Once upon a time in America (C’era una volta in America)

Noodles – whose story is told by interweaving three different periods of his life – is a gangster who grew up in the Lower East Side of New York. There, as an adolescent, he formed a small gang along with his friends Max, Patsy, Dominic and Cockeye and they concentrate on extortion and contraband. As an old man in 1968, Noodles returns home after a long exile and revisits the places where he spent his childhood. His memories take us back to 1922, conjuring up his life from his first involvement in crime and his discovery of sex and love. In violent 1920s New York, Noodles and Max quarrel over control of the district belonging to Bugsy, a small time crime lord with whom they have business dealings, and they collect illegal earnings in a suitcase which they store in the left luggage at the train station. But a clandestine deal kept secret from Bugsy incurs his wrath and he kills Dominic, only to have the favour returned by Noodles. In the clash a policeman is also wounded and Noodles is sentenced to eleven years in jail. On his release in 1933, the other gang members greet him warmly and with great excitement, while Max shows him how the world has changed during his absence: prohibition enabled the band to make a name for itself in the world of organized crime, selling liquor in the opulent club belonging to their friend Moe. In the bar, Noodles runs into Deborah, whom he had always loved, but the prospect of living in the shadow of a gangster is too much and she refuses his propositions. After a turbulent period of time with robberies and settling of scores, the gang seizes the chance to go into business with the political world, protecting an important trade union representative from his enemies and from the police who are eager to frame him. During this time, while dining with Noodles, Deborah reveals that she intends to move to Hollywood to focus on her acting career. The gangster’s reaction is far worse than she had expected: in a fit of rage, he tries to rape her in the car as they are travelling home, marking the end of their difficult relationship. The era of prohibition is also nearing an end and the four friends suddenly find themselves penniless and without work. In desperation, Max organizes a high-risk robbery, despite reluctance voiced by Noodles, who heeds advice from his business partner’s lover and decides to inform the police of the heist in order to save his own skin. As the robbery is taking place, Noodles lies unconscious, wounded by Max in a fight over something stupid, while Max, together with Patsy and Cockeye, is killed in the shootout with police. Stunned by the dramatic snowballing of events, Noodles heads to the station to pick up the suitcase with all the gang’s money and flee to a safe, distant location, but to his dismay, he discovers the money has already been taken. The story returns to New York, 1968. The elderly Noodles once again meets Deborah and tells her that he has received a mysterious invitation from a certain senator Bailey, whom he has never met. The surprise that awaits him forces him to reflect painfully on the past, making him reconsider everything he had always believed in until then.

Technical and artistic cast