Week 5: A film in Letterboxd’s Top 50
Film: Goodfellas (1990)
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Watched on: Netflix
After watching four films in this challenge, I’m itching for a good one. Something that would make time feel like a blink of an eye. One so good that I feel transported into the world. I had high hopes for this prompt after seeing the list of films in Letterboxd’s Top 50. Although there were some "quintessential film bro starter packs" choices, I do admire the addition of Parasite, La Haine, Grave of the Fireflies, and Spirited Away.
I was able to find some of the top 50 films through Kanopy (shout out to the Jersey City Free Public Library for this resource), but ultimately settled on Goodfellas since it was leaving Netflix the next day.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, Goodfellas is based on the true story of Henry Hill, who becomes involved in the mafia. We follow Henry from the point of a teenager in a working-class Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, doing grunt work for the gang till the moment his relations with them grow sour. Despite the 146-minute runtime, I was completely engaged from the opening scene till the credits.
I would like to think I have pretty modest expectations for what constitutes a good film. A good film should consist of the following aspects:
- Interesting characters: You want to know what happens to them. You may dislike them, but it’s enough to pique your interest.
- Emotional investment: You feel something when watching it.
- Solid storyline: This is probably a given. Is the story compelling enough to keep you engaged throughout? If I don’t want my phone, that’s a good indicator it’s a 5-star watch.
Goodfellas hit all 3 of these aspects for me. The mafia is such an elusive entity that a film centered around the inner workings of a gang was enough to draw me in. I wanted to learn about this underworld that we’ve heard snippets of, but never really understood what it meant to be a part of one. How do you even join a gang? What are the unspoken rules? This made for a fascinating character study of Henry Hill, who joined as a teenager and worked his way up, as well as the people he became close with.
I didn’t like any of the characters in this film, but I was emotionally invested in what happened. I wanted to see how far Hill was able to climb the ladder. When did he cross the line to become a career criminal? What did the lifestyle of a gangster look like in 60s and 70s New York? How did his wife feel?
All of these questions made for a compelling storyline, even more so with Scorsese’s storytelling skills. He had a vision for the film after reading Wiseguy, the book he would adapt into Goodfellas, "To begin Goodfellas like a gunshot and have it get faster from there, almost like a two-and-a-half-hour trailer. I think it's the only way you can really sense the exhilaration of the lifestyle, and to get a sense of why a lot of people are attracted to it."
It’s honestly incredible how they were able to condense 35 years into 2.5 hours, chronicling the rise and fall of Hill, his friends, and family from 1955 to 1980. The way they had to earn loyalty, the unspoken rules of the Mafia, the importance of family, the corruption of the justice system, the women in their lives, and the crimes – it’s a way of living I don’t think many of us can imagine.
As much as I enjoyed Goodfellas as a form of escapism, I can’t help but think about the victims who were affected and the lack of justice that was carried out. The glorification of mafia gang members is also a stark contrast to the condemnation of Black gang members that we see in the media today. Goodfellas and The Godfather trilogy are heralded as the greatest films of all time, but what about Menace II Society and Paid in Full?
The virality of “the mob wife” aesthetic left a bad taste in my mouth last year. For one, I’m not a fan of microtrends in general due to the inevitable overconsumption. Secondly, personal style should be developed through lived experiences, not through the adoption and amalgamation of TikTok-driven aesthetics. Also, it should go without saying that organized crime shouldn’t be glamorized.
With all that being said, I gave Goodfellas 4 stars for the escapism it provided and a pocket of time that is no more.
