Films To Watch Before You Die #63

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die…

Goodfellas, 1990.

Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Starring Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino.

Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese’s big screen adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction book Wiseguy. The film chronicles the story of Lucchese crime family member Henry Hill (Liotta) as he rises from neighbourhood kid to big time player between 1955 and 1980.

Hill and his friends Jimmy ‘The Gent’ Conway (De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Pesci) live the full mobster life as they run numbers, hijack lorries and spend their time at Copacabana club with a host of women. Hill’s life gets more complicated when he marries Karen (Bracco) and she is clearly unhappy with his lifestyle, but is soon seduced by the glamour and money. As Hill gets involved in drugs things begin to get even more difficult and paranoid from lack of sleek and too much cocaine he is constantly looking over his shoulder. As the glamour fades and the Lucchese family cuts its ties with Henry, he enlists in the witness protection program and becomes a nobody like everyone else.

Goodfellas is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time and is a film you must see before you die as it is probably Martin Scorsese’s best, despite it not being the film for which he won his Best Director Oscar. Based on the true life story of the real Henry Hill, the film is an amazing insight into the mobster lifestyle and the normal day-to-day life of organised criminals. It was also a massive influence on the hit TV show The Sopranos.