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''Once Upon a Time in America'' is a 1984 American epic crime drama film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. Based on Harry Grey's novel ''The Hoods'', it chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime. The film explores themes of childhood friendships, love, lust, greed, betrayal, loss, broken relationships, and the rise of mobsters in American society. It was the final film of Leone's career and the first feature film he had directed in thirteen years. The cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli, and Ennio Morricone provided the film score. It is the final installment in Leone's ''Once Upon a Time Trilogy'', preceded by ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' and ''Once Upon a Time... the Revolution''. Leone originally intended for the film to be released as two three-hour films, but was convinced by distributors to shorten it to a single 229-minute film. The film's American distributors, The Ladd Company, decided to further shorten it to 139 minutes, and rearrange 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 criticized the changes that were made. The original "European cut" has remained a critical favorite, and frequently appears in lists of the greatest gangster films of all time. ==Plot== The film is presented in non-chronological order, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and it is largely told through flashbacks from the viewpoint of one person. The specific scenes and their order varies from version to version. The following section describes the full European cut of the film: The movie begins ''in medias res'' with gangsters entering a Chinese puppet theater, looking for a marked man. The proprietors slip into a hidden opium den and warn a man named "Noodles", but he pays no attention. In a flashback, he watches the police remove three disfigured corpses from a street. He successfully kills one of the three thugs that are after him but finds someone else has already stolen his money. He leaves the city. David "Noodles" Aaronson struggles as a street kid in the Jewish ghetto on the Lower East Side of Manhattan,〔Joe Klein, Peter Blauner: (''A Film Grows in Brooklyn'' ). ''New York Magazine'', 24 January 1983, p. 3, pp.16–17. Retrieved 12 January 2009.〕 in 1920. He and his friends Patrick "Patsy" Goldberg, Phillip "Cockeye" Stein, and little Dominic commit petty crimes under the supervision of the local boss Bugsy. Planning to rob a drunk at the moment a passing truck hides them from a policeman, they're foiled by the older Max Bercovicz, who jumps off of the truck to rob the man himself. Noodles confronts Max but a crooked policeman steals the watch they were fighting over. By chance, they later find him with a teenage girl; Max's camera enables them to blackmail him and start their own gang independent of Bugsy. The boys establish a suitcase money fund, which they hide in a locker at a train station, giving the key to Fat Moe, a reliable friend who's not part of the operation. Noodles is in love with Deborah, Fat Moe's sister, who aspires to be a dancer and actress. One day Bugsy attacks the boys and Dominic is shot and killed. In a rage, Noodles stabs Bugsy and a police officer who tried to intervene. He is sentenced to prison for 12 years. An adult Noodles is released from jail in 1932 and is reacquainted with his old gang: Max, Patsy, and Cockeye, who are now major players in the bootlegging industry during Prohibition. Noodles meets up with Deborah and tries to rekindle a relationship. Meanwhile, the gang meets Carol during a robbery and she soon becomes Max's girlfriend. The gang prospers financially under prohibition as they engage in bootlegging and also provide muscle for union boss Jimmy Conway O'Donnell. Noodles tries to impress Deborah on an extravagant date, but feels rejected when she states that she is leaving for the West Coast to further her acting career. On their way home, they kiss in a limousine, but upon Deborah's reluctance to go further, Noodles rapes her. After Deborah leaves, he regrets what he has done. The gang's financial success is threatened when prohibition is repealed. Max considers an offer to begin working with the teamsters union, but Noodles refuses and leaves. Max runs after him and they go to Florida together. While there, Max suggests robbing the New York Federal Reserve Bank, but Noodles sees it as suicidal. Carol, who also fears for Max's life, convinces Noodles to call the police on his friends for a minor offense that will keep them in jail. Later, Noodles learns that Max, Patsy, and Cockeye have been killed in a gunfight when cornered by the police. He is consumed with guilt for making the phone call and goes to the opium den, leading to the scenes which begin the movie. The first train to leave the city is going to Buffalo, and Noodles lives there under an assumed name for decades. In 1968, Noodles receives a letter informing him that the cemetery where his friends are buried has been sold and asking him to make arrangements for their reburial. Realizing that someone has deduced his identity, Noodles returns to Manhattan and stays with Fat Moe above his restaurant. The bodies have already been removed to a new mausoleum; while visiting, he discovers the key to the gang's old railway locker and notes the license plate of a car that is following him. Going to the locker, he discovers a suitcase full of cash and a note saying the money is a down payment on his next job. Noodles visits Carol, who lives at a retirement home run by the Bailey Foundation. She tells him that Max caused the gang's death by opening fire on the police. While at the home, Noodles sees a photo of Deborah at the institution's dedication. Noodles finds the car from the cemetery leaving the lavish estate of Secretary Bailey, the foundation's sponsor and an embattled political figure whose name has been mentioned in news reports. The car explodes, killing a district attorney. Noodles tracks down Deborah, who is now a successful actress. He questions her about Secretary Bailey, telling her that he has received an invitation to a party at Bailey's house. Deborah claims not to know much about Bailey, but Noodles already knows they have lived together for years. As he is about to leave, Deborah introduces Noodles to Bailey's son David, who is named after Noodles and resembles the adolescent Max. At the party at Secretary Bailey's house, Max meets with Jimmy O'Donnell. He is incensed that someone attempted to kill him with a car bomb but folds, signing over his position and interests in exchange for his son's safety. Noodles arrives and displays no shock in discovering that Bailey is Max. The two go to Max's office, and Max explains that corrupt police helped him fake his own death and steal the gang's money after Noodles called him crazy and betrayed him. Now faced with ruin and the specter of a teamster assassination, Max asks Noodles to kill him. Noodles refuses, despite Max's permission and goading. As Noodles leaves Bailey's estate, he hears a garbage truck start up and looks back to see a man standing at the driveway's gated entrance. As the man begins to walk towards Noodles, the truck passes between them. The truck passes and Noodles sees its auger grinding down rubbish, the man nowhere to be seen. The final scene of the movie is an extended flashback to the young adult Noodles entering a Chinese opium den, beginning to smoke, and finally smiling. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Once Upon a Time in America」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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