Must be half a decade ago when my understanding about movies finally started to grow and I started exploring more indie/classics that released before the dawn of the millennium . GoodFellas was one of those decisive movies which made me not to rethink about my small decision.
Martin Scorsese’s movies are not usually headed by some protagonist , antagonist or even an anti hero . His stories are mostly just dealing with characters that have too many shades making them hard to define. GoodFellas also is about people who are definitely in the highlight but aren’t doing any heroic stuff . His understanding about the crime world, the society and the people in and around it is clearly top notch . The detailing he aims for may very well put the real gangsters to shame sometimes . It is hard to find any kind of communal discord as he delves into the personal lives of the criminals . A more recent interview with the cast and crew revealed that Martin was unsatisfied with the costumes the mafia was given to wear . For the same purpose , his parents had to come in everyday on set just to make sure the actors had their collars and ties done right. Scorsese’s Sicilian connect can be considered as him inheriting the genre for life.
There are plenty of things that even the most ardent may not know about the movie. The scene between Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci’s characters where Tommy tries to pull Henry’s leg in front of all others was improvised on set. The reaction of the background cast was indeed real. It is a certain degree of audacity that the particular scene created which is still remembered as an icon in cinema history. Joe Pesci had his real-life counterpart’s attitude down, but his look was all wrong. The meaty runtime that spans over 148 minutes is because the story is based on real events and Martin wanted the movie to showcase every single aspect of those incidents .
Most fans of the film know that it’s Martin Scorsese’s mother Catherine who plays Tommy’s mother in the infamous dinner scene following Billy Batts’s murder, but the family connections hardly stop there. Tommy’s mother’s painting of two dogs sitting in front of an old man (“One’s going east, and the other one is going west. So what?”) was actually painted by co-writer Nicholas Pileggi’s mother. Scorsese’s father, Charles, also pops up as Henry’s prison compadre who puts way too many onions in the gravy.
Speaking of The Sopranos: Between Tony Sirico, Lorraine Bracco, Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli, and many, many more, the show shares a huge number of cast members with Goodfellas.
However, the only actor confirmed to have appeared in the holy trinity of Mafia pop culture—the original The Godfather, Goodfellas, and The Sopranos—is Tony Lip, best known for his portrayal of New York crime boss Carmine Lupertazzi on The Sopranos.
Honestly speaking, there are very few movies which effectively display the enriched detailing by the actions, lines and looks of their characters rather than deep production design. Goodfellas is one of those rare gems. It also delves into the personal lives of the. gangsters too. The problems that Henry Hill creates for himself with his wife and kids , the change his wife has to go through and go out on a limb to adapt to it till the very end, it is all there.
Ending with Scorsese’s favourite actor to work with , his Taxi Driver , Robert De Niro . He does not have much screen presence till the second half but he is intriguing and intimidating in every scene . A gratifying look with a personality that can get someone whacked (a term most of the fans would know which implies murder), he pulls off it with much ease . It is always a treat to watch him in a role like this.
Celebrating the movie nearly after 30 years of its release for the sheer dedication , entertainment quotient even in a serious world put together by one maestro . It is a mile per minute thriller drama that hails not only for its repeat value but for inspiring cinema from true stories.
