Goodfellas - Weekly Film Analysis

Goodfellas is a 1990 crime/drama directed by Martin Scorsese, the film explores themes of family,betrayal,violence,drugs and greed as Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his friends (also fellow mobsters) work themselves up the mob hierarchy, gaining a lot of money and a negative reputation along the way. Goodfellas became one of the most iconic gangster films in history as Scorsese effectively portrays what life is like as a gangster, various micro features are used throughout the film to give us an insight into the different characters in the gang and the changes Henry Hill experiences as he pursues his dream of 'being a gangster".

I thought the editing used in the film as the shot is paused and Henry Hill gives us specific detail on the situation in the form of voiceover was extremely effective. This unique editing technique used by oscar winning editor; Thelma Schoonmaker allowed the us to learn more about the protagonist as he explained and gave his opinion on the current situation in the film. I immediately realised this editing style was also used in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' where again it is extremely effective in allowing the audience to explore the protagonists in more depth giving the audience a real insight into their personalities. As well as the film being directed by arguably one of the best directors in history, the film featuring some of the most talented actors mostly specialising in gangster films added to the realistic perspective created my Scorsese. The stand out performances in my opinion came from Robert De Niro,Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci as there individually developed characters came together to form the mob of "goodfellas or wise guys" as they called themselves, their individual performances created three characters all striving for ultimately the same goal (money and power) ,but as seen in the film their strong personalities (created with stunning acting) hindered this as constant conflict between characters in the film continued throughout.

In conclusion I thought the combination of micro features displayed in this film created a realistic insight into the life of dead and living gangsters who lived in the period of time from 1955 to 1980. This incredible film allows you to be informed about the lives of the various gangsters while using micro features in order to keep the audience intrigued by the real life story ,with elements like the unique editing style, and the stunning performances creating  realistic gangsters who are able to tell the story of the 'real' gangsters in a believable manner.