The Quality Film I Have Selected

The two major themes in this movie is friendship and greed, and the two themes often come in conflict with each other. The mafia is made up of a very select few individuals, who are together all the time and don't affiliate with outsiders. This makes them grow strong bonds and develop friendships with each other. According to Jimmy Conway, the two most important things to remember is "to never rat on your friends,

With regards to Goodfellas, the film starts off by stating that the main character Henry Hill from as far back as he could remember always wanted to be a gangster, which is another term for mobster. Particularly, he started off working at the cab stand across the street at just about ten or eleven years old, and the cab stand was a place where mobsters worked. His parents who were working class citizens, and made lousy money were happy that he had found a job because his father had always believed that American kids were spoiled rotten. Furthermore, as he progressed into the field of a mobster living he was

This movie has a lot to do with organized crime and how ‘organizations’ typically build their way up to it. In the beginning, Biggs and Wayne were just acting as partners in low-leveled criminal activities, however, with age came more discipline and a striving criminal organization named ‘Shottas’. The film focuses on different organized crimes, yet for this paper the focus will be on extortion. Extortion is, the act of obtaining property of another through threats of future harm. It seems to be a major issue within the movie, because it is the way the Shottas came to power in the underworld.

The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features a great deal of talent. Household names such as Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Golden Globes and Academy Awards nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters are feeling at a specific moment. Through the use of freeze frames, we learn of significant moments that shape Henry into the man that he is. By means of first-person narration, we are able to know exactly what is going through a particular character’s mind. Finally, strong editing made efficient use of multiple jump cuts, which add to the sensation that we are undergoing the same experiences as the characters on screen. Altogether, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas effectively depicts paramount scenes and allows the audience to empathize with the characters by virtue of stylistic editing and cinematography.

''Goodfellas'' looked at the mob without making any apparent comment of its own. As it adopts the flat tone of Henry, its principal narrator, it also reflected Henry's jittery and driven concerns. It moved from sequence to sequence with slightly crazed speed, as if anticipating one of the cocaine highs that, finally, were to be Henry's undoing[6]. Scorsese brilliantly uses freeze frames as "snapshots" as transition from one scene to the next. What was interesting though, was the fact that each snap shot were memories of great times shared at: children's' birthday parties, baby showers, births, weddings, and

The Portrayal of the Gangster Genre in American and British Cinema in 'Goodfellas' by Martin Scorcese and 'Layer Cake' by Matthew Vaughn

The movie I decided to analyze was American Gangster. The movie is about a kingpin name Frank Lucas who became the biggest heroin seller in Harlem, NY. Frank Lucas started off as a driver for another gangster named Bumpy Johnson. Bumpy Johnson ended up dying due to a congestive heart failure. Once he died Frank Lucas too over the operation Bumpy Johnson once ran.

"Goodfellas" is Martin Scorsese's movie about Henry Hill, who wants to be a gangster from an early age and becomes involved with an Italian-American crime family over three decades. The performances in this film are outstanding. Ray Liotta plays Henry Hill as he lives with the benefits and dangers of mob life. Robert De Niro delivers a refined performance but as usual keeps the feel of being in charge as Jimmy Conway. Joe Pesci is memorable as the funny and psychotic Tommy DeVito. Paul Sorvino makes a convincing mob boss. Lorraine Bracco gave a wonderful and in-depth look at what it meant to be the wife of a mobster.

Henry becomes overwhelmed and realizes his erratic behavior has made him a target with some associates. Henry then enters a Witness Protection Program, freeing himself of the crime family he always wanted to be a part of and also taking part of capturing ones who he referred to as family. Goodfellas exposed both the luxury and the harsh reality of being in the gangster lifestyle. Director Martin Scorsese didn’t want to follow a traditional narrative structure but instead present it episode by episode. He wanted to start in the middle and move backwards and forwards to depict Henry’s conflicted lifestyle of being part of the mob.

Few genres in cinema history have been through as much change as that of the gangster genre. A subgenre of pre-existing crime films, gangster movies played with the element of organised crime, particularly those involving the mafia, the criminal underworld or illegal activities. Now a celebrated success with many big names such as Goodfellas, The Godfather trilogy and Scarface, the genre wasn’t always a straight recipe for success. Although still recognisable, the themes and conventions of the gangster genre have developed so much over time that what actually defines a film as being part of the “gangster” has changed throughout the decades.

I liked the 1990 film Goodfellas much more than Tombstone. It seemed more real to me because they were wearing modern style clothing. Overall I found more that I liked than I didn’t like. In the beginning, the movie started out with a bang which I always like because it draws me in. The music throughout the whole film was fitting for the times that it was based in. Although the times did jump around a lot and it was kind of confusing. Once the times stopped jumping back and forth, the movie was a lot more enjoyable. I liked that it was based on a true story because then it made a lot more sense as to why there was no overall conflict that Henry had to solve.

One of the most notable elements of the film Goodfellas is Scorsese’s use of narration throughout the film. A majority of the film is told through the eyes of Henry Hill. By including a continuous narration throughout the film, the audience is introduced to a different perspective rather than what is just portrayed on the screen. The beginning of the film is centered around Hill’s childhood. In this portion of the movie, Hill narrates and explains why the gangster life was so important to him and essentially explains how he got involved. This gives the audience a chance to be introduced to Hill and understand his

I think this essay is very true about the gangster film. Gangster movies are simply creating fixed dramatic patterns that repeatedly. Most gangster movies follow another as in musical or in the Western ways such as like guns, killings, and prostitutions. Moreover, this essay explains what a gangster looks like.

The movie, which is based on Robert Daley's book, is a tale about sin, guilt, morality, ethical dilemmas and redemption. In late 60’s NYPD officer Frank Serpico begin the battle with corruption in the police,

As previously mentioned, both Goodfellas and The Silence of the Lambs feature a killer and/or killers as the main subjects. Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is the story of Irish-Italian American, Henry Hill, and how he lives day-to-day life as a member of the Mafia. Based on a true story, the plot revolves around Henry and his two unstable friends Jimmy and Tommy as they gradually climb the ladder from petty