January Film Festival!

Once Upon a Time in America (1984) Dir. Sergio Leone. Starring Robert DeNiro, James Woods, Tuesday Weld and Elizabeth McGovern. This was Sergio Leone's final masterpiece. It is quite simply the greatest Gangster flick of all time. As much as I believe the Godfather and Godfather Part II are perfect, this is slighly moreso. Sadly, it was chopped up for it's US release back in the `80's and never gained the mass audiencs it's longer, coherent version would have reached and amazed. This is an epic tale of friendship, violence, desire, betrayal and death - both real and repeatedly faked - guilt and time. It is one of the most amazingly filmed pieces of cinema ever. What separated Sergio from just about anyone else was his dynamic, yet painterly camera. It was an instrument he played like no other and he never put it to better use than in this, his final movie. I cannot give it a higher recommendation.