Once Upon a Time in America Analysis

Once Upon a Time in America
Director: Sergio Leone (Italian)
1984
Companies: Embassy Internation Pictures and Warner
User Comment (from IMDB):

“Ennio Morricone, who is seen as the greatest writer of film music ever did a great job. Together with the images, the music speaks for itself in this movie. From time to time, there isn’t a word said but the music and images on their own tell a story.”

User Rating: 8.4/10

The film takes place the night that prohibition ends in America, 1930. While the credits are rolling, there is a soundbridge of ‘God Bless America.’ The purpose of this is to establish the fact that the film is set in the USA, it is also used as an ironic technique as in the first five minutes of the film, a woman is murdered, a man is tortured, one of the characters visits an opium den and we also see three other boys that have been murdered.

The film “The Deer Hunter” (1979) used this soundtrack to criticize America’s involvement in the Vietnam war (this movie also stars Robert De Niro). Therefore, it could be that Leone is using this song to open the movie to make a critical statement about the USA. Where The Deer Hunter used the music to criticize the war, in this film it is used ironically to point out gangs and police corruption.

Footsteps and the soundtrack are examples of non-diegetic sound. The footsteps add tension to the film and the sound of a door open increases suspense so the audience is involved even before there is a picture on screen.

The first image in the film is a silhouette in a doorway, the noir lighting is a generic character of the thriller movie and instantly adds tension as the audience don’t know who is there, what they’re doing or whether they play a good or bad part in the movie.

There is a high angle close-up of the girl and the audience can notice her pearls are shining – the director could have done this to highlight the girls wealth or social class,, it could also hint at the fact that she is a femme fatal – as the scene goes on we discover that she is also wearing diamonds and red nail varnish which add to the character of the ‘femme fatal’ that the audience have in their minds.



When Eve (the girl we have met) puts on the Tiffany lamp [Picture 1], her fact is revealed – this is the first shot in the movie where the audience is able to see properly and get a good idea of what is going on. It is important to note the Tiffany lamp, as they are still today extremely expensive, and at the time was a noted feature of high-class or wealth, it also plays a part in making an effective mise-en-scene later on.



The high angle shot of the bullet holes in the mattress that outline the shape of a body [Picture 2] reinforces the genre of the film - this visual device is also used in TV prime dramas such as CSI etc. when somebody has died, this increases suspense as the image immediately brings connotations of death to many people, and it is also used to foreshadow what is about to happen. The rule of thirds is also used in this shot, where she is in one third and the bullet holes in another.

When the gangsters are first introduced, they are wearing conventional gangster outfits. This increases the tension in the shot, as they are instantly recognisable and always hold connotations of danger. The gangsters make a big impression in the film, even in the first few minutes. Instantly, we see that all of them are wearing the same type of clothes, almost like a uniform which seems to make them more united. The dark of their clothes contrasts with the lighter colours that Eve is wearing, and this again reinforces them as the ‘bad guys.’



In the next shot [Picture 3], we see a clearer picture of the three men that have come into the room. The one in the middle is clearly the ‘alpha’ of the gang, and is holding the gun menacingly. The other two are both hiding their faces, one of them shading their eyes below their hat, and the other is turning away from the camera – so although at first it seems we are getting a clear view of the men, we in fact can’t see much about them or their facial features.



We soon see that Eve has been enclosed in a small space and is outnumbered [Picture 4], the audience begin to feel scared for her, as she has no means of escape, and we can tell that the men aren’t going to let her get away – it seems quite uncomfortable to watch as we can almost feel Eve’s fear and the menace and danger that the three men are bringing, although we’re not quite sure of the situation or what has happened previously.

We are reminded of the warning bullet-holes in the mattress as Eve is shot, and rolls straight onto the place it was [Picture 5]. It seemed that they had planned it, and they had laid it out for her to die on – this is extremely clever as although the audience has been forewarned about what was probably going to happen, they are still willing it not to. The audience can also see the particulate detail that has gone into planning the room and the outfits, as it seems that Eve is wearing a t-shirt that matches both the bed and the Tiffany lamp, which is ironic as she dies on the bed and almost blends into it. Ironically, after she has been killed the three men walk out – and the last stops to turn off the lamp, which could also signify the ending of her life.



There is a quick cut from the room where we have left Eve to the same men that now have a man tied up, beaten and bloodied [Picture 6]. The quick cut could signify the fact that the gang are in a hurry, or that they won’t stop until they have found whatever or whoever they are looking for (which we, as the audience, are still oblivious of). We also discover that the men always work as a group, which likens them to school bullies – too cowardly to fight on their own, this is also backed up by the fact that both people we have seen them fight or kill have been vulnerable. In the first shot, they killed an unarmed girl in an enclosed space, and in this shot we see them with a larger man that has been tied up, again, unarmed.

At this point, there is an extreme close up. This is extremely effective in the film as it shows both the vulnerability of the victim and the brutality of his attackers, this also draws much more emotion out of the audience as we feel extreme hatred for the gang and the helplessness and desperation of the victims.

The film then changes tone, from a violent to a more relaxed as we enter an opium den. The mise-en-scene shows Noodles (Robert De Niro) ‘off his face’ on drugs. This reinforces the ironic representation of God Bless America as so far we have not seen it as Blessed by God, but only corrupt and dangerous.



We hear a phone ringing, which is a non-diegetic sound. This is another sound-bridge which is used to link Noodles to a flashback of his murdered friends. We then cut to the scene of the flashback – a dark, rainy, almost eerie scene which holds many generic features of a thriller movie, these include the noir lighting, the chiaroscuro lighting when the streetlights are on fire, and the soaking streets which connate despair, death and mortality. There is also a photographer at the scene, which is one of the first hints that there has been a crime. [Picture 7] The shot of the corpses of the young boys represents the murder of innocents, although we learn later on in the film that they are not as innocent as the audience first presume. The shot of the corpses end with them being put into body bags and labelled, which is all the characters have been left with. [Picture 8] This, again, shows how corrupt this America has become. The camera pans, and we see Noodles in the crowd watching what is going on, this is our only indication so far that he is connected somehow.



So, in the first five minutes of the film, we see an opium den, a crime scene, a man being beaten and tortured and four murders.

God Bless America.