2. Once Upon A Time In America (1984) (Dir. Sergio Leone)
Disregarded and underrated for decades, Sergio Leone’s final (and arguably finest) film has only recently emerged as a lost work of classic cinema. Having been subjected to a seemingly endless amount of edits and cuts, Once Upon A Time In America makes the best impression seen in its original version, a version which spans well over three hours. But Leone’s love for cinema is apparent in every frame of this sad, decade-spinning story of failed dreams and lost relationships. A gangster picture, a love story, a picture about the bindings of friendship… Once Upon A Time In America is truly an epic in every sense, a movie that will stick in your mind long after you’ve seen it. Robert De Niro, as usual, delivers a fine performance, but this is Leone’s movie, the Italian master’s melancholic meditation on the American Dream.