Not at all. Watch the complete ending again and listen closely to the conversation between he and James Woods.

Ok i'll watch it.Could you tell me DC what i should be looking for?

Or maybe he's just very high on Opium(sp)...LOL

Yeah, but on a serious note..it almost looks like a smile of relief..i dont know im going to watch it today and i'll see what i pick up.

i like to watch this film 1/2 times a year,like all my mafia films

It may be a smile of relief. But not for the reason you're thinking.

Damn!!I just watched it DC and honestly im still trying to work it out.!!!!...I get it soon enough!!!

Well, I guess I'm in the minority on this film. I didn't like it. I mean over all, I didn't like it. The first half was pretty good but, the second half I just didn't get. Like someone said here, "it seemed kinda wierd ". I agree!

I no way put it in the same catagory as GF,GFII, Goodfellows or even GFIII. JMHO.

Maybe if I watch it again? We'll see.

Rick

Watch it again my friend. And make sure that it is the longer version and not the short, edited one.

It's really a brilliant movie.

Hey DC.Ive watched it again.I still dont know what Noodles is smiling about. Im obviously missing something.What is it??

Check your PM

The film has some parallels with the Sopranos. While many viewers of both are expecting climatic action, the authors are simply following the protagonists journey through life and its slings and arrows. In the Sopranos, we got to see Junior progress into elderly age just as we see Noodles do the same. We witness the changes in them, their old companions, even the physical urbania they used to haunt. But also in both, we get to see the consequences for the sins they have committed.

I always thought though that the ending of America was a little like the ending of 2001 - a little enigmatic.

One of my favorite films.

Anyone who is a bit puzzled with it can try reading an early screenplay:

http://msb247.awardspace.com/docs/once.rtf

and the film transcript:

http://msb247.awardspace.com/docs/film.txt

and the Hoods is available for $1 as an ebook:

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/BookDetails.asp?BookID=33250

Apart from the garbage truck, another aspect that a lot of people find puzzling is the SMILE at the end of the film.

I used to think that this was just one of those unexplained puzzles in the movie, which is down to the viewer to decide on its significance and meaning.

I do not really want to go along with the theory that everything after 1933 was an opium induced dream but the smile did seem to fit well with that theory. Noodles dreams of his past and his opium enhanced imagination conjures up that Max engineered the whole thing to pursue a lucrative career on his own. There is of course the deaths of his friends - but this was probably down to Max - and the rape of Deborah but in his imagination he has met her in the future and whilst she is a bit cold towards him, she is still on speaking terms with him and optimistically things may get better. His conscience is clear and he can smile again.

However after viewing the scenes again and looking at Noodles clothes and tie, this is total rubbish. Chronologically the ending smile comes before the scenes in the opium den at the beginning of the film. Noodles has seen the devastation caused to his friends by his betrayal and goes to the opium den to seek solace. He loosens his tie, lies down on the cot and initially the opium pipe brings relief and he smiles, as depicted at the end of the film. However gangsters enter the theater looking for him, the chinaman brings him an infusion to wake him up and coming round from the effects of the opium he remembers the deaths of his friends.

A great touch - the ending coming before the beginning.

The use of opium by Noodles is explained, as well as the rape of Deborah, in the book THE HOODS. After reading the book you'll have a much better understanding of these things, and will realize that the whole opium dream theory is pure rubbish.

We all must decide for ourselves the meaning and significance of the smile.

I have read the book, the screenplay, the dialogue transcript and watched the film several times. I would prefer it if things after 1933 actually happened rather than being a dream.

If like me you don't agree with the opium dream theory, I am not sure how you can say that Noodles is smiling in 1933 because of something that happens in 1968.

The book does throw up a few thoughts:

- what was Harry Grey/Goldberg's real name?
- are most of the facts in the book true?
- did Max actually dupe Noodles in real life?
- why was he in Sing Sing prison?
- what did he do after 1933?

Good questions, all.

I too, have read the book, browsed the screenplay and seen the movie many times. I've never much bought into the whole opium dream theory, especially after reading the book. However, it should be said, that all of the "contemorary" scenes were from Leone's imagination, not Grey/Goldberg's, so how can we ever be sure?

As puzzling as some people find it, I love the ending. I always have.

I agree - I love the ending and many other parts of the movie.

Grey and Leone did have several meetings prior to the film being made and whilst I understand that Grey was initially a bit reticent, I am sure that Leone will have plucked some useful facts from the conversations.

Hey msb!!!Welcome to the boards.I personally love this film and i too have spent much time pondering the ending.I think ts up to you yourself to believe what you want to.But it sure would be nice to know how Leone viewed it.

I'm not sure if this has been posted before but there are some wonderful links on this site, including interviews with Leone: Once Upon A Time In America Homepage

Thanks for the link PB.Appreciate it.

Thank you for the link PB.

I've put together a few useful links and free downloads on:

http://msb247.awardspace.com/downloads.htm

This movie is brilliant, saw it 4 times already. The 2 disc set is amazing.

I read in a film magazine a while back about the other beginning to this film. It sounded good, its below:

A car full of gangsters is being chased by a police car in modernish - ish New York. The gangster car goes into the river and sinks to the bottom.
The camera then moves from the car, along the river bed, and each car it passes, it gets older and older, until the camera comes back out of the water to reveal the old New York.

Anyone remember this?

I just saw this film today and overall I thought it was pretty good. I wouldn't say it is the best gangster movie ever made but it is still well made with great acting. As for the future part of the film being a dream I find this unlikely because how would Noodles know about the 60s in so much detail in a dream? I think the whole point of the movie would be pointless if it was just a dream.

I watched this movie two weeks ago for probably the 5th time. Last week I watched the Godfather (part I). Maybe I watched the Godfather (and part II) to many times (both >15 times in less than 4 years), but dare I say it? I think it's better than The Godfather!

Some say that this was inspired by a tale of Harry Grey's concerning how he had once eluded the mob by driving his car into the Hudson river and pretending to kill himself. The camera could follow the driver of the car as he plummets underwater and dwell upon the wrecks lining the river bottom, modern sports cars and a slow dissolve to antique cars.

According to Frayling, initially whenever Leone was discussing the project to prospective backers, he would begin with this scene. Two men have dragged a heavy corpse to the edge of a wharf at night. The feet of the corpse are set in concrete - he is the victim of a gangland execution. The camera follows the corpse as it sinks to the bottom of the river. There we see other corpses: men chained to cars; women still wearing jewels. Then the camera travels through a sewer to another underwater cemetery - this time with more impoverished-looking corpses: one tied to a cart; another in rags. Clearly the bottom of the river has neighborhoods just like New York. Finally the camera rises to the surface again and reveals the Statue Of Liberty, reflected in the moonlight. Title: Once Upon A Time in America.

An adapted version of this scene was used in the opening of Frankenheimer's 99 and 44/100% Dead (1974) and the idea was dropped.

I agree although they are 2 quite different films and I will be getting the Blu-ray version of the Godfather when it's available. Just wish that there was some progress on a Blu-ray version of Once Upon A Time In America with the true story of Harry Grey/Goldberg.

Leone maintained that there were two possible readings. I don't support the dream theory and don't see why it's thought necessary to invent such a theory. None of the events which occur after 1933 are completely impossible and they could have happened in real life.

I think Leone was trying to introduce an element of ambiguity in the film. I've watched quite a few gangster movies recently and a recurring theme is that things happen and no-one knows precisely what happened in reality. The people involved are not always truthful, numerous rumors abound and people go missing and the truth never really comes out.

it might have seemd boring to some people and mayb even weird but this movie had a more deeper meaning than it might have shown in the 1st place.

Noodleses smile are the smile of The Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

“At one point, the cat disappears gradually until nothing is left but its grin, prompting Alice to remark that she has often seen a cat without a grin but never a grin without a cat”

The story is the same, Noodles and Alice are both on narcotics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_Cat