1. 1. Case Study: Once Upon atime in America.
2. 2. Generic Archetypes Generic Archetypes are a key factor of thrillers.Especially noir films. These archetypes tend tobe characteristics, behaviour and trades of thecharacter themselves. An archetype in this film is the anti-hero.Noodles one of the main characters in thefilm is presented as this anti-hero stereotypedue to his actions. For example, the ausdiencesees him for the first time in an opium den, thisis considered to be a negative aspect, but lateris further explained.
3. 3. Generic Archetypes The character Eve represents the femme fatale of the story, this is a femalecharacter, who is usually quite deceiving and despiteful, resulting in their fatebecoming usually death. Femme fatales are normally identified by theirmannerisms and actions. The name Eve itself has a lot of connotations, causing the audience to create manyassumptions about her. From the Hebrew name, which was derived from theHebrew word "to breathe" or the related word "to live". According to the OldTestament Book of Genesis, Eve and Adam were the first humans. She gave theforbidden fruit to Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Thiscreates the audience to think that Eve could cause or be trouble, presenting apossibly threatening and devious character. In the opening, Eve is very quickly introduced and swiftly cut from the film with herdeath being only 2-5 minutes into the film itself. Her choice in clothing alsopresents her as a femme fatale as she wearssome very identifiable items. Instantly she is seenwearing a pearl necklace which is emphasized bythe lighting. Pearls can arguably be symbolic torepresent tears, from this we can prejudge whatmay occur.
4. 4. SoundThere is a sound bridge between the opening credits and the beginning of theopening scene. This helps to link the scenes and cause the audience to beanxious and anticipate the next scene. The song playing is God BlessAmerica which is the non-diegetic sound, composed by Irving Berlin. SergioLeone used this song for its ironic reasons. The song takes sounds ratherreligious and player like for Gods blessing and peace for the nation. Thepurpose of this was to emphasise to the audience the corruption in America.Irving Berlin was also a Jewish immigrant, so the useof the sound bridge helped to show the irony of theAmerican Dream in which people would travel to livein America and achieve this idea of freedom andpeace. Sergio Leone presented that the dream doesntexist and that the idea even if you work hard enoughyou just cant achieve some things.
5. 5. Locations The use of locations in the opening of Once Upon A Time In America helped to present thegeneric factors and aspects that make a thriller film. All the locations used in the film present the idea of solitude and seemed very claustrophobic,being very cramped and there seemingly no way out. The apartment in which Eve, entersat the star of the film, is rather generic, as there are lots of objects that can obstruct aviewers sight. This can help to create the idea that there is possibly something hidden, orthat the presence of another is there but watching from a distance. This location allowslots frightening aspects to be present, such as shadows. Due to this when the policemenmake their appearance they can emerge out of the shadows, therefore being presented asevil and rather menacing, creating a dramatic entrance. The idea of irony is continued with location as the apartment is Eves home and one wouldthink that you would usually associate your own home as somewhere warm and safe. YetEve is very soon after being introduced killed in her own home. A significant location used in the film is the elevator shaft. The use of this location is to helpidentify the genre as it is a claustrophobic and vary small/confined space, allowing littlemoment and restricting escape. The elevator shaft also ascends slowly, this adds to thesuspenseful atmosphere, which adds aswell to the genre
6. 6. Locations The use of locations in the opening of Once Upon A Time In America helped to present thegeneric factors and aspects that make a thriller film. All the locations used in the film present the idea of solitude and seemed very claustrophobic,being very cramped and there seemingly no way out. The apartment in which Eve, entersat the star of the film, is rather generic, as there are lots of objects that can obstruct aviewers sight. This can help to create the idea that there is possibly something hidden, orthat the presence of another is there but watching from a distance. This location allowslots frightening aspects to be present, such as shadows. Due to this when the policemenmake their appearance they can emerge out of the shadows, therefore being presented asevil and rather menacing, creating a dramatic entrance. The idea of irony is continued with location as the apartment is Eves home and one wouldthink that you would usually associate your own home as somewhere warm and safe. YetEve is very soon after being introduced killed in her own home. A significant location used in the film is the elevator shaft. The use of this location is to helpidentify the genre as it is a claustrophobic and vary small/confined space, allowing littlemoment and restricting escape. The elevator shaft also ascends slowly, this adds to thesuspenseful atmosphere, which adds aswell to the genre