Goodfellas: A Gripping Crime Saga
Goodfellas is a true story about the life of Henry Hill, his wife Karen, and his partners, Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito. It gives us an insight to the life of organized crime through Henry’s rise and his consequent demsie. This one is raw, uncompromising, full of paranoid tension and unapologetic in painting the picture of the mob’s way of life. It captures the glories of organized crime, its allure of power and wealth are shown in parallel with the inevitable violence, chaos and disarray.
Ray Liotta splendidly portrays Henry Hill and Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci give a fantastic performance as Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito. An Oscar goes to Mr. Pesci for portraying the character of Tommy, whose ill-temperament is underlined in the movie.
The director’s seat is occupied by Martin Scorsese – the great who requires no introduction. But for me the most defining characteristic of his technique has to be the detailed narrative combined with fast yet thoroughly engaging animation. To the fullest extent, Scorsese embraces the naturalism of the mafia in his work and does it best.
The use of pop songs emphasizes the era in which the movie was shot, selecting only the hits of different years. Appropriate music enhances the overall feeling of the movie and correlates with the plot.
This is accompanied by the work of cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, who organizes the unique dynamic of the heroes’ interactions and exciting prolonged shots that capture the dangerous atmosphere of the world of mafia. One of the most famous seqiuence was tracking shot through Copacabana proving the greatness of cinema in this film.
The look and feel of the film is brilliant, the hats off to art directors, who have done a wonderful job in recreating the actualities of Mafia in streets and interiors. It appears as though the shooting locations and props were authentic; this realism adds to the credibility of the picture.
Most of its dramatic effects are based on actual scenes and settings and not on elaborate special effects as in other movies, which are in tune with the rough story. The violence is graphic, yet it is quite realistic, so the audience gets really immersed in the film.
The film is well edited by Thelma Schoonmaker and there are no moments of confusion when it comes to understanding the flow of the movie. That is the thematic consistency of the movie, with no weak links – thanks to Scorsese’s good sense of continuity from the first scene through to the last act. The use of scenes of tension and violence is used well, with Scorsese ensuring that he intersperses them with calm and subtle scenes to give the audience a rest and allow them to breathe.
The dialogue in Goodfellas is natural, realistic and at time hilariously neurotic. Most of the lines are written well, the dialogues are natural but at the same time are very close to stage, the spirit of the characters and the relations between them are depicted rather well.|The depiction of the whole gangster life seems to be almost ideal, yet the description of violence and crime can be really repelling. Although some viewers might complain that the movie abounds in violence and does not leave one a single moment to catch their breath, it is the final item that fits into the concept of the movie best: being laconic, Goodfellas does not omit any noteworthy episodes of the main characters’ lives. Ultimately it is a movie; which makes me self-reflective on greed, authority and friends and foe distinction. This film work is a powerful and at the same time perceptive drama reflecting the human experience and the world.
