This is one of the most confusing movies I've ever seen. It's like the 'Memento' of epic crime films. What happened to James Woods? Can someone explain the ending?

well im half way through watchin it for the first time so ill probably be able to answer this tomorrow sometime. it is rather confusing but great all the same!!

I too had problems understanding this particular movie!

What I understood from the movie is that in the end De Niro get's all the money.

I could be easily wrong...

I am waiting for an explenation.

I thought Max (James Woods) already took the money. The money that Noodles finds as an old man is money that Max put there as a clue that he (Max) was still alive. Ahhh...my brain hurts

the scene where James woods and the other two guys were killed(burnt) after the robbery was a set-up. the guy that supposed to be James Woods was not him. he made them believe that he was dead, changed his name to a new one to have a new and wonderful life. he married the girl that Noodles love so much and got all the money that they earned in the business. when he invited Noodles to the party, i believe it was payback time. he was expecting that Noodles will kill him. but Noodles did'nt buy it. out of guilty conscience maybe, he killed himself in the garbage truck . . .

GoodFella

I've also heard that he made it look that way and he really didn't kill himself. Instead, he got a new name and went back to hiding. An other theory is that Noodles dreamed it all.

I've also heard that he made it look that way and he really didn't kill himself. Instead, he got a new name and went back to hiding. An other theory is that Noodles dreamed it all. [/b][/quote]maybe Omar, you have a point there . . .

GoodFella

If you want to understand the film better, I highly recommend those books (in that order) :

- Sergio Leone, Something To Do With Death by Christopher Frayling
- Conversations With S.L. by Noel Simsolo
- Sergio Leone by Oreste De Fornari

Leone explains what he intended to achieve with this movie.
To put it in a nutshell, he wanted to shoot "a fairytale for adults" in which the main character is TIME. The final image of De Niro smoking opium and laughing leads to believe that the whole story existed only in his imagination but... who knows ??? Leone voluntarily created this ambiguity and that's why the movie is so great : the viewers can decide for themselves, they/we can interpret the images the way we want, the story is open, and thus they/we become storywriters in our turn.

BTW, did I mention I was crazy about this film ?!

Asuming for one moent that Max did die in the garbage truck, why did he have to suffer such an alaborate death? Couldn,t he just have shot himself?

How many versions are there for this movie? I watched it on tv a few months ago, but i was told that it was the short version. It was around 4 hours long, including commercial breaks. Now, if there's a longer version, can anyone tell me if i have missed any significant scene that might help me understand the film better?

i dont know if there are other version but most of the time when they show the movie on TV, its the edited version or the shorter because of the airtime. in the DVD its 226 minutes.

GoodFella

use the "search" button on this site to know everythg abt the 3 or 4 different versions.

The longuest one is the Italian one, then the French one (4'12). The shortest one is the 1st US version, then they made it longer but a lot has been put aside.

You can find the script with the missing scenes in De Fornari's book.

I ordered this movie on Ebay last week and absolutely loved it. Just thought I'd continue the discussion on this movie since it doesn't come up too much.

Once Upon a Time in America is one of the best films De Niro made. and it has a lot of twist in the story and also one of the longest movies i've seen (226 minutes). i watched it again yesterday.
welcome to the Family Bassline 1414!

GoodFella

There's a dvd for this movie? When did it come out? I just thought it was only available on VHS.

i have this on dvd but my copy is bootleg. i don't know if they've already released this on dvd but the bootleg also have some special features. the copy looks like they copied it on Laser Disk. not as clear as the dvd but its better than having it on vcd. . .

GoodFella

Goodfella,
Where'd you get your bootleg? I have this movie on VHS and would love it if they released this on DVD, but that might be wishful thinking.

i'm from Manila(Philippines) Bassline. you can buy those in some "mall's" and sometimes in the streets at a very cheap price . . .

GoodFella

to those who are interested in the music of the movie try downloading the music in Kazaa. i just finished mine and i've download the Once Upon a Time theme, Cockey's Song, Amapola and Childhood Memories. . .

GoodFella

sorry i tok so long to watch the rest! i found it too confusing to like! i didnt really enjoy it oonce they'd grown up. i like thew scenes when they were younger. i like to watch a film in which i like the characters. noodles was just a brute IMHO. also, how come max's son turned out ginger?? lol

mick

i believe that was Noodles' son. remember the rape scene that took place in the car?

GoodFella

then how come he was played by the young max? that particular scene put me off the film. it was too distressing for me to like the film. i think this is down to de niro's magnificent acting which makes the charcter so believable.

mick

there are lots of twist in the story, read Almamater's post. the story is open and we can decide for ourselves. . .
"that's the secretary's son. his name is David, just like yours."- Deborah

GoodFella

very odd movie, you're right but truly a classic