Goodfellas (1990)
Goodfellas
tells the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his long climb up the Mafia
ladder. Starting out as a teen running errands of sorts for Brooklyn crime boss
Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro), Henry develops the taste of the underworld life
and gets hooked. Booze, women, drugs, guns, power and total anonymity. And over
the many years the film focuses on, we grow to understand this world, and like
the characters in it, even if they are crazed, murderous gangsters.
It’s clear
to see Goodfella’s wouldn’t have seen the light of day if it wasn’t for The
Godfather. Almost twenty years earlier, Francis
Ford Coppola made arguably one of the greatest films of all time, depicting one
family and their reign of crime and climb to power. Goodfellas follows this
formula, but shifts the timeline from the 1950’s to 1980’s, focuses on three
main characters, and plugs into the changing times of the era.
Whereas Goodfellas took its lead from The Godfather, many a film and television series since have taken their lead from Goodfellas. Not only did it revitalize the gangster genre in movies, but all involved were working at the height of their powers; Scorsese in the directing chair, DeNiro, Liotta and Pesci (who won an Oscar for his work) in front of the camera. The tone and style of which the film is made is so cocky, confident and accurate to what we mortals believe life in the mafia is really like, it grew a fascination in audiences to enter this world again and again. The 90’s saw a slew of films directed again by Scorsese and others with the underworld as the main focus, and of course who could forget one of the greatest TV shows ever taking a bite of the pie – The Sopranos.
The 1990’s
saw more and more period films stating to entertain us, as the more time passed
by in the world, the more we seemed to want to revisit the past. With advances
in filmmaking technology, and some of the best film directors of all time
working at the dawn of the 90’s, Goodfellas kicked off the last decade of the
20th century in fine fashion. The film was totally unapologetic in its
approach, and knew it’s audience well – one who had seen a lot of films, but
hadn’t seen it all yet. Goodfellas was certainly treading on familiar territory,
but this is no Godfather. Whereas that masterpiece captivated us all with its
slow burn, Goodfellas takes no prisoners; moving at a fast, frenetic pace and
no waiting for anyone to keep up.
The Gangster
genre has been a main stayer in the movies ever since The Godfather left its
legacy fifty years ago. We’re still as fascinated as ever in the lives of
professional criminals, and even if we loathe them, are disgusted by their
crimes and shocked at their unreserved exuberance and greed, there is something
satisfying to be found in their lifestyle. I guess we all have a desire to do
whatever we want in life, and never have to answer to anyone. Sure, that sounds
good, but what is the price?
Watch Goodfellas
if you haven’t yet, and see how each character pays the price in their own way.
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