Once Upon A Time In America

Title: Once upon a time in America
Director: Sergio Leone
Year: 1984


Trailer

This shot is important in displaying the mood of both the woman and the scene as a whole. The hint of a pearl necklace that the woman is wearing merged together with the dim light that acts as the background for the scene, connotes a sad feel. Pearls are often used to symbolise tears and therefore a sad mood is purposely generated for this mis-en-scene. Because everywhere else in this shot is dark, emphasis is on the necklace in order for the representation to be obvious.

This is a very good shot and proves extremely effective because we can tell from this still shot alone that the men at the top of the picture have murdered the woman at the bottom. It gives us an idea of the type of film we are about to watch.

The ambient lighting surrounding the men seems somewhat dim compared to that of the woman who lay dead on the bed. This use of contrasting lighting effects is often used, especially in thrillers, to display innocence of a certain character and in this case could symbolise that the woman was innocent and did not deserve to suffer the painful death at the hands of these evil men. The trilby hats worn by the men are a classic stereotype of the Jewish mafia/ghetto gang from New York that the film surrounds. The hats main purpose is to perhaps disguise identity - creating an enigma of the characters resulting in a rising suspense as the film progresses. A key feature used in many thriller films, notably; 'The Third Man'.


This upside down, low angle, tilt shot creates a disorientated feel and symbolises the disorientated/fractured society of the film. The shot's low angle perspective displays the superiority of the man in the shot. The use of the prop of a gun in this shot that is held by the man displays his complete control and is a clear connotation of a recurring theme throughout the film, violence. Again, a trilby hat is worn creating an enigma; however in this case the shot is from beneath the hat and so perhaps indicates to us that the identity of these men is being revealed and justice could soon be the result.

The use of close-ups in thrillers is often essential in creating the shock factor any film from this genre should contain. The focus laying entirely on the victim of extreme torture in this shot, explains to us how it is not always necessary for every detail to be on screen in order to show what is going on. In this case, the shot lacks a perpetrator of a crime but it is fairly obvious that a terrible thing has occurred. This technique also creates an enigma; a key technique used by Leone on several occasions in this film. When analysing this image I struck a resemblance to the opening shot of Kill Bill. In this close-up shot, Uma Thurman is covered in blood, suggesting a crime has just taken place. However, Bill (the man behind these injuries) never appears on screen. See this shot here http://charlieclarkemedia.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/kill-bill-1.html