Retrospective: Goodfellas (1990)

[Dragan Antulov]

GOODFELLAS
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2000

The most common (and in many cases the only) complaint
against Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 masterpiece THE
GODFATHER is glamorising of Mafia, which is presented as an
institution guided by ancient tradition and virtues like
honour, loyalty and solidarity more suitable for some
gentler, kinder ages. Martin Scorsese, another Italoamerican
moviemaker, confronted that perspective with his own, more
down-to-earth vision of Mafia in 1973 MEAN STREETS, movie
that dealt with lower echelons of organised crime.
Unfortunately for Scorsese, his film was unspectacular and
too artsy to compete with Coppola's influence on Mafia
portrayals in the movies. Seventeen years later Scorsese
returned to mean streets of New York with another film that
dealt with darker side of American organised crime. This
film was GOODFELLAS, epic black comedy which is today
considered as one of the best and most influential films of
1990s.

GOODFELLAS owes some of its initial success and popularity
to the fact that it was based on the true story, told in
best-seller book WISEGUY by Nicholas Pileggi (who would
co-write the screenplay for the film). The book, as well as
the film, chronicled thirty years in the life of Henry Hill
(played by Ray Liotta), Irish-Italian criminal from New
York. At the age of 13 he gets recruited in the criminal
organisation of Paulie Cicero (played by Paul Sorvino),
local mob boss, and gradually climbs up the ladder starting
with small errands. After couple of years, together with his
best childhood friend Tommy De Vito (played by Joe Pesci),
he joins the crew of expert thieves led by Jimmy Conway
(played by Robert de Niro). Three of them spend years as
best friends and associates, gathering enormous wealth from
their criminal enterprises that would culminate with one of
the most spectacular robberies in American history. Wealth,
influence and privileges of men connected with Mafia are
enough for Henry Hill to seduce his future wife Karen
(played by Lorraine Bracco), who would afterwards remain
loyal to her husband despite infidelities, domestic abuse,
arrests and would even be accomplice to his own private drug
dealing business. But the perfect world of "wiseguys"
gradually begins to fall apart - Tommy's unpredictable
outbursts of homicidal violence, Jimmy's reluctance to share
his part of the loot with partners and, finally, Henry's own
drug habit would lead to his downfall and make him question
his loyalty to the friends.

GOODFELLAS is an excellent example of a film that represents
work of a film genius in his full glory. Scorsese managed to
create a vision which is effective and complete despite
being full of contradictions that would ripped the film
apart in the hands of less talented filmmaker. World
depicted in this film is both ordinary and fascinating.
Scorsese spares no effort to show us all the violence,
hypocrisy and inherent paranoia of organised crime, yet it
manages to make it both seductive and funny. After being
exposed to two and half hours of the film and three decades
of criminal history (based on some notorious real life
events), the audience understands why the characters chose
such dangerous life paths, trading the superficial and
short-lasting glamour and prosperity of a criminal to the
dullness and poverty of honest citizens. Scorsese also
manages to break viewer's moralistic inhibitions by showing
truly revolting material - scenes that depict personal
tragedies, broken homes, human depravity, violence,
bloodshed and murder - in all their uncompromising reality,
but in a manner that would make it amusing and funny to the
audience. With the use of ironic soundtrack, manipulative
shots, character's dialogue or narrator's commentary,
GOODFELLAS represents the new standards of black humour that
would became very popular few years later during Tarantino
era.

Even if we don't pay attention to skills with which
potentially disturbing material becomes eye pleasing and
entertaining, we should admit that Scorsese displays his
talents of truly original and creative filmmaker. First, we
might notice unusual structure of the plot - relatively
minor subplot is used as movie's ironic prologue. Then,
instead of single narrator, Scorsese switches to the second
character as narrator in the middle of the film only to
switch back to the original shortly afterwards. This
multiple points of views, both in terms of narration and
various subjective shots, only lengthens the ironic distance
towards characters and their situation. Same ironic distance
comes with extremely effective choice of soundtrack.
Nostalgia for good old times is illustrated with
easy-listening 1950s pop songs, while depression, paranoia
and bad times find their expression in more neurotic rock
songs of late 1960s and 1970s. But the soundtrack is most
effective when it is used as ironic comment - almost
pastoral, easy listening tunes make strong and very ironic
contrast to the scenes of violence and bloodshed. However,
thing most associated with this film is couple of continuos
shots that feature characters moving through large rooms and
interacting with dozens if not hundreds of people. Such
scenes, although they require very great skill and patience
during their shootings, became very popular among other
directors in 1990s. Fragmentary character of the screenplay,
which doesn't have straight plot and instead bases film on
series of loosely connected vignettes, gives another
interesting opportunity for Scorsese. He uses this structure
of film to experiment, and most successful of such
experiments is hilarious "A Day in Life" segment near the
end of the film.

Another essential element of GOODFELLAS is large but superb
collection of great acting talents. The most respectable
among them is Robert de Niro, but his character, who happen
to be most quiet and business-like member of criminal trio,
gets overshadowed by two of his friends and colleagues. Joe
Pesci deserved his "Oscar" for supporting role of homicidal
psychopath Tommy, and his lines, including ad-libs, probably
represent the most memorable element of the film. Ray
Liotta, although equally talented, perhaps doesn't look as
the best choice for narrator and nominal hero of the film.
Liotta's Henry Hill looks somewhat too Hollywoodised and
glamorous among this bunch of low-level street thugs.
Liotta, on the other hand, improves general impression by
very realistic and menacing portrayal of drug addiction.
Lorraine Bracco is, on the other hand, very effective and
believable as Karen Hill, wife who gradually descends into
same moral cesspool as her husband. Paul Sorvino is also
very effective as patriarch mafioso, and among the
supporting cast most memorable is Chuck Low as pestering
small-time gangster who unknowingly digs his own grave.

As a combination of clever sociological study, black humour
and innovative filmmaking GOODFELLAS became something only
the truly great films could do - work of art and excellent
popular entertainment in the same time. Because of this
achievement, and also because of the great influence on
future filmmakers, this cinematic gem deserves its rightful
place among the best films of 1990s.

RATING: 9/10 (++++)

Review written on July 5th 2000

Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
Fido: 2:381/100
E-mail: dragan....@st.tel.hr
E-mail: dr...@purger.com
E-mail: dragan....@altbbs.fido.hr

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