Goodfellas

Where on earth do you start with Goodfellas? Of all the blog posts assigned, this was always going to be the hardest from my perspective. Not in the sense of difficulty and a hard up-hill challenge, but what ONE thing should I talk about from a film that has about a warehouse full of potential subject matters? Could I look at how Karen slowly slides further and further down into a hole of depression and becomes one of those mobster's wives she so despised at the hostess party? Did Tommy really get what he deserved and do we feel sympthy at the demise of a character who was essentially a dangerous lunatic? Did Henry deserve to get away with all his actions by "ratting out" on his friends? Should I explore the enourmous level of fore-shadowing that occurs in the film? Would Jimmy have really ordered the murder of Henry in Florida? Why has Ray Liotta only been in (with the exception of Smokin' Aces) in bad films since when he's so good in this film? Or perhaps the ultimate, should Henry have just listened to Paulie and stayed out of trouble, execpt of course in that instance, there would have been no film!
I chose finally to focus on a much broader topic: Why Goodfellas is the greatest gangster film of all time.
A controversial topic perhaps, in light of so many cinematic critics and historians so quick to rally around the first two parts of The Godfather, but nevertheless, I would not make such a statement if I did not believe it to be true.
My primary argument is that Goodfellas details in graphic detail that the life of a gangster was not as extravagant as the Corleones would like us to believe. These were immigrant families who often lived in the harsh neighbourhoods of New York in usually regular houses, not having the luxury of mansions found in the Corleone compound. It is because of this one feels slightly disconnected and at a distance from the family in The Godfather, but with Goodfellas and his iconic use of tracking shots, Scorsese puts us right in the middle of the action and we feel much closer and more involved with the goings on of the mafia in this film. When we are taken through the club and the wedding and introduced to everyone, it literally feels like we are there and along with Henry, we are now connected to a larger family. Arguably Goodfellas also excells in its depiction of the mobsters as ordinary men who would pass for unassuming if you were to walk past one of them and didnt know their business. We see them with their familes and photos of them on holiday which thusly makes them more human and believable in the eyes of the audience.
A key difference that sets Goodfellas apart from most gangster films and that Tarantino echoed in 'Pulp Fiction' is that these men are human and flawed with their own individual problems and they can make mistakes. The iconic scene in the Godfather when all the head dons of the rival families are assassinated flows smoothly and looks stunningly impressive. However, this is far from a true to life depiction of order in the mafia, no opperation could have worked that seamlessly, something would have to have gone wrong. In Goodfellas, the volatile Tommy is of course responsible for the cold-blooded murder of Billy Batts which sets everything in motion to see the downfall of the main characters. Henry and Jimmy are of course "pinched" by the FBI for the intimidation of the gambler in Florida and those involved in the large airplane heist refuse to listen to Jimmy and he has to have them all killed.
The fact that we can actually hear the thoughts inside Henry's head by narration, in another prime icon of Scorsese's work, further makes us feel involved and a part of the story and part of "the family" itself, in perhaps an unervingly effective cinematic device.
The visceral violence, break-up of friendships and marriages and murder perfectly depict the true life of the violent and un-trusting world of the gangster in East Brooklyn. Whilst Henry describes their appeal as being "better thasn the president of the United States" and whilst it is true that they hold high positions of power and influence and are wealthy, Scorsese highlights the aspect that exposes the harsh reality of such a way of existence where you could get shot by your "best friend" at any minute or arrested by the police and killed if you exposed your friends to get out of trouble.
All this amounts to why I truly believe that Goodfellas is the greatest gangtser film ever made. We are taken on a learning curve journey like Henry that whilst the rags to ritches story and appeal of being well-made, rich, powerful and respected is highly appealing at the start, Scorsese exposes to us through Henry's experience that the life of a gangster is like a venus fly-trap, where your luck could change at any minute and death could come at you and your family from all directions.
Just to be on the safe-side, I'll stick to just playing 'The Godfather' video-game to avoid any such lifestyle.

Bonnie and Clyde: True Romance?

A constant source of the break down of modern relatioships is that humans, as a species, are often rather self-centered and selfish. Thusly, its now an age old story that the couple falls out over the fact that niether is willing to go and do things with the other. If only these people had seen Bonnie and Clyde.
As with practically every gangster film, the charming yet cocky, sharply-dressed mobster has practically a neon sign above his head that attracts the ladies to him. Clyde has a criminal record, he's a complete free spirit and represents a bold and exciting way of life and crucially for Miss Bonnie Parker, an escape from her humdrum life as a waitress in simple small town America. What is really interesting to note, however, that unlike other 'gangster molls' who take a step back and just support their husband, Bonnie does not want to play second fiddle to Clyde, she very much wants to be on center stage in the spotlight with him. The danger of heists and hold-ups and the thrill of getting away with the money is just as appealing to her as the good looks and life of danger that Clyde offers. Thinking he has an ultimate grand plan after their life of crime, she abandons everything in an openly bold display off effection to follow him.
Their relationship on the surface can seen to be quite the odd and strained one, she is very possesive of him and tries to stop him having fun with his brother thusly driving him to be irritated and physicaly, she is often very demanding to push their relationship further, yet due to his imputence, he is unwilling to do.
If we are to look deeper into their relationship however, it is clear that they both have very strong and passionate feelings for each other. Bonnie is of course still deeply attracted to Clyde and greatful since he took her away and gave her a life of excitement that she'd been craving. She is also there to crucially offer emotional support for Clyde when things go wrong, therefore it is clear that he depends of her just as much as she depends on him. Clyde himself is very protective of Bonnie, whilst he knows that she is tough and can handle herself, he offers her the chance to get out and escape from the life of crime because he cares for her so much and doesn't want to see her get hurt. With the poems she writes and their general notorious acts of crime, Bonnie has also helped Clyde to get his celebrity status that he has always wanted and this allows them to make love for the first time as they are now so comfortable with each other.
It is of course a tragically doomed romance however, made that much more poignant by the fact that it is only really at the end of the film that they finally gel as a couple and are ready to settle down and end their crime streak. What is evenmore tragic is that they are seperated when they both get shot down, yet the high speed inter-cutting of their staring into each other's eyes is the final beautifully tragic true indicator that they were both very much in love and the space between them seemingly becomes that much more vast. The fact that they dont properly go down together intensifies the tragedy and hits the point home to the audience that they may have lead a life of crime and that they should be deplored by society, they were simply a couple in love who were dependant on each other to get by facing the grim reality of the depression and the established ruling class that they were both seeking desperatley rebelling against.