Once Upon a Time in America Case Study

1. Once Upon a Time in
America
Directed by Sergio Leone
Released May 1984 at the Cannes Film Festival
By Lucy Grubb

2. Genre conventions within mise-en-scene: Location
I will be focusing on two generic locations in the film in order to indicate the
credentials although there are many more locations such as dark streets and
alleyways that I could have chosen.
The first location I have chosen to look at is the use of elevators; traditionally
used in 1920s thriller films because of their slow and eerie mechanical movement
up and down the lift shaft. They are often used to build tension or anticipation
with a fear of not knowing who will be walking out of the doors. From the
screenshot you can see a worm’s eye view of the elevator descending which
creates a panicked sense of claustrophobia. Leone also uses a high angle shot of
the elevator emphasising its imposing importance and dominance over the scene
and characters within it. Another well known thriller film that includes the use of
an elevator is “The Silence of the Lambs”. (1991)
I have also chosen to look at Eve’s apartment, the established femme fetale in the
film. At first, the audience sees a dark, poorly lit room casting shadows. These
shadows allow the ‘cop’ characters to appear from the darkness, surprising Eve
and the audience. Ironically, we feel that Eve should feel her most comfortable in
her flat but she is at her most vulnerable when the cops come after her. She has
no where to escape and feels trapped in her own home.

3. Archetypes
The traditional femme fetale, featured in most thriller films, is the character
of ‘Eve’. The name ‘Eve’ has many connotations with the Bible and the
characters of Adam and Eve, which contradicts the femme fetale
characteristics implying that Eve is a deviant gangster's girlfriend. The
femme fetale almost always gets killed off once she has fulfilled her role in
the film, and Eve gets shot dead in the opening scene. This suggests that
the stereotypical femme fetale character is weak and too vulnerable to
defend herself or be involved any further in the film.
Her clothing is also very important; even though the pearl necklace signifies
wealth it also symbolises tears, a sign of foreshadowing bad things to come.
Another generic archetype Leone uses is through the character of Noodles
who represents the ambiguous anti-hero. Heroes are often established for
their noble qualities, for example James Bond, but an anti-hero lacks these
conventional heroic attributes. We are first introduced to Noodles, our
leading character, in an illegal opium den; showing his fearless nature and
anti-hero stereotype of being dangerous and intriguing. Leone uses many
low angle shots to portray Noodles’ dominance and authority as a character,
building his anti-hero archetype.

4. Film Noir
Film Noir is a style mainly applied to thriller films in order to portray a
mood of pessimism or menace. In the opening of the film when we are
first introduced to Eve, Leone uses chiaroscuro lighting to enhance the
dramatic effect of black and white contrast. The femme fetale is
introduced with only half of her face visible, the other half masked by
the shadows. This shows the audience that she is a character of
mystery and deviance, and we can see that she is wearing red lipstick
and pearls around her neck. The red lipstick connotes her desirable
and seductive personality and the pearls symbolise tears –
foreshadowing that something bad is about to happen.

5. Sound
“God bless America” written by Irving Berlin creates the non diegetic
sound in the opening title and is briefly played at the end of the film.
Leone used such a patriotic song on purpose to create a sense of irony –
the song connotes peace for the nation yet Eve gets murdered in the first
scene. Leone wanted to portray the corruption involved in the law
enforcement of America and to make the audience aware of this.
Another sense of irony was created through the fact that Berlin was
Jewish, and in ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ the police are hunting down
the Jewish gang to kill them.
A sound bridge is created between the opening title and the beginning of
the opening scene which is used to link the scenes together and to leave
the audience waiting in anticipation for the next scene.

6. Gender
I believe the main female archetype, Eve, is portrayed as a very weak and
powerless character and this is reinforced when she is killed within the
first scene. This portrays Eve in a negative light, and shows the dominance
of the male characters gaining authority over her. I believe Eve’s character
is also objectified by the male characters and is seen merely as something
to be looked at – similar to a prop on the set.
As you can see in the screenshot, Eve’s costume is a very similar colour to
the lamp showing that Eve is perhaps represented by this prop. After she
is killed, one of the policemen turns the light off, connoting that Eve has
died and her light has been burnt out.