such an intelligent moment when Robert De Niro walks down there and a Frisbee comes over his head and a hand appears that becomes the hand of James Woods picking up a suitcase. It's like the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick , turns into a spaceship than the bones. 5000 years of human history in two pictures. "

While the first version of the script had a lot more emphasis on the union plot, this was reduced a lot in the revised version. However, there are hardly as many distant union scenes as many people believe.

There was considerable controversy over the cut during its creation. Christopher Frayling said in 1997: “Leone put everything into this film. His whole life was in there. " 

Film music

The film music for Once Upon a Time in America comes from Leone's favorite composer Ennio Morricone . Most of the pieces were written before the scenes were shot. Deborah's Theme was originally written for another 1970s film but was turned down.

  1. Once Upon a Time in America (2:12)
  2. Poverty (3:35)
  3. Deborah's Theme (4:23)
  4. Childhood Memories (3:21)
  5. Amapola (5:19)
  6. Friends (1:33)
  7. Prohibition Dirge (4:18)
  8. Cockeye's Song (4:19)
  9. Amapola, Pt. 2 (3:06)
  10. Childhood Poverty (1:43)
  11. Photographic Memories (1:00)
  12. Friends (1:22)
  13. Friendship and Love (4:13)
  14. Speakeasy (2:21)
  15. Deborah's Theme-Amapola (6:13)

In addition to Morricone's music, some other songs can also be heard, such as:

DVD and Blu-ray publishing

The film was first released on DVD in Germany in 2003. Compared to various broadcasts on television, this version again contained the intermission , but otherwise no further scenes that were missing in the German cinema version from 1984. Although it was fully dubbed, it was decided to re-dub the film for DVD release. Robert De Niro was dubbed in this version by his well-known German dubbing voice Christian Brückner , while this role was still spoken in 1984 by Joachim Kerzel , the German voice of Jack Nicholson , who is still valid today . Despite criticism in various viewer forums of the new dubbed version, which among other things differs from the original version in terms of content in various places, as well as a successful online petition that calls for the old dubbed version to be considered when the film is re-released on DVD and Blu Ray joined in 2013, the original German-language soundtrack has not yet been published again.

The restoration of the film carried out by Martin Scorsese, shown for the first time on the basis of a 4k Masters at the Cannes Film Festival 2012, was first released in Italy on Blu-ray in 2013. Since only one disc was used, the release suffered from excessive compression, and connoisseurs were indignant. In October 2014, the so-called “Extended Cut” was available for the first time in the USA, Great Britain and Germany on Blu-ray in a version that comes closest to the first presentation by Sergio Leone. The running time is 251 minutes.

Awards and nominations

  • British Academy Film Award
    • Awarded for the best film music
    • Awarded for the best costume
    • Nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Tuesday Weld)
    • Nominated for Best Director
    • Nominated for the best camera
  • Nastro d'Argento (Italy)
    • Awarded for the best director
    • Awarded for the best production design
    • Awarded for the best camera
    • Awarded for the best film music
    • Awarded for the best special effects
  • Kinema Junpo Award
    • Awarded for Best Foreign Language Film
  • Sant Jordi Award
    • Awarded for Best Foreign Language Actor (Robert De Niro)

literature

Web links

Wikiquote: Once Upon a Time in America  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Once Upon a Time in America - Extended Director's Cut . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , July 2014 (PDF; test number: 54 928 V).
  2. ↑ Once upon a time in America there was a German synchronous file . Retrieved October 28, 2017.
  3. ↑ "A fairy tale about the mafia". The Italian director Sergio Leone on his latest film "Once upon a time in America" , Spiegel online, October 8, 1984 (accessed December 2, 2018)
  4. ↑ Sergio Leone: In Search of the American Dream. In: Once upon a time in America. The book about the film by Sergio Leone; Bergisch Gladbach ( Bastei-Lübbe ) 1984, p. 275
  5. ↑ Once upon a time in America in a version that is 25 minutes longer. May 18, 2012, accessed September 23, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Once upon a time in America at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  7. ↑ Once upon a time in America. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ↑ Once upon a time in America. In: prisma . Retrieved September 23, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Once upon a time in America review films world . Retrieved March 17, 2018.
  10. ↑ Cenk Kiral: More Than A Fistful of Interview: Christopher Frayling on Sergio Leone. In: Fistful-of-Leone.com. 1997, accessed on May 24, 2008 (English): “Leone has put everything into that film. His whole life was in there "