Goodfellas is often lauded as THE greatest mafia movie alongside The Godfather. I believe that The Godfather worked better for me, but Goodfellas still has a lot to offer. Scorsese crafts an intricately powerful world that feels larger-than-life, but also details the vulnerability of a dangerous life that relies on a strict order. Goodfellas’ story works well because the build-up preys on our naivete, before dismantling those fantastical notions with the inversion of violence. Initially, the mob is purposefully depicted as a familial force of community and a diversion from the expected monotony of regular life. Henry Hill becomes engrossed by the excitement of this very superficial lifestyle, believing it to be the ultimate expression of masculinity. Disorder is easily handled by violence. Material wealth feels not just attainable, but inevitable. Hedonism and egoism dictates the way of the mob in all forms. Each new plot is about capitalizing on an opportunity of power or of wealth to support materialistic ambitions: the Air France heist, the Lufthansa heist, the stealing of airport cargo. By anointing violence as the sole panacea to problems, it eventually becomes devalued to the point of insanity. This very violence causes reality to intrude into the rose-tinted perspective told by Henry. As a result, the second act of the movie devolves into total destabilization in both style and narrative. The entire day in which Henry is followed by a helicopter is the first time that the film loses control. Far from the ordered first act where everything can be discerned and understood, it ravages its own structured existence. The mob, once a bastion of masculinity and riches for Henry, has become an insipid trap from which threatens his own life. The final straw for Henry stems from the collapse of supposed community, in which Paulie offers him a measly $3,200 to find himself a new life. The advancement of self-interest is fully revealed, and in doing so, the illusion of values once taught becomes shattered.
Goodfellas can safely still be regarded as the pinnacle of the mafia “rise and fall” story. Scorsese’s fingerprints are all over Goodfellas in this way. I may have not fully appreciated this movie, so I would need a rewatch.
