Post by PR's Old Account (DO NOT PM) on Sept 8, 2008 2:53:23 GMT -5
Okay, so I have been getting a surprising amount of PMs about my film background. I’ve been flooded with requests for what people should see, and what is good, and what sucks. So I’m going to start writing actual reviews of interesting films I catch. And what better way to start than to celebrate my upcoming birthday with a film that was released the same year I was born.
I’m going to start with saying that this is probably the longest film I have ever seen – and that IS saying something!
The Film: Once Upon a Time in America
The Year: 1984
The Director: Sergio Leone
The Stars: Robert DeNiro, James Woods, with Joe Pesci and Jennifer Connoly in minor roles
The Synopsis (from packaging, cause I refuse to write synopsis’):
May be the definitive gangster picture. Rarely equaled."
-David N. Meyer, The New York Times
Ten years in planning, Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon A Time In America portrays 50 years of riveting underworld history and offers rich roles to a remarkable cast. Robert De Niro and James Woods play lifelong Lower East Side pals whose wary partnership unravels in death and mystery. Strong support comes from Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Jennifer Connelly, Elizabeth McGovern and the young actors playing the central characters as ghetto kids. To see this film (offered for the first time in the full version 1984 Cannes Film Festival audiences cheered) is "to be swept away by the assurance and vitality of a great director making his final statement in a medium he adored" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times).
The Review:
At 229 minutes, you better be a pretty good fucking film! And guess what – even by today’s standards of both plot pacing and film production, Once Upon A Time in America hold up amongst the best of ‘em!
The length is nothing but an asset to the film, as the story unfolds over 3 different time periods, which allow you to know these characters more thoroughly than any other characters of cinema that come to mind offhand. Taking place in childhood, adulthood and old-age, the story of these “gangsters” certainly has a different feel during each of these periods, as do the characters, and situations.
What fascinated me most about Once Upon a Time in America is that despite being 24 years old, its drama and key scenes are still fresh. Usually after about 10 years of being a classic film, people rip off your ideas and murder them to shit (any Tarantino movie is a prime example), but Leone’s film’s still solid as a fricken rock. The violence is blunt, abrupt, and almost subtle, in terms of its style, because it takes place to matter-of-factly.
In terms of key stylistic components like music and cinematography, no Leone film is ever in jeopardy. And obviously Once Upon a Time in America is no different. Leone’s choice in music is crisp, often ironic, and hammers home the feeling of the time and scene like few others in the filmmaking industry. This is shown in his more well-known theme songs, such as the primary theme to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly – everyone here probably knows that theme, whether they know they do or not.
To cut a long film short, I want to conclude with the clouds of blaspheme that surround the film. There is a VHS cut of the film that was circulated when it was released theatrically that trims it down to a brief 135 some odd minutes. Meaning they cut a fucking hour and a half of film out of it! If you see it, you know that ANYTHING cut was valuable, and this is not acceptable. If any of you plan on seeing the film, which I doubt you will, check out the Warner Special edition DVD, and make damned sure the fucker’s 229 mins. Otherwise, why invest the time in an unfinished masterpiece.
PR's Rating: 9/10
imdb's Rating: 8.4/10
I’ll leave it there for now,
Happy watching, and cheerio for now.
- Player Rep, and ManNHL’s Film Critic
I’m going to start with saying that this is probably the longest film I have ever seen – and that IS saying something!
The Film: Once Upon a Time in America
The Year: 1984
The Director: Sergio Leone
The Stars: Robert DeNiro, James Woods, with Joe Pesci and Jennifer Connoly in minor roles
The Synopsis (from packaging, cause I refuse to write synopsis’):
May be the definitive gangster picture. Rarely equaled."
-David N. Meyer, The New York Times
Ten years in planning, Sergio Leone's epic Once Upon A Time In America portrays 50 years of riveting underworld history and offers rich roles to a remarkable cast. Robert De Niro and James Woods play lifelong Lower East Side pals whose wary partnership unravels in death and mystery. Strong support comes from Tuesday Weld, Joe Pesci, Jennifer Connelly, Elizabeth McGovern and the young actors playing the central characters as ghetto kids. To see this film (offered for the first time in the full version 1984 Cannes Film Festival audiences cheered) is "to be swept away by the assurance and vitality of a great director making his final statement in a medium he adored" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times).
The Review:
At 229 minutes, you better be a pretty good fucking film! And guess what – even by today’s standards of both plot pacing and film production, Once Upon A Time in America hold up amongst the best of ‘em!
The length is nothing but an asset to the film, as the story unfolds over 3 different time periods, which allow you to know these characters more thoroughly than any other characters of cinema that come to mind offhand. Taking place in childhood, adulthood and old-age, the story of these “gangsters” certainly has a different feel during each of these periods, as do the characters, and situations.
What fascinated me most about Once Upon a Time in America is that despite being 24 years old, its drama and key scenes are still fresh. Usually after about 10 years of being a classic film, people rip off your ideas and murder them to shit (any Tarantino movie is a prime example), but Leone’s film’s still solid as a fricken rock. The violence is blunt, abrupt, and almost subtle, in terms of its style, because it takes place to matter-of-factly.
In terms of key stylistic components like music and cinematography, no Leone film is ever in jeopardy. And obviously Once Upon a Time in America is no different. Leone’s choice in music is crisp, often ironic, and hammers home the feeling of the time and scene like few others in the filmmaking industry. This is shown in his more well-known theme songs, such as the primary theme to The Good, The Bad and the Ugly – everyone here probably knows that theme, whether they know they do or not.
To cut a long film short, I want to conclude with the clouds of blaspheme that surround the film. There is a VHS cut of the film that was circulated when it was released theatrically that trims it down to a brief 135 some odd minutes. Meaning they cut a fucking hour and a half of film out of it! If you see it, you know that ANYTHING cut was valuable, and this is not acceptable. If any of you plan on seeing the film, which I doubt you will, check out the Warner Special edition DVD, and make damned sure the fucker’s 229 mins. Otherwise, why invest the time in an unfinished masterpiece.
PR's Rating: 9/10
imdb's Rating: 8.4/10
I’ll leave it there for now,
Happy watching, and cheerio for now.
- Player Rep, and ManNHL’s Film Critic
