Analyse the first 10 minutes of Goodfellas

Joseph Williams

AS-Level Film Studies

Unit FS1: Making Meaning

Brief 1:Written Analysis: Narrative and Genre

For my written analysis I have decided to analyse the first 10 minutes of Goodfellas, starting from the scene in the car up to point where Henry Hill’s mother says the line “You look like a gangster”. The film starts with three well-dressed men driving in an expensive car. This only really signifies a gangster movie to an audience familiar to the genre. After a while they hear a “bumping” noise. At this point the audience is wondering why the men are looking worried. They pull over and it turns out to be a bloodied man lying in the boot. When Tommy furiously stabs the man, the audience realises that Tommy is the aggressive character that is typical to this genre. This is an example of narrative creating meaning and opinions of characters from the start. Similarly the way that Henry seems to be distanced from the violence (Jimmy also shoots the man) establishes Henry as the only character with some compassion, thus the audience connects with him.

The scene ends with the line “for as long as I could remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster”. This is said by Henry and the zoom in and freeze frame on his face makes the audience realise beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is the protagonist, and the narrator. Next comes a second load of credits that seem to “zoom” across the screen in a way that hints at the fast placed narrative of the story. The next scene opens with a shot of the young Henry Hill’s eyes watching the cab stand gangsters. This shows that they have his full attention, he isn’t blink or staring elsewhere, his full focus is on these men that he idolises. The voice-over also reinforces this opinion as he says “being a gangster was better than being president of the united states. When it shows the gangsters the focus seems to be on the cars, and rings that typical for this genre. They all also seem to be wearing expensive suits and all look smart which is again another definer of this genre.

The voice over by Ray Loitta indicates why the young Henry started in a life that the audience knows will end up with him being involved with murder (at this point the audience have already seen Billy Bats getting “whacked” in the back of the car). He says, “It meant being a somebody in a neighbourhood of nobodies”. This already singles out Henry as a person who seeks power and wealth, everything the gangsters stand for.

Paulie is quickly shown to be a leader who is respected and feared. When some “wiseguys” turn up and start messing about ...

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Paulie is quickly shown to be a leader who is respected and feared. When some “wiseguys” turn up and start messing about with his brother, Paulie just moves in shot. He seems like a gigantic presence even though all he does is stand in the doorway and smokes a cigar. The semi-close up on him just looking around, plus the line “Paulie didn’t have to move for anybody” again reinforces this opinion the audience will have of him.

When Henry starts working at the cab stand he says that “My father, who was Irish and send to work at the age of eleven”. This creates authenticity, as during this time there would have been a lot of immigrants in Queens New York, where the film is set. Also the fact that the film is set in Queens creates authenticity as this was a predominate area of the gangsters during this time.

The way that Henry stops going to school to work at the cab stand shows how dedicated he is to this dream. The line “I knew everybody, and everybody knew me” shows that Henry is starting on the “Rise and Fall” scenario that is also typical to this genre (e.g. Scarface, Casino). This is supported later on in the 10-minute sequence when he says the line “Some kids carried my mothers shopping home. It was out of respect.” In just 10-minutes he has turned from a no-body into the most powerful kid on his block.

Another thing that the audience may pick up on is Henrys acceptance of the criminal activities going on around him. During this scene, it shows Tuddy Cicero bribing police with liquor and some mobsters unpacking yellow jumpers in the background, when Henry says “Everyday I was learning to score”. This just hints at this early part of the film, at the type of crimes constantly going on in this cab stand. The way that these activities are not focused on or even mentioned in the voice over shows that this is ordinary behaviour and that Henry is just used to it, even at this young age. This helps to explain how Tommy and Jimmy’s treatment of Billy Bats at the start of the film doesn’t shock him. This also lets the audience know that he is hardened criminal right from the start.

Another common ingredient in gangster films is violence and even in this 10-minute sequence there are plenty of examples of this. When Henrys dad finds out that he has stopped going to school he gives him a vicious beating. What is most remarkable about this is Henrys reaction. All he says is “Everyone takes a beating”. This again shows that he has become used to the “baggage” that comes along with this lifestyle he wants to leave.

The “rise and fall” theme comes into play again when Tuddy tells Henry hes “gonna fuck everything up” when Henry explains that he cant make anymore deliveries. This is an important line because it shows that Henry is already a crucial part of the outfit. And the way that Tuddy gets some guys to beat up and threaten the postman shows just how powerful these mobsters are, and how far Henry has come. For these mobsters to go out their way to help Henry means that there must be a friendship or loyalty between them.

The scene where they put the postman in the oven also has a less obvious message that it gets across. This is the first scene where we see Henry and Paulie together. Like the first time we see him, all Paulie does is stand in the doorway. It is almost like he has come to watch, to see what they do to the postman. Or maybe hes there to make the postman more afraid. Whatever his reason, this scene can be viewed as Henry final integration into the mob, because he now has the support of Paulie as well.

Paulie’s power, although hinted at throughout the sequence, only really comes to light in the next part. The fact that Paulie has guys whom “all they did all day long is take phone calls” for him, shows that this guy doesn’t even have to use a telephone to run his empire. The Sequence ends with the line “Henry you look like a Gangster.” This comes after we’ve have just seen Henry blow up some cars, which could be seen as his first real bit of criminal activity. Looks like a gangster, and acts like a gangster, the rise of Henry Hill has truly begun by the end of the first 10 minutes.