‘A shortened version cleanses the soul of my work’: Sergio Leone’s pain at the mutilation of his absolute masterpiece

Sergio Leone’s huge film, Once Upon a Time in America, was unfortunately a bitter commercial failure in American releases, as it only brought in $2.5 million against a colossal budget of nearly $40 million at the time.

In fact, this commercial failure was largely due to his mutilation. Contractually, Leone’s Warner required the edit to be delivered no longer than 2 hours and 45 minutes. While the filmmaker initially toyed with the idea of ​​delivering the 6-hour edit in two parts, he ended up releasing a 4h25 version. The studio and the film’s producer, Arnon Milchan, were horrified and naturally refused to make the cut.

“The truncated version takes the soul out of my work”

On his own initiative, Sergio Leone cut several scenes to achieve what would later become the European version of 3:49, a version that he could not cut without disrupting the narrative logic. Major and the producer overrode Leone’s wishes and shortened the film to 2 hours and 19 minutes for its American release.

The result, critically and commercially, was a disaster. Not only did the film cut itself in half, but it also took everything back into chronological order, completely distorting the work, because that was also its strength. Leone was logically in a deep depression as it is narrated in the book A conversation with Sergio Leone by Noel Simsolo, (re)published 2024 by Capricci editions.

“I want to say how much this truncated version detracts from my work. We turned it into a 135-minute TV series. Everything is uniquely chronological: childhood, youth and old age. does not exist. No more time, travel, smoke and opium I can’t say the original version has the exact duration it should have” says the film director.

“He makes two-hour films that seem to last four hours”

Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis added and kicked his ass: “After the screening at the Cannes Film Festival, Dino De Laurentiis said to me that it was great, but that we had a good half hour, and I told him that he was in a bad position to say that. Because he makes two-hour movies that feel like four hours, and I make four-hour movies that feel like two hours. That’s why Dino can’t understand. I added that this was the reason we could never work together.”

It was in Europe and especially in France that “Once Upon a Time in America” ​​was used from the beginning in its 3h49 version. But if the reviews were too flattering, the film only attracted 1.5 million viewers. Very (very) behind 15 million once in the West.

When this 229-minute version was released on Blu-ray in 2014, it got absolutely expensive. Dreaming of this 4h20 (!) version that the Cinematheque Bologna announced to be running in 2011, we’re dying to see Leone’s masterpiece released in 4k in our region…