Goodfellas. 1990. USA. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Screenplay by Scorsese, Nicholas Pileggi. With Robert DeNiro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci. 35mm. 146 min.
Henry Hill entered New York’s organized crime world as a teenager, running errands and parking cars for the neighborhood gangsters. Of mixed Italian and Irish parentage, Henry could never become a “made man,” but nevertheless immersed himself completely in Brooklyn’s Mafia in the 1960s and ’70s. Based on a true story, Scorsese’s film follows Hill’s remarkable trajectory from notorious criminal to FBI informant. Masterful in many respects—Scorsese’s electric direction, Thelma Schoonmaker’s inimitable editing, an entire cast of iconic performances—Goodfellas is that rare film that radiates a palpable energy.