Can anyone tell me what happened at the end of the film Once Upon A Time In America?

Question

I have watched the film a few times, but still do not understand the ending. Noodles goes to see Max at the mansion, asks noodles to kill him, he walks outside, bin lorry puls up, he dissapears? what did happen with the ending??

Answer 1

back of the bin waggon. Possibly the best film ever,

Answer 2

As some suggest, it appears that Max has killed himself. But if I'm not mistaken, he also sees (or hears?) a car full of people in a 1930s-era car drive by celebrating the new year. The actual end of the film, as you know, is not in 1968 but in 1933, as Max walks into the opium parlour, takes a few heavy puffs and lies back in one of the booths, a deliriously ecstatic smile breaking across his face. This leads many to believe that the entire film is something of a euphoric dream viewed through the lens of a drug-induced haze. The 1923 scenes are romanticized and nostalgic as viewed in retrospect. The 1968 scenes -- are you ready? -- NEVER HAPPENED. How could Deborah look exactly the same as she did in 1933? Why would she have married Max, a person she never liked at all? How could "Bailey" rise to such prominent heights in government under a false name when his true identity and past would almost certainly have been discovered long before the corruption hearings? All of those phenomena are manifestations of the terrible guilt that Noodles feels for raping Deborah and betraying his friends, two actions that both began with the best of intentions. I think that all three of his colleagues, Max included, died in the blaze, and that Noodles wants to find a way of coping, so he deludes himself into thinking that he himself was the patsy and that Max conspired to wrong him and the others.

But, of course, I might be partially or totally wrong. Still, it's a theory.

Answer 3

The inference is that Max has arranged that, after Noodles kills him, he gets whacked and thrown in the bin truck. Noodles refuses to kill him, and the hit on him is called off (By Max). The flash-forward scenes with Noodles in the opium den tell us that he didn't end up in the bin.
So by sparing Max he saves his own life (although he hasn't conquered his demons). Probably

Answer 4

I thought he ended up in the garbage truck
always loved that ending

Answer 5

Check the Wiki site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_Upon_a_Time_in_America

Answer 6

I think he suicides in the garbage truck

Answer 7

Probably not...no