Mr. Williams also encounters doors.
We’ve talked about doors with OUATITW as well. How that is most likely a reference to Ford and The Searchers. Sergio also uses mirrors in OUATITW. When Jill looks in the mirror when she’s alone in the evening after the burial. She seems to be reflecting on what could of been, her loss and what she will do next. Do you think it was just a matter of Sergio seeing an opportunity with OUATIA with the various themes of the film to use these things again with more depth and meaning? We’ve talked about how, in particularly the last three films, he takes his themes of friendship and betrayal further in each subsequent film. Seems he does the same with these images.
If I can make just one observation, about all those doors in Sergio's movies - I've noticed that most of those doors get closed if they've been opened. A pedant little Leone touch that I've always appreciated.
This is interesting. You may want to cross reference these examples with those in OUATITW. Do you see any similarities between the way Leone uses mirrors in the two films?
Noodles isn't the only one who peers into mirrors throughout the film. When we first see Deborah, dancing among the “empties and the broom sticks,” she takes a long, admiring look into a mirror, which points to the little prima donna’s conceit and narcissism. In 1933 she looks at herself in a compact mirror just before her reunion with Noodles at Moe’s speakeasy. And she spends virtually the entire 1968 scene with Noodles looking into a mirror - though here Leone is commenting less on her narcissism than her two-facedness.And speaking of two-facedness, Max (whose younger self even has a double in the form of his son) also looks into a mirror during the climactic scene with Noodles.Did anyone mention Noodles looking into the bathroom mirror just before his encounter with Peggy? This occurs soon after Deborah's "go look at yourself" comment.Mat