‘Once Upon a Time in America’ is gangster / mobster thriller film directed by Sergio Leone, and released in 1984. It stars famous actors such as Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern and Joe Pesci. ‘Once Upon a Time in America’ starts with a fantastic example of a sound bridge. As we see the titles, the diegetic sound of God Bless America plays in the background. This is ironic because it was directed by an Italian director, and it also seems to pay tribute to America. The first character we see is the femme fatale figure. The chiaroscuro lighting suggests that she is a deviant woman; the darkness could suggest that there is something lurking in the background. This is an example of an enigmatic figure, only the silhouette is shown, she isolated and vulnerable.
As she comes into the lighter areas, we start to see her more glamorous side. She is wearing pearls, jewellery and extravagant nails, these all suggest that she is the femme fatale. The pearls around her neck could symbolise her tears, as she is about to lose something very dear to her.
After she has found the outline of the body, on the bed, it cuts to an over the shoulder shot of the three mobster looking men. Leone decides to go with the generic mobster look, with the characters wearing the traditional trilby hat with long coats and cigars. This not only reinforces the genre, but could also shows the mobsters as a threat, which is foreshadow when they kill the femme fatale. It then cuts to a close up of a man, who seems to have been beaten and blooded. The extreme close up of the wounded man shows the sheer brutality of this act, and that these mobsters are a force to be reckoned with. The low angle shot of one of the mobsters, possibly the leader, suggests that he is in power, and he gives out the orders.
As she comes into the lighter areas, we start to see her more glamorous side. She is wearing pearls, jewellery and extravagant nails, these all suggest that she is the femme fatale. The pearls around her neck could symbolise her tears, as she is about to lose something very dear to her. 
After she has found the outline of the body, on the bed, it cuts to an over the shoulder shot of the three mobster looking men. Leone decides to go with the generic mobster look, with the characters wearing the traditional trilby hat with long coats and cigars. This not only reinforces the genre, but could also shows the mobsters as a threat, which is foreshadow when they kill the femme fatale. It then cuts to a close up of a man, who seems to have been beaten and blooded. The extreme close up of the wounded man shows the sheer brutality of this act, and that these mobsters are a force to be reckoned with. The low angle shot of one of the mobsters, possibly the leader, suggests that he is in power, and he gives out the orders.