Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Spanning four turbulent decades of friendship, betrayal, and memory on New York’s Lower East Side, Sergio Leone’s final cinematic monument follows David "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro) and his tight knit crew from street level hustlers to Prohibition era kingpins. Fluidly weaving through time via an opium fogged haze of nostalgia, this hypnotic tale of ambition and lost youth pairs Tonino Delli Colli’s lush visual compositions with Ennio Morricone’s most melancholic, haunting score.