GoodFellas: The Unrepentant are Destined to be Traitors

Kylie 2022-06-14 23:11:04

It's purely a coincidence that after watching "The Cruel Story of Youth", "Goodfellas", and "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​at SIFF this year, I found myself accidentally falling into a "bad word" and had the opportunity to look at it from the perspective of a very minority group. Looking at the world again, it is so powerful that it oozes blood.

Before picking up the pen, Brain Road automatically retrieved the classic movie "The Godfather" series, which is also based on gangsters and also adapted from novels. If you compare it like this, there is nothing to compare it to. "Goodfellas" is not that epic masterpiece, but it focuses more on a personal perspective and brings people into it with evil principles, so "Goodfellas" can fully immerse me in the world of the mafia.

This also leads to the first question: the idea of ​​the film.

Maybe this should be a question that every director should think about before preparing each film. What is the purpose of making it? Especially in such a world where evil is beautiful, where is it going to take us, the audience? In this film, Grandpa Martin chose to let the audience bring evil eyes from the very beginning to start a criminal journey that three good citizens could never experience. At the same time, Grandpa Martin has quietly Sow the seeds of evil flowers.

Henry believed that being a good guy in the gang meant he could have everything, such as a king's meal, not being bullied, having more money than his peers, and feeling majestic. worldview.

The family ethics of the Italian Mafia gradually emerged after Henry grew up. The close interpersonal relationship, the family atmosphere of mutual support, and the good guys who are brothers and sisters. These short-lived beauties are just like the flowers of evil that grow in the evil world. How many Bring fragrance to this dark corner.

But the good times don't last long. Most people here can't abide by justice and morality. They only focus on interests. They are always full of betrayal relationships for self-interest. You don't have any stable beliefs, and you have no one to rely on. You can only survive because of a combination of desire and others. When others don’t need you, you will naturally face being abandoned and destroyed. It is like a wild animal world like a virgin forest.

Like this fierce and primitive world, it seems to have an idle narrative structure, but Grandpa Martin's editing of "Goodfellas" controls the rhythm to be extremely tight and explosive, bringing the audience wave after wave of audio-visual refreshment, even several. My heart is racing everywhere. The aesthetics of Ma's violence shown in it are very different from Quentin's and John Woo's. In "Goodfellas", violence is hidden in in-jokes in several places. When you think it's just a joke, the guy shoots and kills. Now, the absurdity and willfulness of violence are suddenly revealed, and everyone in the evil world, whether you are a bartender or a good guy, is on the brink of danger, and no one is spared.

It can only be said that Grandpa Martin is worthy of being a "movie sociologist." The moment I watched "Goodfellas", I couldn't balance my three views, and even some new confusion about values ​​appeared. Because of this evil world and too many normal people, I dare not even imagine it, let alone take it as a value orientation. Perhaps, Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil" can make a final self-declaration for this evil world:

Sin, miserliness, error, stupidity, have taken possession of our souls and tortured our bodies.

Every day, we descend into hell.

Walking through the stinking darkness without fear.

If murder, arson, poisoning, and rape had not yet adorned the mediocre sketches of our poor fate with their ridiculous sketches, alas! That's just because our souls aren't bold enough.

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Extended Reading
  • Dimitri 2021-10-20 18:58:12

    Abandoning the characteristics of the godfather romantic epic that was popular in gangster movies at that time, the original ecological living conditions of the underworld figures are expressed in a rough and realistic way, and the display of violent scenes and values ​​has distinctive characteristics. The performances of acting stars such as De Niro and Joe Paisi are beyond reproach. They received rave reviews after their release, and were hailed as the most true reflection of the gang life in movie history.

  • Aaliyah 2022-04-24 07:01:01

    There is no goodfellas in the mafia. Also impressive is that chubby joe pesci chattering with an unusually arrogant accent and a strange accent, who always wants to fuck whoever at first, and then always gets tragically fucked. In Casino, he also played such a role.

Goodfellas quotes

  • Karen: [narrating] After awhile, it got to be all normal. None of it seemed like crime. It was more like Henry was enterprising, and that he and the guys were making a few bucks hustling, while all the other guys were sitting on their asses, waiting for handouts. Our husbands weren't brain surgeons, they were blue-collar guys. The only way they could make extra money, real extra money, was to go out and cut a few corners.

    [Cuts to Henry and Tommy hijacking a truck]

  • Henry Hill: [narrating] It was revenge for Billy Batts, and a lot of other things. And there was nothing that we could do about it. Batts was a made man, and Tommy wasn't. And we had to sit still and take it. It was among the Italians. It was real greaseball shit. They even shot Tommy in the face so his mother couldn't give him an open coffin at the funeral.