Once Upon a Time in America

Over thirty years later, a former Prohibition-era Jewish mobster returns to Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where he must confront the ghosts and regrets of his past.

Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 epic criminal drama film written and directed by Sergio Leone, starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. Based on Harry Grey’s novel The Hoods, it follows best friends David “Noodles” Aaronson and Maximilian “Max” Bercovicz as they lead a group of Jewish ghetto youngsters to notoriety as Jewish gangsters in New York City’s organized criminal world. Childhood connections, love, desire, greed, betrayal, grief, and shattered relationships are all explored in the film, as is the growth of mobsters in American culture. It was Leone’s penultimate picture before his death five years later, and it was his first feature film in 13 years. It is also the third installment of Leone’s Once Upon a Time Trilogy, which also includes Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) and Duck, You Sucker! (1969). (1971). Tonino Delli Colli directed the film, while Ennio Morricone composed the soundtrack. Leone had planned two three-hour films and 29 minutes) versions, but distributors persuaded him to cut it to 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes). Based on Harry Grey’s novel The Hoods, it follows best friends David “Noodles” Aaronson and Maximilian “Max” Bercovicz as they lead a group of Jewish ghetto youngsters to notoriety as Jewish gangsters in New York City’s organized criminal world. Childhood connections, love, desire, greed, betrayal, grief, and shattered relationships are all explored in the film, as is the growth of mobsters in American culture.

[wikipedia]