Once Upon a Time in America

How Sergio Leone establishes the thriller genre with generic conventions

Background Information

Once Upon a Time In America is a epic crime noir released in 1984 directed by Sergio Leonne.It was set is 1968 America and followed the live of American youth and the rise of mobsters around the time.It had a budget of $30 million. It is rated 8.4 by IDMb .It won 2 baftas and was nominated for 2 golden globes.

Location - Elevator Shaft

The location of an elevator shaft connotes a claustrophobic atmosphere which represents that the character cannot escape from his impending doom, the elevator also represents impeding doom because there is only 1 way to go at a time in an elevator and there is no escape.

The darkness of the elevator shaft also represents the darkness of the character that is about to be killed and that he no longer has a future almost like the bottom of an elevator shaft as there is no escape.

The elevator also shows mystery and deception as you don’t know who or what could be coming out of the elevator so you don’t know what to expect which the character didn’t as he was killed.

The elevator also stops the light from showing as it moves which shows the escaping light, and as light connotes hope or future it shows that the character is running out of these 2 things.

The incredibly low worms eye shot also shows that the character is feeling weak or insignificant. The slight tilt of the shot also shows that the character is confused at the situation.

The generic location of an elevator also establishes the film as a thriller as it represents the dark nature of thrillers.

Eves Bedroom - EveOne of the opening scenes we see Eve walk into here room to see bullet holes around her bed to make the outline of a body. A photo is then smashed and she is confronted by some men.

This scene instantly establishes Eve as a femme fetale archetype as she is scene with the stereotypical pearls and expensive clothing to show she is spoiled as women would not normally be able to afford this. The pearls she is wearing are important as they have a lot of connotations such as purity (because they are white and clean) which has been destroyed by the life of crime she has gotten herself into and they could represent the last little bit of purity she is holding onto. The pearls also represent tears which is ironic in some ways as no one will shed any tears for Eve as she is just a insignificant woman who no one truly cares about.

The lighting in her room also represents hope and the lamp only provides a small amount for her to hold onto. The fancy lamp shade could show that her fancy life style is blocking out or dimming the amount of hope she had before. The lights also show the men come out of the darkness which is a generic convention to establish genre as a noir thriller.

The men coming out of the dark also shows that they are shady or mysterious characters and that they are there to almost wipe out any hope (or light).

Eves Bedroom – Eve

The darkness that is shown on the men's face also shows that they are surrounded by darkness but there could still be a small amount of light or good in them or they still have hope as they are coming into the light.

As they burst out of the darkness it could show that they are there to burst into eves life and change it forever in this case ending it.

Eves name has a lot of connotations by itself. Eve is one the first humans to be on earth and she represents deceit, mistrust and deception.

The name Eve could also show that she was corrupted by materiel goods in the bible it was the apple but in Once Upon a Time In America it could show that she has been corrupted by the material possessions that she has gained by being with her gangster boyfriend and she has lost her innocence due to this.

Eves name has intertextual references to the 1945 play An Inspector Calls, the person who gets killed in this play is called Eva and she represents the innocence of the situation and that she could not even help herself in the situation she was in. Eve is similar to this character not only by name but also personality so this could possibly show that even is also helpless in her situation and was forced into it.

Generic Characters – Anti Hero and Femme Fatale

The character ‘Noodles’ is an anti hero who is the protagonist of the film but for the wrong reasons and still commits crimes which we would usually associate with the villain but this is not the case in noirs. An anti hero is used to have a protagonist for the audience to root for but keeps in feel with the noir genre as the character can still have a dark side which is common in noirs. In the first shot of ‘Noodles’ we can see that he is not every other hero and is almost using being a gangster for his own benefit.

Another archetype used by Leone is the use of a femme fatale. Femme fatales are commonly used in noir thrillers and can usually be recognised by a female character wearing expensive clothing or pearls. The femme fatale is used to show that the female is doomed because of the life path she has chosen. Leone used Eve as his femme fatale and did this so the audience knew from the beginning that she was the femme fatale and that she was doomed from the start.