Some of the most famous movie scenes of all time feature originally composed music or lift pieces from older films and recontextualise them for a modern audience, such as Tarantino pinching all of Ennio Morricone’s back catalogue. But what happens when you abandon this approach in favour of utilising a soundtrack of pre-released popular songs? It’s an idea that has been utilised as a directorial trademark by the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright, but it is widely acknowledged to have been popularised in western cinema by Easy Rider (1969) and specifically the films of Martin Scorsese. The latter has many a trademarked needle drop in his repertoire, but his use of soundtrack was arguably at its height in his 1990 gangster thriller Goodfellas.

In Goodfellas, the meticulously chosen selection of 50s to 70s music plays a huge hand in creating the memorable moments that have stayed with us (and reached new audiences) across the past thirty-plus years. In an interview with Esquire, the film’s music editor Chris Brooks claimed that Scorsese “[…] knew every one of those songs two years before he shot a frame of film.” It clearly paid off…

Although primarily told in chronological order, Goodfellas opens in media res, with the three central protagonists – Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) – driving to dispose of a body in 1970. During the sequence, they realise the man is not dead, so they brutally murder him. After the job is done, Henry delivers the legendary opening line of “as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster” and slams the car boot down. This is where we hear the first needle-drop: the late, great Tony Bennett’s “Rags to Riches”.

The lively brass selection that creates the opening of the song submerges us into the glamorous lifestyle of the gangster, allowing us to gaze with Henry’s childlike wonder at these powerful mobsters, making us forget about the brutality we just witnessed in the opening scene. As we are transported back to 1953, the lyrics of the song, coupled with the richness of Bennett’s voice, establish the running theme of the film: the ascent to, and descent from, power.

Through the use of doo-wop and crooner tunes popularised in the 1950s, we see Henry’s journey from a bullied neighbourhood kid into a fully-fledged mob associate.

Despite the flashy violence often seen in his films, Scorsese is an auteur renowned for authenticity, whether that be capturing Tibetan spiritual leaders, Gilded Age high society or Jesus Christ himself. When it came to Goodfellas, Henry’s upbringing mirrored Scorsese’s own in 1950s Italian-American neighbourhoods in New York. Therefore, the sequences of Henry’s childhood were soundtracked to Italian-language songs, reflecting the tradition and values set by the mobsters that Scorsese himself would have encountered.

The jump-cut to adult Henry takes us to 1967, significant in both the film’s timeline and the progression of music. In the 60s, music producer Phil Spector pioneered what is known as the Wall of Sound technique, where he would utilise studio recordings to make rich, orchestral tones that were designed to be played on jukeboxes and radios. With that, Spector used his formula to popularise several girl groups, including The Crystals.

In Goodfellas, Henry has seamlessly adjusted into his glamorous gangster lifestyle and his new challenge is his relationship with Karen Friedman (Lorraine Bracco). Whilst he was originally disinterested in her, her fiery attitude and “great eyes like Liz Taylor’s” prompted him to take her on a date to the notable Copacabana club. To emphasise his importance in the mafia world, Henry takes Karen through the back door of the club and through the kitchens before the waiter miraculously produces a table out of thin air for them to sit right next to the stage. This sequence is shot in an unbroken long take and accompanied by The Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me”. It is a sweet and romantic song, where context reflects that both the music and Henry are in a new stage of life.

This new stage of life culminates with Henry and Karen’s wedding montage, as The Harptones’ dreamy “Life is But a Dream” plays throughout. The Harptones were a fairly unsuccessful group, never breaking into the top forty, but their song is the perfect choice for how Henry and Karen’s lifestyle was too good to be true.

From this point, we rattle through Henry’s day-to-day mobster business, reflected through the use of more of the same doo-wop, adult standard tunes. Significant hits being Dean Martin’s “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head” (a song originally written to be in the 1960 version of Ocean’s 11) and Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin’s “Baby I Love You”. Even when Henry and his associates are arrested, the breeziness of prison life for a gangster is reflected by “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin. The singer’s voice is as cool as you like.

When Henry takes a turn for the worse, however, the soundtrack keeps up with him. During his time in prison, Henry becomes mixed up in the drug trade. We see him snorting cocaine with his new girlfriend Sandy at her apartment, soundtracked by the Scorsese Staple “Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones. Used again in his films Casino and The Departed (twice in the latter), the brutal anti-war ballad is a stark contrast to the easy-listening previously heard within Goodfellas, signifying how Henry has strayed from his original path of gangster to dealer.

What was there from the 60s and 70s still remains, but only just. Christmas tunes from Spector’s acts The Ronettes and Darlene Love play when the mafia are celebrating their Lufthansa heist victory. However, the joy is short lived for all three protagonists: Tommy is murdered to the sound of the piano exit from Derek and the Dominoes’ “Layla”, and Jimmy silently decides to murder all of his crew to the sound of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love”. These iconic rock songs accompany pivotal and iconic scenes in the film, and all incidentally feature Eric Clapton, whose career spanned from the 60s and into the 70s. When filming, Scorsese played “Layla” on-set to synchronise the staging, blocking and camera movement with the instrumentals.

The climax of the film sees us hurtling into the 80s, as Henry has the day from Hell trying to juggle his family life, gangster life and drug-dealing life, until it all blows up in his face. The sequences from the chaotic day are amplified in tension by the use of high-octane songs from rock legends Harry Nilsson, The Rolling Stones, The Who, George Harrison, and Muddy Waters. The glamour is gone, Henry’s life is over; rock n’ roll is here to stay.

And so, that leaves us with the final song. The last shot sees Henry living as a ‘schnook’. Stuck in witness protection to save his own skin, Henry laments that everything he worked for was for nothing and that he is confined to living a boring, meaningless existence. Scorsese chooses to close the film with Sid Vicious’ cover of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”. This is a spectacular song choice to end the film with as it is an imitation of a legendary crooner song associated with glamour and elegance, performed by an artist known for his notoriety and vulgarity. In the end, Henry becomes Sid Vicious, the outcast, desperately longing for the glamour that Frank Sinatra had.

The Goodfellas soundtrack is one for the ages. It illustrated how Martin Scorsese’s careful crafting of a soundtrack comprised of pre-released songs can elevate plot points, convey narrative changes, reinforce or signal developments to themes, and add a great deal of authenticity to a film’s world.

Alexa, play “Gimme Shelter”.

Written by Grace Laidler

Follow Grace Laidler on Twitter: @gracewillhuntin

The Age of Innocence (1993)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Jay Cook, Martin Scorsese
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder

Martin Scorsese is a prolific filmmaker, known for making movies infused with violence and passion, filled with characters who live outside of the law and the rules of society. From classic gangster pictures like Goodfellas to movies about corruption like The Departed, to the violence of Taxi Driver and the unrestrained wealth, privilege and power in The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese has made a career out of exploring the extremes of human nature, the catharsis of explosion. In a lot of ways, The Age of Innocence, released in 1993, is an outlier in Scorsese’s filmography. It is not about acting with abandon, but about restraint, discretion and control. It is not about the mean, dirty streets of New York and the bowels of society, but instead about high society, about people trapped in very beautiful, gilded cages, desperate to scream, yet unable to. In other ways, The Age of Innocence is, in Scorsese’s own words, the most violent movie he has ever made.

Adapted from Edith Wharton’s classic novel of the same name, The Age of Innocence stars Daniel Day Lewis as Newland Archer, an affluent lawyer caught between his impending marriage to the respectable, mild-mannered May Welland (Winona Ryder) and his desire for her cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). Set in the 1870s, during a time in the United States of great economic growth, industrialization, and a growing divide between the new world and the old often referred to as the Gilded Age, The Age of Innocence explores a world of rituals and class. The film was a great success for Scorsese, proof of his emotional intelligence and range as a filmmaker. It received numerous accolades, including the Oscar for Best Costume Design and the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Miriam Margolyes. In Scorsese’s hands, The Age of Innocence is a masterclass in visual cinema, more than your typical costume drama, one of the best page-to-screen adaptations of all time.

Like the rose that blooms in the center of the screen in the beginning of the film, The Age of Innocence is beautiful – until it draws blood. Scorsese uses the color red throughout the movie as a kind of shorthand for romance, desire, and destruction. It’s bold and searing, much like Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes (1948). Red velvet drapes hang from the walls, signifying that a dinner party and a blood bath are essentially the same thing to these wealthy society folk. The color also plays a substantial role in the costuming as well. When Ellen makes her social comeback at a party hosted by the extremely wealthy Van der Luydens (Alexis Smith and Michael Gough), she does so in a form fitting red silk dress. Ellen is the embodiment of the desires Newland tries to ignore. She is unconventional, trying desperately to rebel against a rigid, unforgiving society. In contrast, May is typically dressed in white, highlighting her innocence and her unblemished reputation.

But there is something sinister lurking beneath May’s naïve, soft-spoken exterior. Winona Ryder’s performance is deeply layered and probably one of the most complex in the film, which no doubt contributed to her earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. There is something hidden behind May’s wide-eyed, girlish face, something knowing and intuitive. While Newland continuously describes May as being young and impressionable, Ryder is subtly steering us in a different direction. What she says is not what she means, and Ryder is able to capture that dissonance effortlessly – where her character ends up in the end is the most satisfying bate and switch. Day-Lewis and Pfeiffer are deliciously tragic in their mutual pining for one another. Their obvious romance, their painful longing, puts every modern onscreen pairing to shame. It would be easy to see May and Ellen as mere archetypes rather than real people, and they are to a certain extent, but Ryder and Pfeiffer imbue them with vibrant inner lives.

Though this love triangle is at the center of the drama of The Age of Innocence, Martin Scorsese often moves his camera away from them in favor of the things that surround them. Particular attention is paid to the food, the silverware, the artwork, the furniture – the utter wealth and decadence. Appearances are everything. Things are more important than people. It’s a striking contrast to the laidback, sneakers and hoodies depiction of the uber rich of today. A certain level of spectacle is to be expected in period dramas, but Scorsese uses this spectacle to say something, and that subtext is everything.

Gilded Age New York is a character in the film, and the way Scorsese makes it come alive speaks to his understanding of the novel. The Age of Innocence is an internal story, it is told through stolen glances and near touches and almost kisses. The voice of the narrator is important, and Scorsese opts to keep that narration, beautifully delivered by silver screen star Joanne Woodward. Whole chunks of text are taken right from the novel, and it is delightful because Edith Wharton’s writing is spectacular. It would be a crime to do away with the original text or change it in any substantial way, and Scorsese knows this; The Age of Innocence is quite literally the novel come to life.

Adaptations are tricky and it isn’t easy to figure out how to translate something to screen. Do you keep the story exactly as it is? Is there any fun in that? Or do you move the pieces around so much that you make something completely different and new? There doesn’t seem to be one correct answer, but in this instance, Scorsese and writer Jay Cocks opted to change virtually nothing and it works.

In a 1993 interview with Charlie Rose, director Scorsese described the violence of The Age of Innocence as refined emotional and psychological violence. It is just as powerful and deadly as a bullet from a gun, and because Scorsese understands that, the film is incredibly affecting and devastating. It is a romantic tragedy brought to life by one of the best filmmakers of all time and, thirty years after its initial release, deserves a spot among his most accomplished works.

Score: 24/24

Recommended for you: Where to Start with Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese was part of the 1970s American auteur wave, and is arguably the most successful of the bunch as an artist. He exemplifies the traditional idea of the film auteur. While Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were working on Hollywood blockbusters, Scorsese was making Taxi Driver, New York, New York, and Raging Bull, three different films that varied with audiences and critics but were undoubtedly Scorsese films. As a lifelong cinephile, his films have always been informed by Hollywood’s past, and have continuously alluded to film history through style, genre, and direct homage. In addition to cinematic fascination, his films have inspiration from his own upbringing. His gangster films reflect the ethos of his Italian youth and culture converging with the big dreams and excesses of American society both in style and content. His editing and cinematography pack as much of a punch as any of the characters, each of whom are driven by powerful performances.

There are all kinds of places to go within the cinema of Martin Scorsese. The goal of this piece is to start at the roots, to really get a handle on what made Scorsese such a great filmmaker and storyteller, and to grow towards his magnum opus. This is Where to Start with Martin Scorsese.

1. Mean Streets (1973)

Mean Streets was Martin Scorsese’s breakout third feature following early recognition for his student films. He wrote the story and collaborated on the screenplay, and this is thought to be the first film upon which he was truly in control of production. In his 1979 book “American Film Now”, critic and author James Monaco described Mean Streets as Scorsese’s one great achievement, noting its status as a personal and original film (154).

Harvey Keitel stars as a small-time gangster in Little Italy, and the character’s practical outlook at the beginning of the film speaks to Scorsese’s own views on Catholicism: “You don’t make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it.” Keitel’s Charlie struggles with living his best on the streets, his problems exacerbated by Robert De Niro’s character Johnny. The film is rough around the edges, but brimming with style. The red lights of a bar and street-level gangsters offer a different look at the gangster genre than Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, released the year prior. 

It’s important to see Mean Streets because of how the film works as a foundation for Scorsese’s future work. This was the filmmaker’s first collaboration with Robert De Niro (with whom he’d partner on some of the most iconic films of the era), it was a new take on the gangster genre, it took the then-unusual route of featuring hip music in its soundtrack, and its narrative truly drives home the tragic nature of the human condition. If you’re a cinephile, this is exactly the kind of movie people like us were gushing over, the latest film from one of the hottest young directors.

2. Italianamerican (1974)

Martin Scorsese has a body of documentary work almost as large as his feature filmography. His best is his most personal, Italianamerican.

Italianamerican is quite simple: Scorsese puts cameras in front of his parents in their New York apartment and interviews them about their lives and the lives of their family. The parents, Charles and Catherine, were the children of immigrants from Sicily. They have such a fascinating perspective on life because of the working class circumstances in which they grew up, and the film shows how people like his parents were able to achieve what they saw as the American dream.

Scorsese’s parents are natural in front of the camera despite Charles’ protestations that Catherine is putting on airs. The two are honest, and give the impression that we’re sitting down beside them in the kitchen to listen to their stories directly. You can almost taste the meatballs and sauce that Catherine cooks – there’s even a recipe for them at the end.

Italianamerican is important as a window into this great director’s work as it allows you to see another side of his creative output; a soft side that aims to tell real stories of everyday people, to blur the lines between film and reality.

3. Goodfellas (1990)

Goodfellas Review

Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese’s greatest creation as a filmmaker, and the result of the perspective that making a documentary film and making a fiction film are the same process.

In this 6-time Oscar-nominated film, Scorsese tells the dramatized true story of half-Irish, half-Italian gangster Henry Hill, based on crime reporter Nick Pileggi’s novel “Wiseguy”. Goodfellas has all the style of Mean Streets, but it’s incredibly polished after nearly two decades of filmmaking experience. The silhouette of the male leads digging a grave against a red light is just as striking as Mean Streets’ club scene, but its darker nature creates a more provocative image.

Ray Liotta is outstanding as Henry Hill, hitting a variety of emotional beats that are capped off by a frantic, paranoid coke binge at the film’s end. Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are highlights of the cast, but it’s Lorraine Bracco as Henry’s wife Karen who really steals the show. There’s no true star in the ensemble cast, making the place and lifestyle the film’s central focus. Goodfellas presents the allure of the gangster lifestyle, and hits all the beats expected of the gangster genre by the late 1980s when audiences had perhaps seen it all.

Martin Scorsese’s past and future films address similar themes to Goodfellas, but none are quite so compelling visually. The film is dynamic, the editing and cinematography evolving with the characters over the course of the film, and its function as a representation of reality makes it unlike Mean Streets or even genre great The Godfather, the natural performances elevating the film beyond a general desire for unintrusive acting. Catherine Scorsese herself even makes an appearance in a fully improvised scene. When it comes to Martin Scorsese’s filmography, Goodfellas cannot be beat and is a must for anyone seeking the opportunity to experience this great American director’s unique filmmaking for the first time.

Recommended for you: Where to Start with David Lynch

You can’t go wrong watching anything in Martin Scorsese’s filmography, but these three films will give the most insight into this legendary auteur’s interests, background, and outlook on life. Should you take the advice of this piece, then Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Casino are great places to go next.

Here are the Top 10 Most Streamed Netflix Original Movies:

1. Extraction – 99 million streams
2. Bird Box – 89m streams
3. Spenser Confidential – 85m streams
4. 6 Underground – 83m streams
5. Murder Mystery – 83m streams
6. The Irishman – 64m streams
7. Triple Frontier – 63m streams
8. The Wrong Missy – 59m streams
9. The Platform – 56m streams
10. The Perfect Date – 55m streams

Topping off the list is this year’s Extraction starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor: Ragnarok). The film reunited the global star with producers Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed Avengers: Endgame, coincidentally another record breaker – the highest grossing theatrical film of all time. Of course, the current global situation may be responsible for this film charting so high, as audiences have only had access to streaming for new releases due to theaters being closed. This film was released during the lock down period.

Some of the most acclaimed Netflix originals have not made the list, such as Roma and Marriage Story, which were both heavy awards contenders. The exception to this would be Martin Scorsese’s crime drama The Irishman which was also nominated for a slew of awards, including 10 nominations at the 2020 Oscars.

One reason why this appeared on the list while the other two did not, could be due to the sheer amount of star power: Scorsese, De Niro, Pacino and Pesci to name a few. Audiences are likely familiar with their work and the crime genre, which has proven to be popular in Hollywood for much of the past century with classics such as The Godfather and Goodfellas. Star power is a key factor in a lot of the other films on the list, with most having a big name in the leading role, such as Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool 2; The Hitman’s Bodyguard) in 6 Underground, Sandra Bullock (Demolition Man) in Bird Box and Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems) in Murder Mystery. 

Unlike The Irishman however, a lot of the other films are more action based as opposed to dialogue focused. Triple Frontier, Extraction, Spenser Confidential and 6 Underground are all action films. These are more friendly to casual audiences and therefore reach a wider appeal. This suggests that these films are more entertaining to viewers who just want to watch a film in a leisurely way.

Another commonality some of the films share is their global appeal. Extraction, for example, takes place in India. 6 Underground features a diverse cast and multiple locations, such as Florence and Hong Kong. Murder Mystery is a globe-trotting crime thriller and Triple Frontier is primarily set in South America. Their popularity not only illustrates the importance of representation, but also proves how much of a global player Netflix has become in targeting specific national demographics. Further proof of this is The Platform, which is a Spanish language film.

Overall, we can draw a few conclusions from the data provided. First and foremost, Netflix are relentless in releasing successful original content – they are clearly succeeding and proving that despite the escalation of the streaming wars, they are still sat securely at the top. The data also suggests Netflix follow a formula to make their films as popular as possible. This formula produces films that have a global appeal through a diversity in cast and location, as well as a focus on action, which casts a wider net on the potential audience. Additionally, the inclusion of a big name actor usually results in better viewing figures as it provides familiarity, the service’s latest action hit The Old Guard starring Charlize Theron being a recent example.

For updates on more stories like this one, follow The Film Magazine on Twitter.

Goodfellas (1990)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriters: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese
Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero, Tony Darrow, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent, Chuck Low, Samuel L. Jackson

Goodfellas is one of Martin Scorsese’s best received works and startlingly this year sees his mob masterpiece reach the tender age of 30. Unsurprisingly it remains as vital as ever and is still one of the finest films of the past 3 decades, as well as in the entirety of Scorsese’s legendary filmography. In light of the success found in his return to the genre with 2019’s The Irishman, it is worth revisiting one of the high points of a genre with which Scorsese has so clearly associated.

Goodfellas, whilst not being a hugely successful film at the Box Office in 1990, has become a cult favourite and one of Scorsese’s most recognisable films. With legendary critic Roger Ebert writing upon its release that “No finer film has ever been made about organized crime – not even The Godfather“ in an indication of public sentiment towards the film, Goodfellas is currently placed at 17 on IMDB’s top 250 films of all time and is Scorsese’s highest placed film on this particular list.

The film takes a detour from the narrative route Scorsese had taken with the likes of his character studies Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, to focus Goodfellas on the life of Ray Liotta’s Henry Hill, from childhood to his fully formed part of Mob life. It is an unflinching look at the brutality of the life these characters choose to lead with violence aplenty.

Goodfellas is one of the finest acted films Scorsese has released and features the best career work of Ray Liotta as well as a strong supporting performance from Robert De Niro in what was at this point his 6th collaboration with Scorsese – his first since The King of Comedy 7 years earlier. In one of her earliest roles, Lorraine Brasco excels and was rightly nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress, this performance coming 9 years before her acclaimed role in ‘The Sopranos’. A case could even be made for Karen being one of Scorsese’s best female characters, certainly in his mob films. Some 3 decades on, and it’s Joe Pesci who remains the film’s particular highlight and the master of its superbly acted ensemble however, the actor displaying his full range and proving explosive in almost every scene, his performance winning the Oscar for Actor In a Supporting Role.

As one would expect with a Scorsese picture, the period attention to detail is sublime, really evoking the decade each section is set in. The early part of the film focuses on Henry’s childhood in the 1950s and the picture subsequentily works its way through the 60s to the 80s. Brilliant soundtracks are one of Scorsese’s hallmarks, and this is one of his finest, comprising an eclectic mix of soul, rock n roll, jazz and blues classics to fit the mood of the particular period the film is focused on. The sound makes use of a plethora of tracks from the Rolling Stones and features other iconic acts such as Muddy Waters, The Who and George Harrison. Scorsese would of course go on to make acclaimed documentaries on both Harrison and The Rolling Stones.

Watching Goodfellas after having watched 1995’s Casino and The Irishman, the trio work incredibly well as nuanced variations on mob life as they all touch on different aspects of the lifestyle. The Irishman and Goodfellas in particular are only really similar in subject matter, and as overall films are actually worlds apart in both message and style. It is perhaps a sign of the quality of Goodfellas that Scorsese’s subsequent films in this genre live somewhat in its shadow, Goodfellas remaining a high point in a career that has also brought us the aforementioned films and Scorsese’s only Best Directing Oscar for The Departed.

While there have been a fair few films focusing on the mob since 1990, few have achieved the same staying power, legacy and adoration as Goodfellas. Arguably it is not only Martin Scorsese’s most critically revered of the past 3 decades but it is also his most beloved by fans. In a genre that has produced some of the finest films of the 20th Century, from the Godfather Parts I & II, to Once Upon a time in America, Goodfellas rightly sits in the top tier of classics and showcases one of America’s finest directors at the top of his game.

22/24

Written by Christopher Connor

You can support Christopher Connor in the following places:

Twitter – @chrisconnor96