Mar 24, 2008 11:02 PM
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(Updated Mar 25, 2008 12:24 AM)
Who enjoyed smoking Opium pipes in a Chinese theater.
For a change Sergio Leone takes a break from the unforgiving world of spaghetti westerns and takes a look at the dark underbelly of NY's mafia. Something you'd expect from Scorcese and not from the director of 'Fist Full of Dollars'.
But Leone delivers and how... I wouldn't be surprised if you think it was Scorcese after all, that is if you missed the credits. It's gritty, it's noirish; only Ennio Moriconne's trademark background score would be the dead give away.
An Underrated Gangsta classic
Judging from the fact that this is in fact the first review on this movie, it has been a less-talked about movie when it comes to 'family' matters. There could be three reasons. One the misleading title -OUTIA - sounds more like a movie about a widower and a widow, in their eighties, with one foot in the grave and reminiscing about their school day romance. Something you'd be wise to stay away from.
Another, it's not about Italians. There is Joe Pesci. He does make a brief appearance in a scene or two. But it isn't the same inventive use of butchers knife - 'Good fellas' Joe Pesci or bashing the heads with the car door 'Raging Bull' Pesci. Yup... the protoganist is Robert De Niro as 'Noodles' (David) a Jewish NY gangster. The movie deals with a bunch of Mazeltov-ing Jewish mobsters. It covers the period of 40 years, between 1920s and 1960s in the life of David. It was the time when Jews ran speakeasies, before they took over the WallStreet.
Noodles escaped from NY prefering to live a life of anonymity in Bufallo, after all his friends got gunned down in a botched pick-up of illicit liquor (it was the time of prohibition). With the mob crazed after him for betraying his buddies, by snitching to the cops, Noddles has stayed wisely away from NY as well as crime. Now 30 years later he receives a letter than not only drags him back to the Big Apples, opens old memories and wounds, but also opens the possibility of laying to rest the unanswered question - who betrayed whom.
Third reason for the unpopularity could be the length. At more than 3 hours of essential length the movie may be inaccessible to folks with a lower span of attention.
*Crew and Casting
I won't waste space praising De Niro or Leone or Morricone, when you know as well as me, they are the best. And they didn't disappoint. It was a pleasant surprise to see Leone deal with the mob so effectively. James Wood as Noodles best friend Max is a perfect pairing opposite De Niro. Be it the fun-loving Max or the nuerotic Max who wishes to go down history as the person who robbed Federal Reserve, and more.
Leone spent lavishely on this movie which spans two DVDs of 210 and 110 minutes each (be prepared to invest an afternoon). The sets are realistic. From the horse-driven buggies of 20s to (now) antiquish cars swarming the streets in the 60s. Its not just jail-returned (long-haul for murder charges) De Niro who feels started at the phase of the change in the city. It really is an epic in the sense that it captures 40 years history of the city and its mob.
'Family' Values
It's full of them. I mean the'R'-rated mob family values and not the 'G' with-your-infant kids values. The 'F'ascinating Four letter words, abundant spraying of bullets, and bodies - both lying on the street steet, and well as the voluptuous bare-all types. In fact 'ward robe malfunctions' forcing the display of assets outnumbers the deadbodies.
From De Niro smoking the opium in Chinese theater, poginantly raping his teenage sweetheart in the back of a limousine, raping the complicit adultress in the middle of a diamond heist, riddling a car with bullets in true gangland fashion, switching babies in a hospital, driving Jeeps into the sea... to a certain powerful government secretary finding redemption inside a garbage compactor, it offers a lesson in life. Life is a biatch. Certain mysteries are better left unresolved, you cannot escape your Karma, and best redemption in life is smoking Opium in a Chinese theater.
