Martin Scorsese’s 1990 Goodfellas stars Robert de Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, telling the story of the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill, his friends and his family over a twenty-five year period between 1955 and 1980.
Goodfellas is based on Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction book, Wiseguy published in 1985. Pileggi also co-wrote the screenplay with Martin. Scorsese. Director, Martin Scorsese also worked with the leading actors, allowing them to improvise certain scenes. He transcribed some of these sessions and used dialogue in the final screenplay.
Goodfellas was well received by critics and the public. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, with Pesci winning for Best Supporting Actor. The film also won five BAFTA awards, including Best Film and Best Director. In 2000, it was deemed “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant” and selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress.
FILM TALK is all about us reviewing and appreciating the greatest films ever made. Each week we publish a new video reviewing and discussing a different classic film that is destined for our list of the 100 greatest films in cinema history, at least the greatest films in our opinion.
We take an in-depth look at our chosen film, providing a detailed critical review, while also delving into the film’s background, exploring how it was made and the filmmakers behind it, with a quick dip into fascinating trivia to help provide a rich appreciation of our film that week.