Goodfellas
Written while attending Louisiana State University and published in the Plaquemine Post South in 1991.
BY: DAVID B. GOURGUES
Oscar Wasn't Good to Goodfellas or Scorsese, Again
I thought I would write my first column for this newspaper about the film that I, along with many other critics across the nation, thought was the best film of 1990. Director Martin Scorsese's movie Goodfellas told the true story of mafia member Henry Hill and his life and partnership in the mob. The movie' script is based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Peleggi and was co-written by the author and Scorsese. The film contains first rate performances by Ray Liotta (who played Shoeless Joe Jackson in Kevin Costner's hit movie, Field of Dreams) and by Academy Award Winner Joe Pesci. Robert De Niro and Paul Sorvino as well as Larraine Bracco give tremendous performances also.
But what makes Goodfellas the best movie of the year (and perhaps the last 6 or 7 years) is Scorsese's direction. Along with Spike Lee, Steven Speilberg, and Francis Ford Coppolla, Scorsese is the finest filmmaker alive today. The ironic part is that he has never been honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with an Oscar. What a shame! Scorsese directed the 1980 film Ragin Bull that was later voted the best film of the 80's by the nation's film critics. It also won De Niro an Oscar for Best Actor. He also directed the 70's cult film Taxi Driver, in which De Niro, Cybil Shepherd and Jodie Foster starred and Chicago Sun Times film critic Roger Ebert called the best American film he had seen since he started reviewing movies. Furthermore, Scorsese directed the film that won Paul Newman his Oscar for Best Actor, The Color of Money. This 1986 film, which was a sequel to the earlier film, The Hustler with Jackie Gleason, also solidified the reputation of an actor named Tom Cruise. But each time the Academy passed Scorsese up. And now Goodfellas is cast aside by Oscar.
So why does this keep happening to Scorsese. Well, probably a number of reasons. First, he isn't "West Coast" enough. All most of all of Scorsese's movies are filmed in and around New York. He was born in New York. He graduated from New York University. This doesn't sit too well with those big West Coast movie producers. Second, he is too controversial. His film, The Last Temptation of Christ, was one of the best films of 1988, yet its controversy subject matter of portraying Jesus Christ in an humanistic way was banned in most theaters in this state. And Goodfellas, like Taxi Driver and Ragin Bull before it, is an extremely violent movie. Not graphic violence like those slasher movies, but violence you read about in the newspaper everyday.
In 1981, the Oscar for Best Picture went to actor-turned-director Robert Redford for Ordinary People. This film beat out Scoreses's Ragin Bull. Now, in 1991, the Oscar for Best Picture went to actor-turned-director Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves. Maybe Scorsese is haunted by these actor/directors whose first movie turns out to be a good one. But don't get me wrong folks, Dances With Wolves was a good movie, and perhaps it was the best movie of the year, but Hollywood and Oscar need to reward directors and filmmakers for unique visions not first time hits. Scorsese's film examines the side of the Italian mafia that has rarely been explored in film history. It does not glamorize the mob as The Godfather films did. Instead, it shows the viewer realistic instances of the mob, one in which Pesci's character is totally obsessed with violence and thinks nothing of its outcome.
Goodfellas is an offer a true film fan can't refuse. Look for it at the video store within the next week. The film is rated R and is not for the faint of heart, but will be on my Top Ten List of the greatest movies ever.
My rating: A+