Most memorable scene in this film?

[Cusser]

At the tomb, I always thought the shot of the keys swaying could've been done better, looked a little artificial to me. 

[Klucha]

The scenes how life has changed after 35 years of going to bed early.

[Silenzio]

To answer the original poster, what's the most memorable scene? Two words:

"I slipped."

[Kurugen]

To answer the original poster, what's the most memorable scene? Two words:

"I slipped."

lol

[SimRob]

All of the above!!!
A scene I have always loved is when Noodles visits the tomb of his friends. It really makes me feel sad. But can anybody here tell me what is going on with Noodles and Ennio Morricone`s music in there? On two occasions he looks up to the ceiling whilst the music is playing. He looks slightly annoyed closes the door and the music stops. It’s almost as if he can here the music. Somebody please try and explain this. It has always intrigued me?

Zane,
Noodles can hear the music in that scene. When he's looking at the ceiling he's looking at a speaker, out of which is coming the music, Cockeye's Theme.  Noodles opens and closes it to see what happens to the music. The music stops when the door closes and starts again when he opens it.

I think this is when Noodles starts to suspect Max is still alive, or if he suspected before, this is more confirming evidence. Who else could know the music?

Simon

[namelessstranger]

Watching this wonderful epic again on DVD has I guess refreshed us all. So I thought it would be a good time to ask you guys what you think is your favourite and most memorable scene in the film?
Yet again I laughed until I nearly cried at the Chief Aiello baby-switching scene!
And the scene in the station, when Noodles leaves for exile and returns thirty years later always gets me.
But my favourite has to be that quite beautiful scene in which young Patsy slowly eats that cream cake (a charlotte mousse with whipped cream) rather than get laid.
I know that there really are so many. But what scene really does it for you?
[/quot]

Three words."Never my beloved".I'm a romantic.

[dave in milwaukee]

The ending is definitely one of the most moving endings to a film I've seen, but another pick of mine is when Noodles goes to the train station where Deborah's leaving, after he raped her.  Watching the train pull her away like that--with her eyes on Noodles's, pulling the shade down--just says so much about his utter loss, that HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR.  It's heartbreaking.  And then the camera turns to Noodles, watching her go.  Finally he turns away, with that mournful music, and then it goes to the intermission, which is perfect.  Lets it all soak into the audience.

Another favorite (not really a scene, though) is when Noodles enters the room with "Secretary Bailey" near the end, and Max turns around to face him, and we see Noodles's face.  De Niro expresses so much in one look it blows me away every time.  The way it feels to see his old friend after 35 years, the friend that he thought he'd killed and now had apparently betrayed him, is expressed in his face so much better than I could possibly put into words.  De Niro's acting all the way through the film is incredible in its subtlety.

And of course the rape scenes are memorable in the worst way.  The one with Deborah is particularly awful, but the one in the jewler's is also done really well, as we see Max and Patsy look over the jewels ("nice matzo balls") while we hear Carol's voice transform from horrified screams into sensual moans.  And now I've gone on much too long... anybody could just go on and on about the memorable parts of the film.

These are my picks for the most dramatic and symbolic moments in the film:

1. Noodles's expresion when he sees Max's son, David, and now realizes that Secretary Bailey and Max are the same person, that Max is actually still alive, and that Max is the one who brought him back to NYC.

2. Noodles's expression when he first sees Bailey/Max's face after all these years of believing he had caused Max's death. Even though Noodles had already figured out the connection by seeing Max's son, David, nothing could prepare Noodles for the shock of actually coming face-to-face again with Max after all these years.

3. The scene where Noodles and Deborah sit down together and she  reads "My Beloved" to him. Then they are interrupted by Max, and she says "go ahead, your mother's calling you." After Noodles and Max are beaten up by Bugsy and his friends, Deborah has locked the door and he can't get back in (remember she had earlier left the door open for him, when her father and brother went to the synagogue and her father gave her the key and left her in charge). This symbolizes that he has chosen the path of evil over pureness and goodness (as represented by Deborah) and now as a result she has shut him out of her life forever. 

4.  The scene where Max and Noodles turn from potential enemies into friends, when they unite for the purpose of daling with a common enemy--Fartface the cop, and Max tells his Fartface and then Max's mother that Noodles is Max's uncle. They realize at that point that they are kindred spirits and need each other to succeed.

5.  After Max and Noodles fall out of the boat and Noodles is frantically looking for Max, fearing that he has drowned. . . . and Max looks down at him from the boat and says, "where would you be without me?"

6. The "stink of the streets" scene where Sharkey tells Max that he's carrying dead weight--this is the beginning of the end of Noodles and Max's relationship.

[mal247]

All great scenes.  I suppose it's a bit of a cop out but there are so many memorable scenes, it's difficult to pick out one or two.  Leone was certainly a master at building suspense and matching music to action.  I like all those plus the great transitions and match cuts.

It's probably easier to identify the scenes that are not that special.  Max collects Noodles from prison and invites him to view the stiff in the back of the hearse.  So far so good but at the end of the scene Max makes a throwaway remark to a passerby who gives a puzzled look to camera - it looks like a bad scene from a carry on movie.   

[The Peacemaker]

I don't know about the most memorable scene, but I can easily say the most memorable shot in the film is the one with the Williamsburg bridge.

[moviesceleton]

All great scenes.  I suppose it's a bit of a cop out but there are so many memorable scenes, it's difficult to pick out one or two.  Leone was certainly a master at building suspense and matching music to action.  I like all those plus the great transitions and match cuts.

It's probably easier to identify the scenes that are not that special.  Max collects Noodles from prison and invites him to view the stiff in the back of the hearse.  So far so good but at the end of the scene Max makes a throwaway remark to a passerby who gives a puzzled look to camera - it looks like a bad scene from a carry on movie.   

I think that was a nice touch. It's like a piece of Leone's early, less serious films, in middle of this grand and serious epic. I like it.

[mal247]

I don't know about the most memorable scene, but I can easily say the most memorable shot in the film is the one with the Williamsburg bridge.

I thought it was the picture with the Manhattan bridge in the background that people tend to like.

I don't mind the rest of the scene with the stiff in the back of the hearse, just the way it ends with the passerby looking at the camera puzzled. 

[The Peacemaker]

I thought it was the picture with the Manhattan bridge in the background that people tend to like.

I don't mind the rest of the scene with the stiff in the back of the hearse, just the way it ends with the passerby looking at the camera puzzled. 

That bridge is called the Williamsburg bridge.


And that scene was done that way on purpose. The puzzled looking man is in fact an old comedian, at least that's what my dad told me.

[mal247]

That bridge is called the Williamsburg bridge.

Really? I think it was Cigar Joe who pointed out that the vertical uprights of the Williamsburg bridge lean in towards the top whilst the uprights of the Manhattan bridge remain parallel. Also on the Williamsburg bridge there are X shaped support struts between the uprights.

[PowerRR]

The death of Dominic and the shots before it with the bridge.

Either that or when Dominic went to give the pastry to the girl. He waits out the room and begins to eyeball it, beginning to eat it himself. I don't know why, but that scene is just so beautiful.

[Tucumcari Bound]

The death of Dominic and the shots before it with the bridge.

Either that or when Dominic went to give the pastry to the girl. He waits out the room and begins to eyeball it, beginning to eat it himself. I don't know why, but that scene is just so beautiful.

I would have to agree with rr. I also love when he sees Debroah for the first time after all those years. Amazing scene.