Books : Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in Italy

Rating: - Definitive Biography But....
This is the definitive Leone biography. Meticulously researched with access to the key players either directly or through secondary sources. Particularly worthy of mention is the way the author brings the subject back to life by weaving quotes from Leone skilfully into the narrative. This book has the goods on the movies, how they were made and the source material that inspired them. However, and this is the only serious quibble with this book, one wonders if it is necessary to go into such detail regarding the plot outline particularly of Once Upon A Time In America which is repeated a couple of times through the book. Perhaps the author wishes to convey the agonizing lengths to which Leone had to go to bring this epic project into being but this over-detailing tends to interrupt the flow of an otherwise well paced narrative and leave one with a lingering suspicion that this is so much padding. However, this quibble aside this book is the definitive Sergio Leone biography hardly likely to be surpassed. Would love to see a second edition minus the redundant information.

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Rating: - Fine and detailed account of Leone and his films
The enormous strength of this book for me is Frayling's succinct and detailed analysis of Leones films. He takes key scenes from all of Leones films backing them up with excellent anecdotes, to point out either a technical point to Leones directing, or as an excuse to show Leone's emotional sometimes bullying and overbearing manner when directing. The biography does get a little too bogged down in minor detail sometimes. This can be distracting but its better to be slightly over detailed than under detailed in a biography. The only other minor quibble I would have with the book is the start of it, which confusingly starts with Leone as a young teenager or so, before going back to when he was born. Although this shift in time was a common gimmick in Leone's films, Frayling's idea although nice in theory, disjoints the start of the book to no great purpose and does become a minor irritation. On the otherhand the anecdotes Frayling uses are of a superb quality, and are very well used to reflect different aspects of Leones character. This book will I suspect be a key work for those interested in spaghetti westerns and the making of them. It will also be a marvellous insight into the background of the film 'once upon a time in America'. A film that is a far deeper and more powerful experience than the Godfather or 'Goodfellas', rightly acknowledged classics of the 'gangster' genre.

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Rating: - Wonderful
Prof. Frayling has written the first - and most likely definitive - account of Leone's life. It is everything that a fan could want, casting light on the conception and gestation of his films and offering generous insight into them.

This is no hagiography; Frayling (very gently) deflates the myth that Leone created about himself to produce a book which informs, enlightens and entertains.

It goes without saying that this is an essential purchase for anyone who loves Spaghetti Westerns and the work of Il Maestro.

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Rating: - The first in depth analysis of Leone's life in film.
This book, the first biography of Leone, features at its core the connection between Leone's life and career with that of the Italian film industry and Italian society. Leone was born and raised within showbusiness and here Frayling documents how this informed Leone and vice versa. Frayling also makes us reconsider the popular misconception that people have about Leone's personality; he was not the larger than life character most thought but instead deeply uncertain of himself and his talent. It becomes apparent as one reads that much of Leone's legendary ferocity and meaness stemmed from him trying to overcompensate for his own self-doubt.

Frayling manages to celebrate the great man's achievements without ever resorting to writing a hagiography. To sum up this is one the finest modern film biographies and absolute essential for any fan of Leone.