Analysis of Goodfellas Film - Movie Review Example

Analysis of Goodfellas Film Number Analysis of Goodfellas film Goodfellas is an American movie capturing crime in most American cities released in 1990. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film was adapted from the 1986 real-life book Wiseguy authored by Nicholas Pileggi. The author and the director joined forces to write the screenplay. The movie captures the ups and downs of Henry Hill and his associates over the better part of the second half of the 20th century. The title of the book had already been in the public domain courtesy of a television series and Wise Guys, a 1986 comedy show by De Palma (Hallman Jr., 2010). Therefore, Pileggi and Scorsese altered the title of their movie to Goodfellas. To ready themselves for their responsibilities in the movie, all the actors often opened discussions with Pileggi, who provided the literature content that was hived off from the book. Improvisation and responsibility arose out of preparations, where Scorsese offered the actors unfettered liberty to exercise their creativity (Pitman, 1991). The director created transcripts out of these preparatory sessions. He selected the lines he preferred most, and incorporated them into a new script for the crew to follow during camera work. Background Goodfellas depicts the life of a criminal. The film is so unique because it is a real-life story about the experiences of Henry Hill (Hallman Jr., 2010). The movie effectively demonstrates a tri-partite nature of the criminal life; the struggles of an individual to prosperity and the enjoyment of the positives involved; the culture of popularity brought about by the successes and influence in society; and finally, the collapse of the ‘fortunes,’ and a degeneration into the life full of pity. Nonetheless, throughout the whole of the film, Goodfellas strongly advocates the perception of fighting one’s way out and taking responsibility for one’s actions. From the beginning lines of the film, the audience immediately cannot help but learn that the main character, regardless of being seen as a hardcore mobster, has made daring sacrifices to his current status. The audience is then treated to a childhood life of Hill, who happily watches influential criminal syndicates from his village (Garvey, 2003). He eventually sets out there and concentrates on assisting these criminals to his best in order to understand the dynamics of that divergent lifestyle. Apparently, the character begins helping the mobsters from a very tender age. According to Hallman Jr. (2010) this trend is maintained throughout his youthful life and eventually, when he becomes a mature person, he attains the recognition of a “gangster.” He then works hard to achieve his vision of mob popularity, fortune and influence. Henry’s life does not end there nonetheless. Despite the maturity of the protagonist, he still has to make certain sacrifices and show determination to become a top mobster. The film emphasizes the significance of luck and body physique to the journey of booking one’s place on top of the criminal syndicates (Garvey, 2003). Henry had to sit and stay calm carrying out odd, inappropriate undertakings in preparation for a huge job, and the trappings of power that the opportunity attracts. Goodfellas emphasizes stoicism, as the most important quality required of those who want to be on top of the mobsters. Club Scene The Club scene begins with footage of two hands of the characters exchanging a bunch of car keys. Immediately, the camera captures a very short informational mid-shot, presenting three actors; two males and a female (Riippa, Dahlin, Danford, Hix, & Riippa, 2004). The protagonist, Henry Hill makes up to the woman, Karen, who happens to be his date. The footage captures their moves from behind. They head right into the basement of the joint, avoiding the line and at this juncture the audience is treated to what seems to be multifaceted kind of setting through the facility’s chaotic eatery units and corridors. Already the audience can get a glimpse of Henry Hill’s undercover and very secretive life. This is evident in how he circumvents the queue and still manages to joke around with the kitchen staff. By so doing, his actions appear unique and somewhat special compared to other revelers. This only reinforces the character’s determination to keep his life in the dark. During the couple’s journey through the cookery units, the audience gets an opportunity to appreciate the actual sense of the bee-hive of activity in the club and the respect that the main character commands (Riippa et al, 2004). This is due to the fact that some of the club’s staff are happily responding to his greetings and jokes and allowing him and his guest to advance inward through the backdoor. The audience are still treated to a rear view of the two characters and at a given point the protagonist focuses his eyes over the camera and sideways to get a glance of something. A brief follow-up of the camera toward the direction of his eyes reveals the kind of respect and honor bestowed upon him by the cooks. One of the staff happily acknowledges his presence. Always close to the main characters, the footage shows many more characters walking away behind them. Though the scene is pretty simple, it brings about the buzzing, confusing setting and perhaps even entices the audience to want to join this kind of excitement. The fact that this entire scene is integrated into a single shot makes it very effective. According to Hallman Jr. (2010), had the scene been made of any cuts as the main characters were advancing into the club, perhaps the audience would be confused. They would not effectively join the dots out of this complicated scene; the voyage to the club would be a mystery in itself. Making a close follow-up of the development of the characters from behind creates the perception that the audience should follow them in order to get a glimpse of what is ahead (Alleva, 1990). This improves on the suspense that this movie on mob gangster was premised.  Soundtracks   At the point of exchanging of the keys, the jazz soundtrack captures the real-life events, though in the background. According to Bradley (1995), this tune begins a bit loud as the scene opens. It seems this is how the directors chose to welcome the audience and prepare them psychologically for the interesting events that follow in the scene. However, the intensity of the soundtrack is lowered as the initial lines of conversation take effect. The tune is maintained at its low until the main characters make their way to the inside of the joint. The significance of the dialogue is emphasized as the sounds of the characters are raised above the background sounds. When the actors are crossing the street as the story begins, the diegitic sounds of people talking in low tones, the road users, and the character’s footsteps among other sounds play out at a reasonable level. Whereas in a real-life case, the sounds produced by different road users usually supersedes that of people conversing, this is not the case in the movie, perhaps to enhance clarity of the script. However, at almost the same point when the Henry and his girlfriend descend down the staircase, some rhythmical accompaniments blend with the music, to generate a more fascinating scene (Hallman Jr., 2010). The kind of entertainment is appropriate because the movie has taken a new stance in the scene. The actors were in the open, but now they are within the confines of a house, so the soundtrack compliments this alteration of setting. Additionally, through the opening leading to the hallway, the spontaneous dialogue initiated is effectively joined by the soundtrack. Climax of the movie One of the most outstanding scenes in GoodFellas is apparently the “Funny, How?” moment. The setting is Sonny Bunz’ Bamboo Lounge, which at long last becomes entirely dilapidated and torched by Tommy and Henry (Pitman, 1991). The film director masterfully builds the Mise-En Scéne to attract the audience to the mobsters’ table.  It enables the viewer to develop a perception of how it would feel to sit and enjoy a drink with mobsters. The fear, suspense, unpredictability are all encompassed at the scene. The scene is lit with reddish orange shades, depicting the entire entertainment joint with an ochre illumination and injecting a sense of emotion in the scene (Alleva, 1990). The dim lighting establishes strong dimness in the setting and draws the audience closer to understanding the actors’ shady deals and way of life. The scene starts with an extensive footage that contrasts with the high speed editing manifested in the other scenes of the movie. This captures the viewer’s attention of the events at the scene on a deeper note. There are several bottles of alcoholic drinks on the table but no plates for dinner (Hallman Jr., 2010). This implies that the actors have already cleared the table of the dinnerware but are there to stay at least for now. It is at this point when Tommy reminisces a humorous account of the day he bumped into the law enforcement officers, and the whole company appears to be keen on following his story. He takes the role of their entertainer.  Scorsese brings in a flashback which retains the audience at the scene, this time from a different direction, focusing the look on the happy Henry, Anthony Stabile, and Nicky (Bradley, 1995). The euphoric atmosphere sharply evaporates when Tommy faces Henry about being referred to as buffoon, a label that he perceives as an abuse.  The portrayal of this moment is magnificent, in that, it seems the whole restaurant, which was previously abuzz with activity, and life suddenly becomes quiet with all eyes focused on the two warring characters. The other two characters break their gaze on Tommy to exchange warning signs with each other, as they predict Tommy’s hostile character (Hallman Jr., 2010). The ensuing tension is conspicuous, and Anthony intervenes in an effort to bring the situation under control. Tommy refuses this and allows the story to continue, until it eventually turns out clear that he is only joking. Scorsese puts upon the audience an ensuing tension and suspense as the moment unfolds.   The scene was well choreographed by Scorsese. He clearly depicts Henry as a very influential character. The minimum dialogue and the dim lights go hand in hand in ‘concealing’ the intent of the criminal characters (Garvey, 2003). Throughout the moment, viewers are treated to the obvious fact that Henry plays the protagonist role; he is the main focus of camera. However, although he cuts a very influential niche at the scene, the suspicion of the audience remains significant in terms of his shady life and this is the main reason why the film is a darling of many within the genre of crime (Hallman Jr., 2010). In a nutshell, the various scenes in Goodfellas film have transformed the fictional aspect of most gangster films into reality. Conclusion Generally, Goodfellas film is a clear depiction of responsibility in criminal life to avoid chances of being pinned down by the many external forces against such activities. Principally, Hill demonstrates responsibility and determination in life by constantly working hard and as a result, he enjoys staying in a position he once dreamed of. Of course, the character is not perfect either. This is also another important factor that is stimulates the minds of the audience. The movie reinforces the reality that mistakes are not pardoned. In Goodfellas, an individual who errs is bound to forfeit his or her status or even their life. The fictional life of the main character in Goodfellas is premised upon a real-life story, and throughout the whole of the film; it effectively showcases the significance of dedication if one has to move forward and ultimately book a place among the influential in society. References Alleva, R. (1990). Badfellas. Commonweal, 117(21), 720. Bradley, S.C. (1995). Film as literature: Two screenplays. Literature Film Quarterly, 23(1), 79. Garvey, M.O. (2003). Theyre not goodfellas. Commonweal, 130(4), 24. Hallman Jr., T. (2010). Even Goodfellas juggle multiple stories. Quill, 98(1), 24. Pitman, R. (1991). Video movies. Library Journal, 116(12), 150-151. Riippa, L., Dahlin, R., Danford, N., Hix, C., & Riippa, K. (2004). Hardcovers: True Crime. Publishers Weekly, 251(4), 178-179. Read More