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 Videowatch

Goodfellas (1990)

Cast: Ray Liotta, Lorraine Bracco, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent, Samuel L. Jackson, Sheila Howard, Kevin Corrigan, Henny Youngman, Tony Darrow, Chuck Low, Frank Di Leo, Christopher Serrone, Jerry Vale Director: Martin Scorsese Screenwriter: Martin Scorsese, Nicholas Pileggi Cinematographer: Michael Ballhaus

Watching “Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag” and Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” back to back was an illuminating exercise. While both films are extraordinarily-stylish gangster sagas, the similarities end there.

“…Aag” is all about virtuoso camera work with never-ending steady cam shots and breathtaking frames and little else. That everyone’s favourite curry spaghetti western was mauled beyond recognition in a mean-spirited film filled with atrocious acting and incredibly self-indulgent goop is a whole different story altogether.

“Goodfellas” on the other hand is that perfect movie — a marvellous marriage of content and style. The dazzling steady-cam shot of Henry Hill taking Karen on their first date where he goes in from the back door through the bowels of the Copacabana night club to emerge inside is an echo of Henry’s journey, emblematic of the movie itself — where you go in through the backdoor to emerge at the top.

How about the operatic bloodbath to the tune Eric Clapton’s “Layla”? There is this savage butchery juxtaposed with this lilting, light as gossamer piano coda, which just takes the breath away.

Actually each scene in the movie from the shocking beginning where the body in the trunk starts to make a noise to the final act, where Ray Liotta’s character indulges in some heavy-duty multitasking fuelled by lines and lines of cocaine and unbridled paranoia all reveal the sure hand of an auteur.

The plotting is sure and extremely tight. Though the movie begins in the middle and goes back to the beginning, there is a vivid sense of the maintaining the unities of time, space and action.

Then there is the acting. Joe Pesci won the Oscar for best supporting actor in his role as the manic, psychotic Tommy De Vito. His “You think I’m funny” rap with Ray Liotta, his frenzied attack on another thug, Billy Batts, his casual shooting of the waiter for standing up to him, ensure he is not a particularly likeable character, but Pesci has managed to distil the essence of madness into his performance.

There were other stellar turns too including Ray Liotta as Henry Hill (he spent hours with the real Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco as Karen (she won an academy award nomination for her role.)

There is also the supremely talented Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, who silently conveys menace through his eyes and his body language.

This is one movie that does not have a single false note. Based on “Wiseguy”, a book by Nicholas Pileggi, “Good Fellas” tells the story of Henry Hill who “As far back as I could remember I’ve always wanted to be a gangster”. It’s the story of Henry’s rise and fall as a gangster with his cohorts, the smooth legendary Conway, psychotic Tommy, , his wife Karen and a succession of girlfriends and mistresses. There is also Paul Cicero, a kind of elder statesmen in crime and other sundry thugs.

The DVD comes with an extra disc of special features, which offers a rare opportunity to watch Scorsese at work. The making-of feature, “Getting Made” has revealing interviews with the cast and crew. Henry Hill talks of Robert De Niro’s many phone calls for details about Conway. Long time Scorsese collaborator, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who won an academy award nomination for her work on “Goodfellas” talks of how the film came together in the editing room and also of Scorsese’s choice of music — for instance the piano coda from “Layla” which he used to cut the scene.

Writer Pileggi talks about receiving the call from Scorsese and the joy of working with him on the script, the cinematographer talks about the incredible detailing that went into the framing of each shot. It was a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at the making of a classic.

Another feature, “The Workaday Gangster” spoke of how as opposed to the operatic “The Godfather” or the lushness of “Scarface”, “Goodfellas” was more down and dirty. It looked at the life of a gangster from the ground.

“The Legacy” section had directors such as Joe Carnalan (“Smokin’ Aces”), Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption”), Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), Albert and Allan Hughes (“From Hell”) and Richard Linklater (“Before Sunrise”) talk about the impact “Goodfellas” has had on popular culture and more specifically on them.

Surprisingly Quentin Tarantino has nothing to say about the movie though obviously his style of filmmaking is heavily influenced by Scorsese — from the importance of music to the concept of criminals being regular guys and sudden unexpected violence. “The Paper is Cheaper than Film” section shows Scorsese’s storyboards for iconic scenes and his notations on the script. This is one movie one can repeatedly go back to.

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