#16 Goodfellas

In Summary

The voiceover, the 60s-70s pop music, gangsters, violence. Goodfellas is the archetypal Martin Scorsese film.

Goodfellas is the tale of Henry Hill's time in the mob between 1955 and 1980. It is about the attraction of mob life - the money, the women, the status - and the pitfalls that come with it - the nagging paranoia that comes with the threat of either being arrested or killed at any minute.

What is most compelling about Goodfellas is the confident ease and flow of the storytelling. Described by Scorsese himself as "almost like a two-and-a-half hour trailer", Goodfellas is a film in constant forward motion.

The effect of this is that it illustrates just how intoxicating the mob life can be. While we eventually see the natural end-point of the lifestyle, the larger proportion of the film is devoted to the mobsters spending money, partying and just generally having a good time.

However, that is not to say that Goodfellas glorifies the life in the mob. Through its non-linear timeline, we know from the very off that, as fun as it is to be in their company, the protagonists are brutal, cold-blooded killers. We know exactly at what cost that champagne they're sipping was.

Despite being told out of chronological order, there is a clear ramping up of the consequences of the mobster lifestyle catching up with Henry Hill and his closest associates. Each of the lead characters becomes increasingly paranoid, ultimately contributing to the fracturing of their relationships. There is no way out for them, only death or jail.

A Memorable Quote

I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how?

Things You May Not Know

• Scorsese hadn't intended to make another gangster movie until he read the book, Wiseguy, upon which Goodfellas is based.
• Al Pacino was initially offered the role of Jimmy Conway, played by Robert De Niro, but turned it down as he didn't want to be typecast.
• The 'funny, how' dialogue was kept out of the script in order to make Ray Liotta's reaction was more genuine.

One of the Greatest of All Time?
Goodfellas not only marked a new direction for not only Martin Scorsese and the gangster genre post The Godfather and Once Upon A Time In America as well as mainstream cinema in general. In particular, the combination of voiceover narration and popular music in order to cover a narrative across set across different eras has become something of a trope - and often quite a lazy one.

Goodfellas is an example of how a voiceover, the use of music and a certain directorial panache - that steady-cam sequence through the restaurant on the dinner date being particularly iconic - can give a film an exhilarating narrative drive. An endlessly rewatchable film, Goodfellas, remains as captivating upon repeat views as it does upon the first.