Revisited: Goodfellas

The Mafia has been done over and over since the early days of gangster B-films to their re-emergence of legitimate and respectable A-films. And while Coppola’s trilogy (or rather the first two installments) has been the beloved hallmark on the organization it is a far cry from valid portrayal of the mob. Insert NYU graduate Martin Scorsese who grew up on the streets of Queens and watched Wiseguys conduct business from his window.

Goodfellas is not the epic poetry Scorsese identifies The Godfather as, nor is it supposed to be. Rather, it is a day to day of hanging out with a group of organized criminals as they exploit, murder, and dine. Naturally, at least for Scorsese, the film never slows, nor should it. Spanning three decades, dozens of characters float in and out, and many get killed in the process. Fluid and unceasing cameras sweep through the streets and nightclubs where the occupants conduct their business. And as is expected; business is good. On the surface the film appears as a testament to the rich and locally famous. Underneath, much akin to the seedy underbelly of any big city crime ring, lies the dark and savage brutality of guys who would sell out men who had been partners in crime for years. When everyone is looking out for themselves, no one is safe. Scorsese interjects the usual bouts of blatant blood-letting, often revisiting kills a second time and in the process revealing newfound information about its source.

Scorsese has dealt with the subject before. See Mean Streets (1973). He also returns to it rather quickly in Casino (1995) and more recently with The Departed (2006). So is this subject a cop out for a director who has now established himself as purveyor of Mafia films or rather is its reemergence better explained by his proximity and familiarity there of? Roger Ebert identifies Goodfellas as the best film of 1990. The Departed finally won him a directing Oscar after 5 nominations.

The first time I saw Goodfellas, some 4 years ago, I loved it. Having watched it 3 times since has not changed my opinion. The film’s broad scope combined with realism established through mise-en-scen­e achieves, to a great degree, a solid interpretation of Nicholas Pileggi’s source book. Working with the author, Scorsese adapted Wiseguys by bringing the most important elements to the screen and in doing so creating an epic-scale introspection into one of societies more interesting demographics. This film is easy to pass over for those not interested in a ‘fuck’ count of almost 300 or those who don’t want to see Samual L. Jackson’s head get shot and splatter across a bed or those who don’t want to see the greedy success of criminals praised with a two and a half hour “staged documentary.” But for the open-minded socially aware learners and thinkers, Scorsese’s film has rich text and honest entertainment.