Blogfinger

Directed by Sergio Leone.

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor  @Blogfinger

This movie was made in 1984 by the great Italian director Sergio Leone.  It owes a lot to the 1972 film The Godfather, but it is wonderful in its own right.

The soundtrack is by Ennio Morricone whose association with Leone is well known.  (As in “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”)

Here is a link to my still portrait of Elizabeth McGovern in black and white:

https://wp.me/pqmj2-O4x

The video below shows the wonder of movie-making as done by a master, even if viewed as still images.  The acting is great, especially with the stunning Elizabeth McGovern (the adult Deborah), DiNiro (Noodles)  and James Woods (Max.).

“Deborah’s Theme” is magical and plays in the background of this video and, during the movie, when the beautiful Deborah glides across the screen.

Jennifer Connelly as Deborah

Here is our description of the ballet scene from our previous article about this film:

“There is an early scene where the teen-aged Deborah (played by Jennifer Connelly) is practicing her ballet moves while wearing a tutu. Noodles (later played by Robert DiNiro) is watching her through a small portal in the wall. It is shot in a storage area behind her parents store.

The whole scene is done as if in slow motion, and the music playing then is the song “Amapola.”  The clarinet carries the solo while a violin plays the counter melody. A lone guitar provides the rhythm. The total effect is exquisitely beautiful.

Jennifer Connelly plays the young Deborah in this marvelous movie. The ballet scene is filmed in a dusty storehouse. Paul Goldfinger still photo 10/6, 2021 from the streaming movie.

Ballet scene in Once Upon a Time in America. Paul Goldfinger photo from the movie. Oct 6, 2021. M-9 Leica digital camera.

This version of  “Amapola”  is done in a nearly identical  tempo and effect as in the movie, although this cut, by Stuart Matthewman, is from the soundtrack of another film called Twin Falls, Idaho.