An Analysis of How Narrative and Genre Features Create Meaning and Generate Response in the Opening of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas
Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is based on the culture of organized gang
crime
in New York. The gangster genre from the 1920s up until the early
1930s was
extremely popular because most urban, ethnic and working class
audiences shared
gangster’s desire to attain the American dream. A central motif of
Howard Hawks
‘Scar face’ is a neon sign that states ‘the world is yours’ and the
contemporary
audience shared this dream. Typical of the genre the close knit
Italian American
community introduced at the beginning of the film by the voice over of
the
protagonist Henry Hill which is later taken over by his wife Karen as
he starts to lose
control of his life. The classic early genre made no attempt to
camouflage their greedy
motives and the audience were attracted to their blunt honesty. Martin
Scorsese taps
into this enjoyment of gangster of the gangster’s ability to do what
the audience can
onlydream about. Hill’s voiceover” At thirteen I was making more money
than most
of the gown-ups in the neighbour hood, I mean I had more money than I
could
spend”.
Gangster films almost nearly always follow a rise and fall narrative
structure
therefore Henry Hills claim to ‘have it all’ maybe seen by the
audience as ironic.
Initially, however, in gangster genre the accumulation of wealth and
power seems
unstoppable and in Goodfellas Henrys youthful fascination with the
mobsters in his
neighbour hood mirrors the public fascination with the ma...
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...enrys drug fuelled recklessness which later on
leads to his final arrest.
The opening indicates the excitement of being a gangster. Scorsese
brings a
twist to these conventions that make the film and his characters more
appealing to the
audience as they seem like ordinary people. Scorsese demythologises
the gangster
world, much of what initially attracts the young Henry is a charade,
as the narrative
unfolds we see relationships deteriorate as greed and paranoia take
hold as characters
move from loyalty to betrayal. Normally the protagonist invariably
dies in a hail of
bullets, Henry returns to a normal anonymous lifestyle he was trying
to escape. A fate
that to him, seems worse then death. He also shows no remorse, ‘I was
an average
nobody. I ad to live my life like a shnook’.
In his essay, “It’s Just a Movie: A Teaching Essay for Introductory Media Classes”, Greg M. Smith argues that analyzing a film does not ruin, but enhances a movie-viewing experience; he supports his argument with supporting evidence. He addresses the careful planning required for movies. Messages are not meant to be telegrams. Audiences read into movies to understand basic plotlines. Viewers should examine works rather than society’s explanations. Each piece contributes to Smith’s argument, movies are worth scrutinizing.
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
The plot segmentation of Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film, “Pulp Fiction,” reveals how the pieces in the nonlinear narrative structures are put together. In order for the audience to remind them when these events take place, the movie uses title cards to specify each segments’ main plot. Some of the characters would even reference events that have already occurred, such as when Mia, in the boxing match building, thanks Vincent for the dinner. The movie does not just allow the audience to really pay attention to how the story is being told, but also show how similar each of the main stories’ structures is, despite being in a nonlinear form. For example, all of them feature acts of “heroism” by resolving the issues when caught in very unexpected
The film’s story does not simply shines forth, but is also the foundation of the plot. The film’s plot makes the traditional guidelines applicable...
The Classical Hollywood style, according to David Bordwell remains “bound by rules that set stringent limits on individual innovation; that telling a story is the basic formal concern.” Every element of the film works in the service of the narrative, which should be ideally comprehensible and unambiguous to the audience. The typical Hollywood film revolves around a protagonist, whose struggle to achieve a specific goal or resolve a conflict becomes the foundation for the story. André Bazin, in his “On the politique des auteurs,” argues that this particular system of filmmaking, despite all its limitations and constrictions, represented a productive force creating commercial art. From the Hollywood film derived transnational and transcultural works of art that evoked spectatorial identification with its characters and emotional investment into its narrative. The Philadelphia Story, directed by George Cukor in 1940, is one of the many works of mass-produced art evolving out of the studio system. The film revolves around Tracy Lord who, on the eve of her second wedding, must confront the return of her ex-husband, two newspaper reporters entering into her home, and her own hubris. The opening sequence of The Philadelphia Story represents a microcosm of the dynamic between the two protagonists Tracy Lord and C.K. Dexter Haven, played by Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. Through the use of costume and music, the opening sequence operates as a means to aesthetically reveal narrative themes and character traits, while simultaneously setting up the disturbance that must be resolved.
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
In any film, filmmakers use the beginning to expose the audience to its style and organization along with storyline, society, and characters of the film. The ending evokes emotions from the audience and drives home the essence of the film. Within the two films High Noon and Don’t Look Now, the parallels in the beginnings and the endings of the films exhibit purposeful framing that speak to the outcomes of the films dependent on the characters’ actions. The favorable beginning and ending of High Noon contrasts with the tragic beginning and ending of Don’t Look Now, highlighting the importance of a strong set of values, and the dangers of being consumed by your own thoughts.
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
The Godfather is the “dark-side of the American dream story” (Turan, pp2). The film follows the practices of a fictional Italian mafia family, the Corleone’s. Though most Americans do not condone the practices of the Italian mafia, they cannot deny that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. This film gave insight to a mysterious way of life that the average person does not have knowledge of. As the audience is educated about the mafia they also are introduced to many stereotypes.
Connelly, Marie. "The films of Martin Scorsese: A critical study." Diss. Case Western Reserve University, 1991. Web. 07 Apr 2014.
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
In this essay the following will be discussed; the change from the age of classical Hollywood film making to the new Hollywood era, the influence of European film making in American films from Martin Scorsese and how the film Taxi Driver shows the innovative and fresh techniques of this ‘New Hollywood Cinema’.
The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King is both a wonderful film and a brilliantly written short story. There are many themes represented in each form of The Shawshank Redemption. The one major theme that interests me in both the film and the story is freedom. Freedom serves a large purpose for both the story's writer and the filmmaker. Both use similar examples to signify freedom, not only in the jail, but also in a larger context about life. There are many events and examples in both the film and the short story that signifies the theme of freedom. The one main difference is when the film uses the director’s technique to portray a feel of freedom for the inmates. The overall three issues used in this essay are all linked to the feeling of the inmates feeling the sense of freedom with the prison walls.
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..