By Jack Shanley
Over 30 years since it was originally made, Martin Scorsese kicked off the ‘90s by making arguably his third masterpiece. I write about ‘Goodfellas’ following the sad passing of Ray Liotta who shone like a diamond in the movie, screened recently at the Lighthouse Cinema. Liotta’s impeccable performance as Henry Hill will forever be remembered as one of the great gangster performances in cinema history. ‘Goodfellas’, an adaptation of the book ‘Wiseguy’, written by Nicholas Pileggi, is a fast-paced crime drama about a gangster lifestyle we don’t ever see but only hear about. It is gripping from start to finish. Even the opening titles, moving fast from one side of the screen to the other, are dubbed with the sound of cars racing by, symbolising how relentless the gangster lifestyle truly is. ‘Goodfellas’ is so fast paced we see nine freeze frames throughout, highlighting important moments, and slowing the film down to give the audience a chance to catch its breath. Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing is utterly brilliant with match cuts used from scene to scene to keep the momentum going.We also see 204 tracking shots which are used to take us through entire buildings instead of shooting a scene in just one room. One example is the famous date scene where Henry takes Karen through the restaurant kitchen to skip the long queue outside. ‘Goodfellas’ is one of my favourite Scorsese movies. Even if you watch the opening ten minutes, you’ll end up watching the entire film. It flies by so fast, like life itself. Throughout 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 ‘Goodfellas’ a score of five stars. 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.