Goodfellas: The Real Life Inspiration Behind Henry’s Mob Fascination
Goodfellas established that Henry Hill was fascinated by the mob from an early age, and this was inspired by Martin Scorsese’s childhood.
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Goodfellas is all about Henry Hill’s involvement with the Lucchese crime family, and his fascination with the mob from an early age was inspired by Martin Scorsese’s childhood. The gangster genre in the film industry is a favorite among viewers, and one big name in that particular realm is Martin Scorsese. Even though he has explored different genres throughout his career, he’s best known for his gangster movies, and the one often regarded as his best is Goodfellas.
Released in 1990 and based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, Goodfellas chronicles the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his days as a teenager running errands for Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his crew, to his full involvement with the Lucchese crime family and his decision to become an FBI informant years later. Goodfellas was very well-received by critics and won various awards, and it’s considered one of the best movies not only of the 1990s but in film history in general, and while it’s based on Henry Hill’s true story, Scorsese took inspiration from his life as well.
In the first part of Goodfellas, viewers meet a young Henry Hill who was fascinated by the mafia presence in his Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, which led him to start working with Paulie, eventually climbing up and becoming one of his most trusted men years later. This part of Hill’s life is true as he did admire the local mobsters that hung out at a place across the street from his home, among those Paul Vario (Cicero in the movie), but it’s also inspired by Scorsese’s very own experience when he was young. Speaking to GQ in 2010, Scorsese explained how he chose the music for Goodfellas, saying that it had to “express the excitement of the time” and it was “the way he saw life”, so director of photography Michael Ballhaus shared a bit of how Scorsese’s experience impacted the movie.
Ballhaus explained that Scorsese grew up in Little Italy and his best friend was the son of the local mafia boss, but when he was a kid, he had asthma and couldn’t play outside. As a result, Scorsese stayed home and watched many, many movies, and the rest is history. Scorsese has even said that having asthma saved him from a life of crime as if he had been a big guy like his friend, he “probably would have been one of them”. This explains why he has shown a preference for gangster stories throughout his career, and why these have been a success as they are a reflection of real life in neighborhoods with a mafia presence. Although Scorsese has made other gangster movies besides Goodfellas, such as Casino, The Departed, and The Irishman, it continues to be the one that feels more personal, and with good reason.
Although Goodfellas is based on a true story, there were many elements that had to be changed to better fit the narrative Scorsese was looking for, had to be embellished or simply left out (as were many of Henry Hill’s crimes), but it’s one of the most realistic gangster movies you will find, to the point where it was well-received by real-life gangsters. It’s hard to imagine how different Goodfellas would have been had Martin Scorsese not had a personal experience that mirrored that of Henry, but it definitely elevates the movie.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/goodfellas-movie-henry-hill-mafia-true-story-scorsese/