Once Upon a Time in America (Leone, 1984): Prince Charles Cinema, 6.15pm
Sergio Leone originally envisaged Once Upon A Time in America as two three-hour films, then a single 269-minute (4 hours and 29 minutes) version, but was convinced by distributors to shorten it to 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes). The American distributors, The Ladd Company, further shortened it to 139 minutes (2 hours and 19 minutes), and rearranged the scenes into chronological order, without Leone's involvement. The shortened version was a critical and commercial flop in the United States, and critics who had seen both versions harshly condemned the changes that were made. The original "European cut" has remained a critical favorite. Over time, more of the original footage has been found, so this new "extended director's cut" runs 251 minutes and is said to be the closest we'll ever get to seeing the filmmaker's original version of the film.
Chicago Reader review:
Like Once Upon a Time in the West, Sergio Leone's
3-hour-and-47-minute gangster epic (1984) is a foundation myth, though
the quality of the myth is very different: the focus here is individual
rather than collective, and the form is cyclical and subjective rather
than linear and expansive. The relationship of Robert De Niro and James
Woods—the brothers who betray—is an amalgam of Roman mythology,
Christian parable, and Hollywood cliche; though the intricate flashback
structure follows the memories of one man, the film also represents a
kind of cultural recall—the fiction remembering itself. Every gesture is
immediate, and every gesture seems eternal. Leone accomplishes all of
this within the framework of a superb popular entertainment: it's a
funny, rousing, brilliant piece of work. With Elizabeth McGovern, Joe
Pesci, Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, and Treat Williams; the score, of
course, is by Ennio Morricone.
Dave Kehr
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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