Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

Once Upon a Time in America
1984
*****
Director: Sergio Leone
Cast: Robert De Niro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Treat Williams, Danny Aiello, James Hayden, William Forsythe

Sergio Leone's final work is a long, ambitious, and mesmerising drama about four Jewish boys from New York who grow up to be gangsters. This epic film covers a time span of over 40 years in its four hour running time. Thematically it deals with regrets and memories, and once it's over, I'm not sure whether some or most of it is just a dream. With first class cinematography, production design, and Ennio Morricone's haunting music, I feel like I'm watching a true work of art. The film contains two separate rape scenes, which are hard to stomach, although they do make thematic sense. Based on by Harry Grey's book The Hoods.