5
United States10 Essential American FilmsStop 5 of 10
Once Upon a Time in America
Spanning half a century, this elegiac epic follows a Jewish gangster who returns to a transformed New York decades later to confront the betrayals, loves, and ghosts of his Prohibition-era youth. Sergio Leone's sprawling final masterpiece.
Why it’s here
This US/Italian production makes New York’s Lower East Side, immigration, Prohibition, and American organized crime its complete historical and social world.
- Runtime
- 229 min
- Genre
- Drama · Crime
- Mood
- tense · thoughtful · dreamlike
- Entry
- challenging
- Best for
- character-driven drama
Content notes: violence or threat · sexual content Non-exhaustive