Goodfellas

I was surprised with how much Holly enjoyed GoodFellas, but then again- I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. I had seen it a few times over the years, and felt that the film has very little left to offer. It was a pleasant surprise to be reminded how engrossing the film is. All of the characters are interesting, and as Holly said as we were watching it, there is hardly any time to be bored with the film- as it continuously moves onto a different aspect of a characters life. It is as if the camera has ADD. The story jumps around and follows the different characters; frequently switching up the perspectives and narratives, it offers such a variety of angles, it's hard to remember why I was not interested in watching it. 

Perhaps its because the gangster genre is so over done in entertainment, and much of it is hammy. Nowadays you can play Godfather video games, rent the Sopranos, or any entertainment medium which glorifies the exploits of thuggish Italians. These things can be interesting (as the Godfather is), but I've found myself growing more, and more tired of the whole idea of "honor" behind the life of crime- as Lord Action famously said (yes this is also overused- forgive me): "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" this is the bread and butter behind all gangster films, and Goodfellas is no exception. What I found most redeeming about it- as Holly was saying- is how accurately they portray the Italian/Irish culture of post-World War II America. It brilliantly shows the demise of the big political bosses, union bosses, and crime bosses of the era. Henry Hill and his working class cronies were remnants of a local political system were indeed neighborhoods had to ban together to form order; because the political establishment was unwilling or unable to look after immigrant Italians or Irish or whomever.  While Henry attempts to win over the audience to whatever supposed nobility was involved in the mafia lifestyle; Scorsese shows the sad results of living a life outside of moral limits. Partially what makes this film so great, is that out of most modern filmmakers, Scorsese seems to believe in the soul- and equally understands the qualities that damn it. 

I highly recommend Goodfellas. There are a lot of movies on this list that I think should have been replaced, I'm glad to see a modern one that has earned its place with the classics.