1500 Words Goodfellas

Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese (1990)

Martin Scorsese is well known for such films as Taxi driver, Casino, Michael Jackson’s bad music video and the wolf of Wall Street. Scorsese is also well known for reuse of actors, Martin Scorsese use the same actors in his films some examples are Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Martin is familiar with basing his films in New York as this is where he was born and grew up. Martin Scorsese has been nominated 12 Oscars winning one, he has also be nominated for 10 golden globes winning 4, also being nominated for 7 winning and winning 2 and nominated for 17 BAFTAs winning 2, with a total of 135 and 189 nominations These are just some of his many prestige awards for his directing over a career span of 53 years.

Goodfellas is a story based on the book “Wiseguy” by Nicholas Pileggi, Nicholas Pileggi also co-wrote the screenplay with Martin Scorsese. Goodfellas follows the story of Gangster turned snitch Henry Hill; you follow his ups and downs of the gangster life in the 1970s. The Genre of Goodfellas is Crime and Drama.

One scene in the film follows Henry and his girlfriend at the time Karen through a busy restaurant.  The scene lasts three minutes and five seconds. There is no violence, no swearing, no cocaine, no action, nothing of what the film is known for. It consists entirely of two people making their way to their restaurant seats. The fact they do this via a back door, a sewer system of corridors and a busy bustling kitchen, all the while weaving in and out of staff while handing out tips on the fly shouldn’t be that exciting.

The scene is all in one shot, as it does need editing, it follows the couple through the Copacabana.  The Copacabana scene serves to introduce Karen Friedman to the seductive mobster lifestyle of future husband Henry Hill. The scene is also a rich example of the power and social status the Mafia held in the early 70s. As a rising star, Henry would never have had to worry about waiting in line, or not being able to find a table near the house entertainment. Martin Scorsese included a steadycam for this scene so we could follow the couple through the Copacabana; the use of the steadycam had the view fell like Karen experiencing the Gangster life for the first time. The shot has a distance maintained behind Henry and Karen allow us to fully believe that we are in the camera’s position. Scorsese wants us to feel like a guest at the Copa because he knows that, just like Karen, we are itching to know what comes after the back door opens. Karen and us are experiencing the gangster life for the first time, even if she doesn’t know it yet.

It features no memorable dialogue apart from at the end when Karen asks Henry what he does for a living and henrys response is “I work in construction” then Karen replies back “it doesn’t feel like you are in construction”, she can tell that a twenty one year old shouldn’t be treated as he is royalty. The scene blasts a song by The Crystals “Then he kissed me”. The song stands the 60s pop classic, the lyrics of the song relates to Karen falling I love with Henry while Henry is falling in love with the gangster lifestyle. The song also perfectly conveys the feeling of innocence that can mirror Karen’s moral state, and the way Henry views his lifestyle.

There is also a small amount of dialog from irrelevant characters; they are complaining how a young man could walk through the queue and be served first in a front row seat.  The sound affects of the scene are the sound of chefs shouting at each other and waiters shouting orders. The waiters will stop their conversations to introduce them selves with Henry hoping for a tip.

The lighting in the scene changes at every location. Hen they are outside it is very dark as it is late in the night, as they make their way through the Kitchen it is very bright with roof top lighting and flames from the grills, as they make their way through the restaurant it is very dimly light, only lit through small lamps on each table.

You can clearly see Henry hand out everyone who works there a $20 bill, even the people who aren’t working at that particular time, for example the man in the hall way also gets paid for eating a sandwich.  There is also a couple In the corner they are there so Henry can notice them and show how often he goes there and meets people.  All the gangsters are wearing the most expensive suits while the people who work there are wearing tuxedos; this makes it easier to determine who works there and who is a customer.

The perforce of the actors is superb, As Karen walks through the kitchen she is surprised with everything that she sees as she didn’t expect this twenty one year old be able to provide this for her, She is even more surprised when she sees how other people treat Henry as if he were royalty.  Henry in this scene is leading Karen the way by holding her hips and shaking hands with everyone that he speaks to. Henry is also constantly laughing at the chaos of the kitchen around him and what he is saying. Henry is always explaining what he is doing and how he runs his life. When Karen asks him what he does, Henry gets jumpy and on edge lying to Karen, Karen can see strait through his lie, with a objection to his answer.