The final masterstroke of a legendary directing icon: Sergio Leone’s epochal crime drama “Once Upon a Time in America” is an opulent, touching piece of historical cinema that not only fans of the gangster genre should watch. Today on free TV!
It turned out to be the final film in the CV of a gifted and immensely influential director: The almost four-hour crime and historical epic “Once upon a time in America” is the final stroke of the master director Sergio Leone, who previously directed classics such as “Zwei glorious scoundrels” and “Play me the song of death”.
“Once Upon a Time in America” is not only a must for fans of gangster cinema, but is also an urgent recommendation for anyone interested in film due to its enormous ambition. Nevertheless, it’s not that easy to get your hands on this brilliant film in the appropriate quality: the Blu-ray has only been available on the used market for a long time – and some major streaming platforms (including Amazon Prime Video) do not offer the epic as VOD .
But Today, October 9, 2024, ZDFneo is showing “Once upon a time in America” from 11:15 p.m. – a welcome opportunity to see the acclaimed classic without a commercial break and in HD!
This is what “Once Upon a Time in America” is about
New York during Prohibition: The alcohol ban only fuels the illegal hard liquor business. The friends Max (as a child: Rusty Jacobs / as an adult: James Woods) and Noodles (Scott Tiler / Robert De Niro), who lead a street gang in the Lower East Side, also get wind of this. So they decide to get involved in the alcohol business with their group. In doing so, they steal their customers from professional criminals, whereupon the ruthless thoroughbred gangsters draw deadly consequences!
This is just the beginning of a sprawling one that will span decades Story of friendship, outlaw ingenuity, nefarious criminal energy, corruption, drugs, betrayal and ambitionin which Max and Noodles are torn apart, reunited and put to the test again.
Because while Max tries to come to terms with the criminal top dogs, the impulsive Noodles mostly follows his urge for individuality. And then there’s Noodles’ crush on Deborah (Jennifer Connelly / Elizabeth McGovern), who even surpasses him in stubbornness…
An ambitiously told, moving epic
The spice is not always in brevity: one of the decisive strengths of “Once Upon a Time in America” is the detail with which Leone tells about his main characters, their relationships with one another, and the influence of changing society on them. As a result, the characters grow into multi-dimensional personalities, delicately filled with weaknesses and character strengths, whose fate touches the heart, outrages and functions as a sophisticated commentary on the USA, the opportunities it offers and its huge social flaws.
It’s logical that the massively shortened US theatrical version is now just a faux pas of film history that is greeted with disdainful snorts. In the European cinema version (and in the extended director’s cut), the crime and historical epic went down in history as a masterpiece.
Once upon a time in America
It fully deservedly secured a place in the top ten of the best gangster films chosen by the FILMSTARTS community, in the community ranking of the best films of the 1980s, in the FILMSTARTS editorial selection of the strongest gangster films and in the editorial ranking of the best films of all time. After all, “Once Upon a Time in America” doesn’t just shine with its opulent furnishings, the cameraman’s power Tonino Delli Colli as well as underlining the sad melancholy of the story, and a catchy, emotional soundtrack from Ennio Morricone.
The epic, in its sprawling splendor, also serves as a sorrowful swan song to the idea that the American dream applies to everyone – and yet Leone doesn’t let the story become completely bitter: the way he and film editor Nino Baragli (in the good cut versions of this classic) change the time levels change, “Once Upon a Time in America” also becomes one Film about (the attempt at) self-reflection and the (sometimes deceptive) longing for the past. Not out of a nostalgic illusion that yesterday was better – but simply because what happened in the past is already familiar to us and can therefore seem (fleetingly) comfortable.
Nevertheless, Leone refuses to hero-worship his criminal, greedy and brutal characters: although he lets them taste the nectar of recovered memories, he ultimately urges them to come to terms with unforgivable decisions and unpunished crimes. Ultimately, “Once Upon a Time in America” becomes a penetrating work full of opulence, tension, empathy and regret. And the following streaming tip also contains a lot of melancholic, dramatic nostalgia:
Stream tonight: One of the best Stephen King adaptations of all time
