The First Gang of New York ; Butchered by Studio Executives, Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America Has Finally Been Restored to Its Glory Norman, Neil

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The first gang of New York ; Butchered by studio executives, Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in America has finally been restored to its glory Norman, Neil . Evening Standard , West End final ed.; London [London]12 June 2003: 29.

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ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT)

[Sergio Leone]'s four-hour tale bears comparison to Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather movies as a monumental and enduring work of American popular cinema. (They also share extraordinarily powerful performances from Robert De Niro.) Given that Martin Scorsese's attempt to recreate a similarly authentic and dramatically satisfying historical universe in Gangs of New York met with such a mixed response, it is salutary to reconsider Leone's film. A Few Dollars More had a crucial rape flashback cut out which was only restored years later, and Once Upon a Time in the West (the companion piece to America) had 20 minutes lopped off, making nonsense of the film's heartbreaking conclusion. Where the Godfather movies are predicated around family, Once Upon A Time in America is centred on friendship. The ties that bind Leone's characters are those of shared experience, not familial blood. THE intricate construction of Once Upon a Time is just one of the film's achievements. It also pushed the frontiers of sex and violence in a major American picture. De Niro's rape of [Elizabeth McGovern] in the back of his limousine, for example, following a romantic dinner in an empty restaurant, remains one of the most shocking (and revealing) scenes of its kind in a studio movie. But Leone does not indulge in extremes of sex and violence gratuitously. They reveal much about the limitations of the characters.

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IT'S not often that a new DVD release is worthy of true celebration. But later this month one of cinema's masterpieces, Once Upon A Time In America, is given a de luxe makeover, providing us with the most complete vision of Sergio Leone's sprawling gangster epic since its release in 1984. Butchered by the studios and consequently panned by the critics, virtually ignored by TV and inexplicably deleted on video, this is the sort of multilayered masterpiece that Hollywood simply doesn't make any more. Leone's four-hour tale bears comparison to Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather movies as a monumental and enduring work of American popular cinema. (They also share extraordinarily powerful performances from Robert De Niro.) Given that Martin Scorsese's attempt to recreate a similarly authentic and dramatically satisfying historical universe in Gangs of New York met with such a mixed response, it is salutary to reconsider Leone's film. To date, his movie has been reissued and screened in various territories in five different versions. Not only has the length been radically altered from its initial running time of 227 minutes (English-language cut) but the complex flashback/flash-forward structure was "improved" by rendering the film's narrative in chronological order for its first American release. To add insult to injury, the running time was reduced to 139 minutes. It wasn't the first time the director sat helpless as his films were butchered by uncomprehending studio Neanderthals. As far back as the Dollars trilogy with Clint Eastwood, Leone watched as US releases of his spaghetti Westerns were shortened by censors to fit the requirements of the American distribution system. A Few Dollars More had a crucial rape flashback cut out which was only restored years later, and Once Upon a

PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 1 of 3 Time in the West (the companion piece to America) had 20 minutes lopped off, making nonsense of the film's heartbreaking conclusion. Where the Godfather movies are predicated around family, Once Upon A Time in America is centred on friendship. The ties that bind Leone's characters are those of shared experience, not familial blood. The Godfather deals with the Italian/American experience; Once Upon is about Jewish gangsters. Yet both, like Gangs, deal with the forging (and corrupting) of the American Dream through the experience of immigrants. In Leone's case it is about the Jewish diaspora and the only outlet available to the characters for self-improvement, ie, crime - which in turn leads to commerce and politics. The central character of Noodles (Robert De Niro) was loosely based on Meyer Lansky, the Jewish crime boss who set up Bugsy Siegel in Las Vegas gambling and was allegedly responsible for his murder. In preparation for his role De Niro requested a meeting with Lansky. The request was denied. The saga spans four decades in the lives of Jewish gangsters in New York's Lower East Side, tracing the destinies from childhood of four men in the streets through their violent rise to power as Prohibition gangsters. The cast, which includes James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Tuesday Weld, Treat Williams and a young Jennifer Connelly in her film debut, all give the performances of their careers. THE intricate construction of Once Upon a Time is just one of the film's achievements. It also pushed the frontiers of sex and violence in a major American picture. De Niro's rape of Elizabeth McGovern in the back of his limousine, for example, following a romantic dinner in an empty restaurant, remains one of the most shocking (and revealing) scenes of its kind in a studio movie. But Leone does not indulge in extremes of sex and violence gratuitously. They reveal much about the limitations of the characters. Once Upon a Time unfolds like an enormous romantic, bloody opera. Its themes of betrayal, sacrifice, ambition and thwarted dreams echo long after the film has ended. And the enigmatic finale involving James Woods's Max and a giant garbage truck has fuelled debate among film aficionados for decades. The closing shot of De Niro's opiated smile continues to haunt my dreams. All this and Ennio Morricone's film score. Who could ask for anything more? . Once Upon a Time in America is released on double DVD on 23 June, at pounds 19.99. Five new 'classic' DVDs Fargo: the Coen brothers' maliciously funny story of a botched kidnapping. Big Wednesday: special edition of John Milius's take on the Sixties surf generation. Bande Part: Jean-Luc Godard's cool story of two thugs and their dalliance with a local girl. Badlands: Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek in Terrence Malick's murderous tale of two innocents and their passion for each other. The American Friend: Dennis Hopper in Wim Wenders's German take on Patricia Highsmith's Ripley's Game.

DETAILS

Publication title: Evening Standard, West End final ed.; London

Pages: 29

Number of pages: 0

Publication year: 2003

Publication date: Jun 12, 2003

Publisher: Evening Standard Limited

PDF GENERATED BY PROQUEST.COM Page 2 of 3 Place of publication: London

Country of publication: United Kingdom, London

Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals--Great Britain

ISSN: 14725215

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: NEWSPAPER

ProQuest document ID: 329744461

Document URL: http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.co m%2Fnewspapers%2Ffirst-gang-new-york-butchered-studio- executives%2Fdocview%2F329744461%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D14771

Last updated: 2014-04-05

Database: Global Newsstream

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