Once Upon a Time in America
(1984)
(1984)
Director – Sergio Leone
Release date – 1st June 1984 (USA)
Release date – 1st June 1984 (USA)
Genre – Crime, Drama, Thriller
Production companies (some) –
Warner Bros. Pictures
Embassy International Pictures
Production companies (some) –
Warner Bros. Pictures
Embassy International Pictures
While the starting credits are rolling there is a sound bridge of ‘God Bless America’, the purpose of this is to establish that the film is set in the USA and to possible establish an ironic tone. The Film ‘The Deer Hunter’ (1970) used this soundtrack to criticise the USA’s involvement in the Vietnam (also staring DeNiro), therefore Leone is possibly using this soundtrack to make a critical statement about the USA in ‘Once Upon a Time in America’, the film focuses on gangsters and police corruption. Footsteps and the soundtrack are examples of non-diegetic sound. The footsteps add tension and the sound of the door opening increases the suspense.
The first image that appears is a silhouette in a doorway. The noir lighting and the high angle close up of eve (the pearls) suggests she is a femme fatale.
In this undeveloped analysis you are beginning to understand the connotations of some aspects of mise-en-scene.
ReplyDeleteYou will have to improve your note taking in class Libby. Look to the yellow coursework booklet for guidance on how to structure an analytical essay on your researched thriller films.