How Sergio Leone establishes and develops the thriller genre in Once Upon a Time in America.
About Once Upon a Time in America • Once Upon a Time in America is a crime-drama film released in 1984 co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone. • The film stars Robert De Niro and James Woods. • Once Upon a Time in America has a running time of 229 minutes after being shortened from once being two films. • Once Upon a Time in America won 4 awards, these include 2 British Academy Film Awards, one for costume design and another for best film music.
Location One way that Sergio Leone establishes the genre in Once Upon a Time in America is through the locations used throughout. The first location is a small, darkly-lit apartment. The apartment is filled with lots of objects and furniture which can make viewing what is happening difficult for the audience. Sergio Leone would have done this to build a sense of mystery and tension to make the audience question what is happening behind the object. The apartment location is also generic as the audience would expect people to feel safest and most comfortable in their own home however, in this film it is the opposite as Eve is not safe. Another generic thriller location that is used is the elevator. The elevator is used as it is a small and claustrophobic place, the use of this location can build tension for the audience. A third location that is used to develop the thriller genre in Once Upon a Time in America is a damp and dark street. Dark streets are typically used in thrillers as they tend to be cut off from the public making them good for drama to happen as no one will see anything. The darkness of the street foreshadows that something dark and dangerous is going to happen later in the film. It can also signify the character’s personalities as quite shady and dark.
Character types Femme fatale – Sergio Leone uses the character eve as a femme fatale in once upon a time in America. A ‘femme fatale’ is typically a female character whose fate is usually death. A femme fatale can usually be identified for certain mannerisms. In the opening of the film we can tell straight away that eve is a femme fatale as she is murdered very quickly and also from the pearl necklace that she wears. Pearls used to signify tears, this makes them a good feature in thrillers to foreshadow something bad happening. The name ‘eve’ also has lots of meaning, mainly to do with biblical connotations, this leads the audience to believe she is very pure and genuine whilst also giving the audience the slight feeling that she may be weak or vulnerable. Anti-hero - the second character type used in once upon a time in america is noodles who portrays the antihero role. An ‘anti-hero’ is a character that seems like a very nice character and like a hero but not for the right reasons. Anti-hero’s usually focus on positive actions in order to benefit themselves rather than considering what the right thing to do would be. Noodles fills this role by the decisions that he makes throughout the film, this becomes evident very quickly in the film as he breaks the law by being in an illegal opium den. This signifies that anything he does good from then on in the film is likely to be balanced out by more illegal behaviour.
Lighting In Once Upon a Time in America, Sergio Leone establishes the thriller genre through the lighting used. Throughout the film, chiaroscuro lighting is used to signify power along with corruption. An example of this is shown in the opening scene as Eve discovers the bullet holes in it. In the first shot Eve is in the dark turning her lamp on, Leone would have used this lighting to foreshadow that even at the start of the film bad things are happening. The use of the tiffany lamp suggests that the warm glow connotes the 'warmth', almost juxtaposing the femme fatale stereotype just before Eve dies. The lamp on Eve’s bedside may have also been used as a metaphor of her life. When Eve is shot dead, the investigator turns the lamp off which gives the symbolic idea that the ‘light of eve’ is off, this shows her death visually as well as through props. The lighting used throughout the film also creates shadows for both characters and props, these shadows are importantly used to make the audience feel on-edge about what/who the shadows are.
Sound Sergio Leone focusses on the sound used in the film, both diegetic and nondiegetic sounds are used. In the opening, a sound-bridge is used. ‘God Bless America’ is played as a nondiegetic sound, after hearing footsteps for the first time. This music links to the time and place in which it was set and gives the idea that prohibition has just ended. This links to the film ‘The Deer Hunter’ as at the end of the film ‘God Bless America’ is played. Both films use this song ironically as there are lots of bad decisions throughout both of these films which are being celebrated which some may relate to what was happening in America in the time of filming. Sergio Leone has chosen this song to make it clear to the audience how corrupt the law enforcement was in America at the time.