One of the best films of all time. And Roger knew it.

Goodfellas is possibly Martin Scorsese’s best film; it draws you in with a hook from the very beginning and doesn’t seem to let you go till the very end. With the 1st pan, the viewer wants a gun. With the second, he wants to go and steal a car. You get the point. As Ebert highlights, “unearned privilege” is at the center of this movie, and we all want a piece of it. Scorsese seems to glorify everything about a gangster’s life; from the drugs, to the money, to the women, etc. It is a signature move of his. He glorifies what society tends to deem as the lowest of the low and continues to rectify and redeem that glorification towards the end of his narratives. It is hard not to get sucked in and want to live Henry’s life when the movie is known for one of the best tracking shots of all time. Even his style reflects the utmost desire to embed the viewer into a POV type of experience.

Ebert talks about how the shots in the beginning of the movie, when Henry seems to enter the gangster life, are expansive and spacious in order to reflect the effect that the “life” has on Henry. It opens up a whole new world for him. He has whatever he needs. But most importantly he has dignity and respect. Towards the end of the film, when drugs and paranoia take over, both those things fly out the window. With them, so does the shooting style. Every shot becomes claustrophobic and limited. The camera seems to be choking Henry and, by proxy, the viewer. So we, as viewers, take the full ride with Henry. The upswing of entering the life and enjoying all its luxuries down to the pettiness of drug induced paranoia and ultimate betrayal of the mafia.

Scorsese has his signature type of film. His style has continued into today with films like The Wolf of Wallstreet. But he hasn’t reached heights like Goodfellas since the film came out, when considering first-person crime narratives. I guess an epic can never be repeated.