The Reading List: Scorsese on Scorsese By Ian Christie and David Thompson

Scorsese on Scorsese by Ian Christie and David Thompson

Faber and Faber/Macmillan; Revised Edition

[Based on the readings of Chapter 7 Pages 155-167 on Goodfellas]

Something I think a lot of people tend to forget, me included, is that GoodFellas (Scorsese,1990) is based on real life story which was turned into a non-fiction book called Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. Pileggi helped write the screen play for this movie, but my point is that this film was so well made in its authenticity, casting and dialogue that it seems so good to be true that it must be a work of fiction. And that is what I like too call "The Scorsese Effect"

I liked the book's detail very much. So the film is more about the tangents, things off the point rather than the point itself, because I find that's more interesting. In a scene it was an experiment to see what would happen, building up to Henry's last day as a wiseguy, when he's under pressure from all side. This was the hardest to do. I wanted to create for the audience - people who have never been under the influence of anything like cocaine or amphetamines - the state of anxiety and the way the mind races when on drugs. So when Henry takes a hit of coke, the camera flying into his eyes and he doesn't know where he is for a split second. (Page 158/160)

It's interesting to read Scorsese's thought process especially over the little details. Though you know that there are little key scenes or pieces of information that have been subtly embedded into the storyworld for either authenticity or inside joke purposes regardless of audience awarenesses in various films (Disney/Pixar as a franchise are very well known for this) and how all of these emotions and ideas can be condensed and portrayed in the matter of one shot. It's an almost impossible art, that is theatrically stunning on viewing but then mindblowingly once you read the finer details and the build up to that point.