Jennifer Connelly plays the young Deborah in this marvelous movie by Sergio Leone. The scene is filmed in a dusty storehouse. Paul Goldfinger still photos 10/6, 2021
Ballet scene in Once Upon a Time in America. Paul Goldfinger photo from the movie. Oct 6, 2021. M-9. Click once for the enlargements.
Here is our description of the ballet scene from our post 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’ Lower East Side 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.
The video below contains still images from the film. The music is”Deborah’s Theme” Below all that is “Amapola”–two versions; the instrumental is played during the ballet sequence. Much of the music is by Ennio Morricone.
Below is Andrea Bocelli’s version of this song, and an instrumental version, as in the movie, can be heard by clicking the second link:
STUART MATTHEWMAN: