There has been much debate over this memorable shot.
As a Leone and DeNiro fan, I’ve come to appreciate this long, and to use a hackneyed term, epic film. I’ve seen it several times which as any other fan can attest, is a fair investment of one’s time.
In this post I’ll cover some thoughts on the film, especially the ending. I’ve done a fair amount of research on the ending so I feel what I have to say is more than my opinion but backed by some investigation. I think that’s a good place to start.
The Ending – It appears Leone intended for the ending to be a mystery. Although I cannot find the original source of this quote, I’ll have to trust the Q&A found on www.onceuponatimeinamerica.net Ironically, the digital age has caused me to rely more heavily on concrete sources, since “truth” can be manufactured more easily than ever these days. Nevertheless, I will trust what is found on www.onceuponatimeinamerica.net since I doubt someone would go to the trouble of purchasing a URL just to fabricate the analysis of a nearly 30 year old movie.
“Leone obviously wanted to keep this ambiguous. The pages relating to it in the screenplay are missing and an actor other than James Woods was hired to play the scene. Leone’s reasons are not known but it does start the audience to think about the movie, talk about it and view on more than occasion. “Did I die in the garbage truck?” is said to be the most frequent question James Woods is asked and even he doesn’t know. Woods says that Leone’s comment was “It’s like Jimmy Hoffa. We know but we don’t know but we know.” And Woods adds “There’s one thing we know. He won’t be coming to dinner tomorrow night.”
To further back up my interpretation of the ending, I go to none other than the narration of the original trailer, which, in discussing the film states:“it ended as a mystery that refused to die.”
My conclusion then is that the ending was intentionally left ambiguous. Leone spent ten years working on this film so I am certain he thought much about the ending. I also must agree with the analysis from the comment posted above, an ambiguous ending does spur discussion, as this blog post nicely proves.
The Final Scene – Since I am sticking with the “mystery” thesis regarding the film’s ending, I’ll apply the same logic to the final scene, that, in short, it is fully up to interpretation. I’ve read several posts that contend the entire 1960s segment is a drug trip, all made up in Noodles’s head in the opium den. I disagree with this interpretation mainly because there is not much for Noodles to be happy about: he was forced to go in hiding, find a new way of making money, his friends were dead, and only after 35 years does he discover he was in fact betrayed by his life long friend who will shortly be killed. Not something I would smile about.
My own interpretation is that Noodles smiles in the end because this is the moment is the peak of his life. True, prohibition is over so he must find a new way of making money, but he “likes the smell of the streets.” He has plenty of money and is out of jail. He should be OK. Furthermore, he just had to rat out his friend, which I’m sure he wasn’t pleased about, but relieved since he felt he had saved his life. So what better thing to do than take a load off and get high? At that moment life seemed to be sorted out. Of course, everything goes downhill for him once he is woken from his trip, but at that moment, he’s on top of the world. Why not capture it as the films ending?
Godfather, Sopranos, Goodfellas Comparisons – Despite the obvious parallels: gangsters, greed, violence, and Americana one needs to understand Leone to appreciate this film. To me, this film is more about enduring friendships and how life is nothing but immutable despite our best efforts to change it. Although the Godfather and Goodfellas are both wonderful films, I find we are comparing apples and oranges here. In Once Upon a Time in America, the gangsterism and violence are merely the background or the world these characters find themselves in. The core of the story here is about relationships over time, not about the violence.
Other Thoughts – This film is a long one, but I’ve come to appreciate this for the depth in character development. There are two parts which really stand out in my mind. The first is when you see Deborah’s son. You are reminded of how the two young boys met so long ago and forged a friendship that would last their entire lives. The other scene is where Senator Bailey shows the watch to Noodles, signifying once again how far back these two go, and you the viewer.
What’s also fun about this film is the toying of emotions. I can’t help but feel pity for Noodles during the 1960s portion of the film, yet he was not what we could call a good person. Simply think back on the various rape and violence scenes, yet the film makes you like these two very evil people. That in my mind is good film making.
Resources
http://msb247.awardspace.com/sp/sp1.htm
http://cinephilearchive.tumblr.com/post/38404666841/sergio-leone-standing-behind-tuesday-weld-sets
http://www.aboutfilm.com/movies/o/onceamerica.htm
August 16, 2016 at 9:34 pm
i think noodles never laughed or really smiled throughout the movie, he always got the short stick, unlucky with girls as a kid, unlucky with prison, unlucky with love even after making it to the top, unlucky with betrayal by a friend, unlucky with having to go in hiding – he was a sad man, and the only time he was happy (laughing) was when he was stoned
November 26, 2016 at 7:17 am
It’s a good point, throughout the film he always got the short end of the stick, with such a tough life, I’d probably be in that den myself. I never considered this perspective, thank you for your reply! Perhaps many like myself are over analyzing this film and the ending is far more simple.
May 4, 2017 at 12:58 pm
Why are you assuming that the final scene takes place as a follow on from when James Woods hits Noodles? It could have been at any time, in my opinion.
July 14, 2017 at 9:21 pm
I totally agree with your interpretation of the ending. How can the entire 1960s portion be a dream? Ridiculous.
July 20, 2017 at 10:33 pm
This makes me glad I wrote up the post, it’s a movie I’ve watched many times and the final scene has always had me wondering.
May 4, 2019 at 1:24 pm
Cause things are too goofy in the 1960s… To me it is a better story if it had finished around the time when Noodles talked.
September 28, 2017 at 12:55 pm
I think Max jumped into the garbage truck because he felt like trash for betraying his friends and because Noodles didn´t want to finish Max, making feel him even more misserable.
It´s that kind of subtle black humor that you will find in Leone´s movies.
March 6, 2018 at 12:53 pm
Here’s an interpretation that I’ve never seen.
The smile is selfish. He turned to opium to solace his guilt, but ultimately, selfishly decided that he gets the last laugh and gets to live. (POSSIBLY with all the money too – unsure on that one; don’t know if he found the emptied locker before or after).
Support: he never really showed loyalty – EXCEPT to revenge Dominic. He drove into the water. Rejected the union and the Federal Reserve. Got laid while they did the jewel job. Never did he act out of consideration or overt loyalty to the gang (or any woman).
Of course. That’s his macho character. Everyone knows that; he’s the lone wolf type, even though you don’t think of him as disloyal, and he never specifically did anything AGAINST anyone in the gang. And what about him “doing time” for them? Nope; he did time only for Dominic – and resentment against Bugsy, a “boss.”
So I’m making the leap to say that he said to himself, while lying down, “I set out to save Max from destruction by getting him arrested. It turns out all 3 died. S**t. … … … Oh well. F it. F them. Where I’m going I won’t need them anyway.” Smile.
One problem with this, maybe: does he flee and burrow in a hole out of guilt, or for another reason? If he really spent 35 years in guilt, either A. the smile in selfish satisfaction was only temporary (and enabled by the drug anyway); or B. I’m F. O. S. on the whole idea.
Now, whether Leone felt the rest was all a dream, I don’t. It’s all plausible and poetic. What happened to Max is just an enigma thrown in that doesn’t change anything else.
March 18, 2018 at 12:50 pm
This film resonates with so many of us who have put in the time to watch it many times. I can say that at the age of 49, I have watched this movie at least 10 times beginning in 1985 until today.
Each time I learn something new, notice another subtle wrinkle that sheds light and allows me to further understand this enjoyable and enigmatic film.
What is so compelling and keeps me coming back to watching this almost 4 hour film every 2 to 3 years? My first answer is the friendships forged during childhood. I can only speak for myself, but, I can honestly say that I often look back and am haunted by the good times and bad times that I experienced with my friends from childhood. The fist fights, betrayal and times me forgave one another.
Often, I see myself through the eyes of Noodles while watching the movie and I begin to fill up with emotion and sadness each time I hear Deborah’s theme as Noodles loses another part of his innocence, is on the precipice of doom, and eventually fails.
While Max, always seems a little bit smarter, a step ahead and able to see the bigger picture. This doesn’t make Max the villain in the movie, the real villain is Noodles himself, and his pathological path of self destruction, beginning with him leaving Deborah when Max comes to collect him from Fat Moe’s on the Sabbath. This soon leads to Bugsy and his gang surrounding Noodles and Max in the ally just outside Fat Moe’s and where they get the crap beaten out of them. Deborah prior only vaguely knew what Noodles was up to, after hearing the raucous, seeing that he is involved with one of the biggest hoods in the neighborhood, she chooses to lock the door and not open it when Noodles bloodied, pleads with her to open the door. At this moment, Noodles has lost his one true love forever. While Deborah becomes more determined to fulfill her dream and get out of the Lower East Side.
I will come back and add more to this…
July 16, 2018 at 1:29 pm
He finally finds out he really did save Max. A mixed message Max has married his childhood girl and lived a blessed life with her whereas Noodles is spent his life in poverty and obscurety but what he did worked.,even though he blew his chance at real happiness when he raped his true love after the dinner.
September 10, 2018 at 9:19 am
I believe noodles senile Meant he had finally won at the game without losing his friend James woods to death( jimmy Hoffa) missing in action and most of all as for the little guy saying he slipped ! I believe he saw ahead he wanted to get out early and perhaps wanting to spare deniro & woods life very excellent movie long but never boring I would love to see a remake of it even with an all blk cast this time I see. That’s wat some directors are doing but anything deniro woods & pesi play it’s definitely worth wat bing for hours u just can’t get enough of Three the hard way of the hardest I love them ooh doodles & noodles I eat them up!
December 23, 2018 at 7:23 pm
‘Noodles’ destroyed himself when he raped his flame Deborah Gelly in the back of his car. I think that is one of the main reasons he left and went to Buffalo because he felt he lost her forever.
March 30, 2019 at 9:33 pm
The smile was being drugged up by opium. Escape from reality into a dream.
This was his cooping mechanism.
So when he met mr Bailey. He refused to recognize him as his old friend because the reality of the betrayal and 35 years after is too hard for him. So he escapes the reality by ignoring the facts in front of him.
When James wood says “ is this your way of getting even .?” ( by refusing to kill him )
He says “ it is just the way I see things “ just after he was his nostalgic views of their childhood in nyc. Or The dream he has been in th least 35 years.
September 16, 2019 at 4:00 am
I read this right after I saw it. To me it was obvious what happened in the last scene. Noodles is thinking back on their good times and specifically Max, who was always smarter, (for example pranking him as a boy that he was drowning).
Noodles is reflecting and turning over what just happened. . . in that moment in the opium den, he figures out that Max is actually alive. He realizes this and laughs about his old friend pulling one more over. I would guess that other deleted scenes show more Max scams.
Ultimately there’s nothing left for him for, as another poster said, he destroyed everything he had and was not a hero.
This is why the max / noodle final scene is about closure for noodles and not revenge, he knew all along.
February 21, 2021 at 5:15 am
Agree. His smile showed he knew all along max was alive and was happy that his friend had made it out. Which was why he didnt kill him for revenge.
January 16, 2020 at 8:08 am
Terrible music selections for almost every scene. Exceedingly long sequences with no dialogue and bad music destroyed the flow.
This movie is extremely overrated.
March 9, 2021 at 9:52 am
You’re bugging tool bag… go watch Nickelodeon then.