Goodfellas (1990) Film Review

Over 30 years since it was originally made, Martin Scorsese kicked off the 90s by making arguably his third masterpiece. I write about this film after hearing about the sad passing of Ray Liotta last month and it being screened in the Lighthouse cinema last month. Ray Liotta shone like a diamond in this film, his performance as Henry Hill was impeccable and will forever be remembered as one of the great gangster performances in cinema history. Goodfellas is a film adaptation of the book Wiseguy written by Nicholas Pileggi. The film is a fast-paced crime drama about the gangster lifestyle that we don’t ever see but only hear about. The film is constant and gripping from start to finish, with even the opening titles moving fast from one side of the screen to the other being dubbed with the sound of cars racing by, symbolising how relentless the gangster lifestyle truly is. Goodfellas is so fast paced that throughout the film we see nine freeze frames. These freeze frames highlight important moments throughout the film, slow the film down and gives the audience a chance to catch their breath. The editing of the film by Thelma Schoonmaker is utterly brilliant with match cuts used from scene to scene to keep the momentum going. Martin Scorsese’s sheer force direction made this film an instant masterpiece with his choice of multiple different shots, camera angles, camera movements etc in which were all visual storytelling techniques used to convey the characters state of mind or the focus of their attention. Throughout the film we also see 204 tracking shots which are used to take us through entire buildings instead of shooting a scene in just one room. Examples of tracking shots would be the famous date scene when Henry takes Karen through the Restaurant kitchen to skip the long queue outside. Overall Goodfellas is highly regarded by film critics and filmmakers all over the world with Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Cortés been quoted saying that Goodfellas is “Probably the most influential film ever made. It changed the way directors’ brains work”. Goodfellas is one of my favourite Scorsese movies, even if you sit down to watch ten minutes of it, you’ll end up watching the entire film, it pulls you in much like the gangster life itself. The film flies by so fast like life too, and throughout the film we feel many different emotions from the highs to the lows and these characters are just people passing through life before it's all over in an instant. I’ll give this film a score of five stars as It’s a film that remains fresh and new over 30 years after its original release. You can watch Goodfellas on sky cinema or buy it at Tower Records €7.99. Director: Martin Scorsese – Rating: R - Genre: Crime/Drama Run Time: 2h 26m Language: English. For more film content please follow @movies4fanatics on Instagram.