The Analysis Of The Opening Scene Of Once upon a time in America

Once upon a time in America - 1984, Directed By Sergio Leone
Staring Robert De Niro, James Woods and Elizabeth McGovern

A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life. - IMDb.com


Scene starts with the sound of footsteps at the end of the credits with a totally black shot and then female character (possibly a femme fatale) opening the door to her darkened room so she is a silhouette in the frame (as a medium-close shot & also the backlighting to create the silhouette - as if the director wants you to focus on that character within the scene) with the song God Bless America playing as a Non-diegetic sound. As she walks in the room her sihiloet disappears and you can only see her face - again to focus the attention squarely on her and what she is doing  - and she tries to turn on the light but it wont turn on, to give the scene some tension and also the lack of ambient lighting within the room can act as a signifier to say that the room is not safe/Dangerous and also to add tension. 


There is then a high-angle shot looking though some kind of ornament or light fitting towards the door where the female character is standing and then it then proceeds to pan down as the Woman walks toward the bed within the room. it then cuts to a close-up of the hands of the woman operating the switch of the lamp  and then tracking her hands to screw in the bulb to get the light to work  - this then lights up her face which give the audience there first proper look at her face, and her costume to give the audience an idea of what period the film is set in. It also helps build the American Stereotype of the time within the film along with all the other features of the scene - although such features as the song God Bless america gives a false indication of the Stereotype.


The next shot in the scene is a Close up of some bullet holes in the bed. then it cuts to a shot of her pulling back the covers - as she does that the camera zooms out to show the entire bed or to give the "Bigger picture" as it were - to expose the outline of a person in Bullet holes on the bed, possibly as a reference to the chalk outline the sometimes put down in other crime films to indicate a murder scene. Then - with the song cutting to an end - you see a close-up of a hand holding a gun, smash a picture with a quite loud noise as if to break the tension within the scene, cutting back to a high shot of the woman to give a sense of insignificance within the current scene and situation, and then cutting back to the hand and then the camera then pans up to the face of a man. You then see another two Male characters walk out of the shadows. The three men are all waring similar clothes, which signifies that they are all in the same line of work - most likely Gangsters or Police by the way they are dressed - they then proceed to ask the woman "where is he, where is he hiding", after replying "i don't know" on of the three men hits the woman - adding to the effect of insignificance and powerlessness the woman has in the present situation, along with the high angle shots whenever she is in the frame, also the opposite for the three men, which are always almost shown in a low angle shot to give a sense of command and authority in the situation (possibly suggesting that they are police). as she stand back up she asks the men "what are you going to do to him" - the audience does not know the man s name yet - you see a mid-shot of one of the three men screwing a silencer onto his gun and then you see him aiming and firing at the woman and she then collapses onto the bed - where she is then shot again. Two of the men then leave the room and the one remaining man switches off the light, as if to signify the woman has died and she is no longer present in the room. 

The Three Men are probably part of a stereotype of the typical American "hard man" - gangsters looking for money or a rival or tough cop type looking for a criminal. Possibly to help the audience establish a era in which this film is set or to give the three men some mystery around them. They could also be getting the audience asking some questions about the man they are looking for, such as what has he done ? or Could he just have been caught up with something that he had no part in and he is just running from these men ?

There is also the link between the Bed-side light and the woman, when she enters the room she goes and turns it on - this gives us the first proper look at her face - and then, at the end of the scene when she dies, one of the men turns it off again. This could possibly be a signifer of her life or presence whithin the room as before mentioned.