Once Upon a Time in America (1984), directed by Sergio Leone, is a sprawling epic that spans several decades of the lives of a group of Jewish-American mobsters in New York. Known for its ambitious storytelling, intricate structure, and deep emotional resonance, the film is considered one of the greatest gangster films of all time.

The film follows the rise and fall of Noodles (Robert De Niro), a Jewish gangster who, along with his childhood friends, becomes involved in organized crime in the early 20th century. The story is told through a complex narrative structure that alternates between three different time periods: the gang’s youth during the Prohibition era, their adulthood during the 1930s, and Noodles’ return to New York in the 1960s, after a long period of exile. The disjointed timeline unfolds gradually, revealing the characters’ relationships, betrayals, and the consequences of their criminal lifestyle.

Noodles, the central character, is haunted by memories of his past, especially the betrayal of his closest friends, particularly his relationship with Max (James Woods), who is both his closest ally and his greatest rival. The film explores the emotional and psychological toll of a life spent in crime, examining themes of loyalty, betrayal, love, and the inevitability of loss. At the heart of the story is the question of what happens to friendships when ambition and greed come into play.

One of the film’s most striking aspects is its use of time, memory, and regret. The older Noodles, played by De Niro in the 1960s timeline, looks back on his youth with a sense of melancholy and disillusionment. The film is a meditation on the passage of time and the inevitability of change, and it examines how the choices made in one’s youth can reverberate throughout a lifetime.