GOODFELLAS / FOODFELLAS gangster psychology (film analysis)

for something like the last 15 or 20 years  whenever I've had a discussion with friends about   my favorite gangster movie Goodfellas I've always  told them my favorite line in the movie is this   in prison dinner was always a big thing we had  a pasta course and then we had a meter of fish   I always just thought of that as a funny throwaway  line but in a slightly more recent viewing well a   few years ago actually I was paying attention to  cinematography in the film and started noticing   that there's a general visual emphasis on food  and drink that seems to go beyond what we see in   most other movies this food theme is played on  my mind whenever I've watched Goodfellas since   to the point that I now feel that it holds as  much conceptual weight as any other theme in   the story there's just as much food and drink in  this film as there is crime violence and gangster   humor there's a lot to digest so we're going to  go through the film chronologically and explore   some of the hundreds of food details and their  implications about the characters and story but   first I'll just address what I assume will  be some people's initial beef with the idea   yes of course there are other movies that have a  lot of food scenes usually incidentally and there   is a Trope in the gangster genre too Pulp Fiction  has its own hilarious food emphasis and I suspect   Tarantino took some inspiration from Goodfellas  in that respect but even before Goodfellows it was   frequent in movies like The Godfather and Scarface  that important events even made us sometimes   happen in bars and restaurants and there's good  reason for this to be the case in the genre   gangsters tend to love their high-class food but  as we'll explore in this video Goodfellas does its   own unique things conceptually with its food and  drink metaphors though I am not claiming that all   of the food details in this film that I point out  definitely mean something some will be incidental   of course but by the end of this video I'm sure  you'll agree that a lot of them do mean something   the food concepts of the movie are so strong  that a couple of years after the film was   released in 1990 a pizza chain branded themselves  as Goodfellas it's a massively popular brand still   going strong today and I wonder how much of that  is because they've Associated their name with the   Goodfellas movie which Everyone likes the close  proximity to the release of the movie plus the   Brand's marketing often featuring a stone-faced  gangster figure as well as the colors of the   Italian flag sometimes and sometimes even using  letter fonts similar to those on the marketing   of the Goodfellas movie all these things suggest  that the brand took inspiration from scorsese's   Goodfellas that's how powerful the food element is  in this film it's affected our Cuisine culture in   a bold and obvious way and I think for those of us  familiar with the movie whenever we pick up one of   those Goodfellas Pizza boxes or open the packaging  there's likely a subconscious triggering of brief   thoughts about the movie kind of Keeps the movie  alive I suppose perhaps we even feel a sense of   identification with the food-loving characters  of Goodfellas brutal as they are I mean they like   good quality food so if this off the shelf pizza  is good enough for them it's good enough for us   right I sound like I'm running an ad for the brand  don't I but I'm not personally I hardly ever eat   pizza because cheese and bread are so unhealthy  and I personally don't find much difference in   this Brand's quality to other ones on the market  but anyway that's enough anchovies for now   The Goodfellas movie is also really funny in how  it presents its food and drink but the humor is   subtle Pulp Fiction is out in the open with its  fast food humor but Goodfellas plays a sneaky hand   there's no bright and bold tasteless food here you  have to pay attention to the Aromas and Goodfellas   you have to carefully chew the conceptual  flavors so that's to start a dish out the   way now on to the main course okay everybody let's  eat at the start of the film we're introduced to   various gangster characters and there's a bit of  emphasis on them being overweight this older fat   gangster obviously well fed for many years  because his car sags when he sat in it some   other gangsters taunt the character tutty about  his fat belly poorly isn't impressed hey Paulie   Paulie might have moved slow but it was only  because Paulie didn't have to move for anybody   well maybe he moved so slow because he's  constantly bloated tussi runs the family business   which is an Italian pizza restaurants of course  Italians love their food and that's not just a   cultural stereotype I've been to Italy myself and  they really like their food especially ice cream   but there's not much ice cream in this movie as  part of Henry's introduction we get to see this   poor family's cheap breakfast and packed lunches  and everyone eating got a tiny cramped table Henry   wants better Cuisine than this though he wants  gangster cuisine as he starts working for the mob   tussy wearing white a scene with a fat white dog  next to him ever noticed how some people tend to   have pets they identify with in terms of physical  features as Henry runs an errand there's a little   brief detail I spotted an older woman has seen  struggling got pill carrying two bags of groceries   keep that in mind and remember the extras in  movies are arranged they don't just let random   people into a shot like this at least not in a  big budget movie when Henry takes a beating from   his dad he is doing some sort of cheap food  preparation at the dinner table cheap food   brands can be seen in a tiny kitchen and probably  incidental some fruit-shaped ornaments are hanging   on the walls and Henry gets beaten in the kitchen  of all places as a result of this the Mobsters   threaten the postman for having delivered the  truancy letter from the school and how do they do   it with a food metaphor another letter from that  school goes to that kid's house in the [ __ ] open   you're gonna go ahead first the concept of human  beings as food occurs at several other points in   the film sometimes in blatant ways but we'll  get to those later for now I'll just say that   the food emphasis in this film tends to involve  a lot of meat in fact it's in our next example as   Henry narrates about how Paulie runs his gangster  operation we start with a close-up shot of huge   sausages being cooked the shot pans and we see  the guys eating and drinking this raises another   key Concept in this film The organized planning  and committing of crimes is paralleled in how the   gangsters put a lot of effort into how they cook  their food here they are discussing business while   eating and this isn't just a mafia thing corporate  bosses love their business lunches too though the   poorly is seen with the family dog this time  and that's what the FBI could never understand   were Pali and the organization does is provide  better Cuisine hence the slow motion of a meeting   Henry Now talks about his mother getting served  first when queuing for food and remember the woman   struggling with the groceries well here's  the payoff when they sum the kids from the   neighborhood carried my mother's groceries all  the way home you know why it was out of respect   this extra wasn't his mother character of course  but the concept of a struggling mother is there   for now though Henry is mostly a servant fetching  food and drinks for Mobsters when they enter the   bar once again the scene begins with a close-up  of food and panic across to the gangsters and note   that bread and meat are the emphasis there's not  much in the way of fruits and vegetables in this   film you know healthier foods next up Henry is  involved with selling hijacked goods and there's a   food and drink emphasis again you know he was one  of the city's biggest hijackers a booze cigarettes   razor blades shrimp and lobsters nothing lobsters  were best they went really fast alcohol is a major   factor in their lives but why the shrimp and  lobster sell really fast well probably because   they are typically expensive foods and thus  usually enjoyed by people who have more money   I'll also throw cigarettes into the pot here being  that Henry is now selling them ever since the   early days of Cinema gangsters have been presented  as heavy smokers whether it's cigarettes or cigars   on the one hand it's a prop to make  characters look supposedly cool   which I think is partially down to the  hypnotic visual effect of smoke itself   film Noir made tremendous use of this  silky smooth smoke for smooth gangsters   but on the other hand cigarettes and cigars are  consumer items aren't they just like food I'm an   ex-smoker myself and part of the mental cure for  my addiction is that I stopped seeing smoking as   being even remotely cool I started to see it as a  display of psychological weakness and ill health   moving on we come to Henry as an adult played  marvelously by the late Ray Liotta who sadly died   this year but whose performance in this film will  remain alive for a long time to come taking his   point of view we get a tour of the Bamboo Lounge  one of the Wise Guys favorite restaurant Hangouts   a lot of drinks and drink bottles here the issue  of some of them being overweight is slipped into   and then there was Mo Black's brother  fat Andy then we have some meaty dialogue   but this is the middle of well hang them in the  freezer with the meat how's that and fully enough   one of the gangster characters Frankie Carbone  will personally get hung up with the meat later   oops jumped ahead a little bit there Henry's  narration sums up their Collective attitude to   life here as the shot emphasizes their dinner  feast and finishes with Henry himself taking   a drink and I know this is incidental but I  found the nuts reference in Henry's dialogue   I'm using for us to live any other way was  nuts no monkeying around for these guys eh something else here that I think directly ties  with the overall food metaphor is this line   if we wanted something we just took it  unless it turns out in a following scene   just taking things applies to food  and drink in this very restaurant seven thousand dollars and Tommy is still  drinking their booze as he's being pulled   up for non-payment and then he [ __ ] them over  the head with one of the places on booze bottles   and then he abuses the waiter  by throwing drinks at him too   imagine how funny it would have been if Tommy  had started throwing food at the staff too   I think this is a general theme of the movie these  gangsters attitude of I want to take stuff for   free is nicely summed up in their attitudes of  food and drink they want high quality food and   drink but they don't want to pay for it and they  are disrespectful and abusive to those who provide   it and there'll be more of that later if this  guy thought Tommy's Financial abuse was bad he   ain't seen nothing yet his so-called partnership  with Paulie results in the mob basically stealing   so much of his supplies that is entire business  faults you take a 200 case of booze and you sell   it for a hundred and once again the food emphasis  here is on meat not fruit or veg so we've had two   references to Hanging meat plus we have carbon's  meat truck death which we'll come to later   so maybe another aspect of the food themes is  that meat involving the slaughter of animals   for Gangster Cuisine parallels how these  gangsters slaughter people for money ego or   whatever else they want as if their victims are  cattle and there'll be more on that later too   the emphasis on restaurants continues two dinner  dates as Henry has his first encounters with his   future wife and it's another classy joint note  that when Karen is stood up by Henry Tommy and   his girl have gone ahead and at anyway and he's  still chewing as he makes excuses for Henry and then their proper first date where they  are actually interested in each other Henry   introduces her to his way of living by taking  it past the restaurant queue touring through   the kitchen to see all the average worker  people who Wise Guys look down on even   though they might throw them a tip to disguise  the fact that they do and all those people are   there preparing all the gangsters food and  drink we're first heading down these stairs   they pass a guy who was stood alone eating and  what's eating you guessed it more meat and bread   and then out for a front seat for the calm of  the ACT where they get sent a free bottle of   something expensive probably champagne so  this is what Wise Guys are about isn't it   being first in line for the best quality food and  drink and everything else all served by others   they have so little respect for average working  people and yet their lavish Lifestyles wouldn't   be possible without those people there seems to  be a common blind spot that doesn't it by the way   we've had a lot of emphasis on kitchens so far  in this film at this point Henry is Romancing   his future wife but she will end up being little  more than a housewife who takes care of the kids   the cooking and other household chores and her  future seems to be foreshadowed in the comedian   cracking three jokes here about his own wife with  one of them referring to his Cuisine expectations my wife please I take my wife everywhere but she finds a way  home I said where do you want to go for your   anniversary she doesn't want to go somewhere  I've never been before I said try the kitchen   note that his joke dialogue continues well into  the visuals of the next scene and I think that's   an indication that the jokes aren't just  incidental for example as Henry and Tommy   are stealing money here A joke is told about a  doctor ripping off his own patients Dr Welter is   here wonderful dad to give you guys six months to  live couldn't pay his bill gave another sick one   so isn't that an interest in parallel I think  there's a lot of Truth in that criminals tend to   view society and all its institutions as being  as corrupt as they are on the one hand it's a   convenient view to justify their selfishness but  in some ways it's kinda true but if everyone out   there was really as corrupt as Mobsters are our  society would collapse very quickly no one would   want to work at all everybody would consume and  nothing would get produced we would just consume   everything we've created Henry's relationship with  Karen develops further with another dinner date   and the next scene is another dinner date and  getting saved another expensive bottle gifted by   someone else the way to pause it for them I must  be a bit of a low life myself because I'd just be   like yeah yeah leave the bottle and we'll Port  it ourselves and then the drinking more of the   champagne in his car jumping ahead a few scenes  their wedding and a huge cake in a big Feast   lots of free money from the guests of course then  Karen's mother complaining about Henry being out   every night and she makes a funny food reference  will you lead him out of this he suffered enough   the man hasn't been able to digest a decent  meal in six weeks skipping some more scenes   Jimmy's son has a birthday party not just a  big cake on the table but lots of food again   there's a big emphasis on celebration events  in this movie by the way weddings birthday   parties and later I began for some Christmas in  association with the Lufthansa heist where they   steal a hell of a lot of money the biggest heist  in American history apparently and it just happens   to be Christmas so it's like the heist it's a gift  to them so yeah lots of Celebration stuff in this   movie I think it's a way of presenting the fantasy  of indulgence that preoccupies the gangster   mindset and such occasions typically do involve  an unusual emphasis on food and drink of course   in the holiday snaps they're holding exotic  drinks with a worker stood over them smiling   like a good little happy waiter I mean that's  part of the indulging Cuisine fantasy too that   those who serve us must act like they  are happily enjoying their service role   by the way the tropical elements here was  present in the Bamboo Lounge at the start   of the movie which gave the impression  that anyone who ate there was on holiday   it's fascinating how loads of restaurants strive  not just to serve exotic food but they use   artificial Decor to give us the impression that  we are actually in a different part of the world   another holiday dining photo and for once  meat isn't the emphasis a nice big half slab   of watermelon there and there's another really  interesting detail here Jimmy who towards the end   of the film will try to arrange Karen's murder is  pointing a set of barbecue prongs at Karen's head   not only does that come off like a foreshadow  of the danger he will pose to her later but it   ties in with that theme I mentioned about humans  as food for gangsters I know that might sound uh   corny but stick with me for the course there  are richer examples later on more photos with   alcohol as a major factor and Jimmy pouring some  form of liquid onto Henry and laughing like with   this photo we seem to have another foreshadow  here of the threat that he will pose later   sure I could just be reading into it but when you  think about it each one of these photos has been   arranged they have to get the actors get all the  props the director had to tell them exactly what   to say and do how to act how to pose in the  shots all the props had to be chosen yeah you   think it's all just incidental at the very least  there is subconscious expression in these photos   a home life scene now Henry is about to go  out to work as he calls it and there's Karen   the kitchen servants she asks for money and  after getting some she gives Henry a [ __ ]   a hell of a way to establish the prostitution  elements of their relationship and she does this   in the kitchen along with all the cucumbers and  salamis and whatever else is in those cupboards   probably some bell peppers in there too you know  what if I was directing this I think I would have   got some salami on the desk in the front there  just uh as a little visual gag next we get the   incredible sequence that results in Billy batz's  murder I've already weighed a dedicated video on   that scene so I'll skip it all here except to  say that there is a big emphasis on who buys   drinks for who in this scene come on let's have  some drinks all right drinks on the house come on   let me have to drink with me no drinks around  the house yeah I drink tea or impending death   in the aftermath they stop off at Tommy's mother's  house and we're served up another food emphasis   scene they entered the house through the kitchen  and she serves them a late night Feast not just a   snack a god-darned meal Jimmy and Tommy are  munching away enthusiastically even though   they just slaughtered a guy which they quite  enjoyed it seems but Henry is eating very slowly you remind me of when we were I guess  the evening's Cuisine has been a little   hard to swallow a bit too spicy a bit  too filling and not so easy to digest   by the way there's plenty of fruit on  display here but they're not eating kit   maybe it's some of that fake ornament fruit that  people weirdly buy and display in their houses I   mean you don't get people putting a wax stake on  display at home do you or a plastic leg of lamb   Tommy borrows the butcher knife and finishes bats  off with it and here we get a very unusual piece   of sound editing and it's food related listen to  the sizzling noise as Henry talks about his fear   of being killed in retaliation for batter's  death before you could touch a mate guy you   had to have a good reason you had to have a  sit down and you better get in okay or you'd   be the one who got whacked foreign I think  that's the same sausage frying sound effect   that we hear when Henry begs poorly later for  forgiveness and help Oh I thought we [ __ ] up why put the sound of a sizzling frying pan  into the edit here we'll note the redness   from the tail lights giving a hellish look to  the scene and that red bleeds further into the   shot as the sizzling noise fades in you better  get in okay or you'd be the one who got whacked the estata campuses here is on heat and  food as they say if you can't stand the   heat get out of the kitchen hey folks time  for a brief Interruption of this video I'm   going to advertise some of my sale items here  I don't have any corporate sponsors I don't use   YouTube's advertising system so I make my income  from patreon and from selling digital downloads on   my site mainly the latter now at the moment um if  you go 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197   um video and audio and PDF products on  here and you know you can find specific   products a bit easier on here because of the  search search function so there's Wide Shut and we've got a bunch of eyes wide Shop videos  there yeah any specific film you want to know   about just type in the name and you'll  find whatever I've got listed for it okay   and now back to the Goodfellas video now Henry is  having an affair and it's restaurant dining again   then a visit to Paulie's house and a  funny meat reference in his dialogue   the guy who disappeared up the block from Christy  the one that made the beef on oh yeah incidental   yes but funny in the context of this video however  I will just add that food metaphors are very   frequent in our language some people won't have  the stomach for that kind of symbolic thinking or   those who have an appetite for psychology might  want to chew on the idea okay everybody let's   see another bar scene now Henry finds out that  they're going to have to dig up bats's composing   body and we get a few bite-sized morsels of the  cannibalism metaphor that I mentioned earlier my   mother's gonna make some red peppers and sausage  what do you like the leg of the wing Henry oh   you still got for your height talk about Ramen  the theme down your throat I also think it's   thematic that Henry who is less inclined toward  murder is the one who can't deal with the smell   but psycho Killers Jimmy and Tommy don't mind  the smell at all just like they were able to   eat just shortly after bats's murder but Henry had  trouble with it though Henry's girlfriend Janice   has a plush apartment more food and drink props  I hope it's not too tedious me pointing out all   these food and drink proper examples but think  about it a conscious effort has been made so get   these props into most of the film set pieces  and listen to what Tommy says about her dog and it looks like that line is dubbed in as an  afterthought note that the lip syncing completely   mismatches though the card playing scene where  Tommy shoots spider in the foot why does he shoot   him in the foot for being too slow at saving  the drinks and not graveling like a good little   well-behaved servant a stupid thing about that is  that now they're all gonna have to fetch their own   drinks anyway and then he shoots and kills him  in a following scene executing the help again   and then another scene very prominently featuring  the notion of humans as me to the slaughter Amos really fit each other to the lines down there  because the guy gave the money if we look at the   whole gangster thing anthropologically I suppose  gangsters could be equated with Lions ever noticed   how big Power institutions especially monarchies  tend to use predatory animals in their logos   and these days wannabe gangster types will have  dangerous dog breeds as pets both for protection   and because they personally identify with the  aggression of the animal Henry gets sentenced   for a prism term now and another bit of typical  food metaphor in his narration judge gave Jimmy   10 years like he was giving away candy years and  a federal penitentiary in his going to prison send   off its drinks all round of course and now we  get one of the film's biggest Savings of food   and drink metaphors in prison dinner was always a  big thing Paulie did the prep work he was doing a   year for contempt and he had this wonderful system  for doing the garlic needs to slice it so thin   that it used to liquefy in the pan with just a  little oil being the poorly is the boss on the   brains over nearly all the gangsters we see in the  film has careful precision and meal preparation   I think reflects his care and precision and how  he runs his mob operations he lightly chastises   the Lesser mobster about the ingredients good  sauce don't put too many onions in the sauce   I didn't put too much onions and then another  of his underlings pursues that chastisements   how many cans of tomatoes and isn't that how  hierarchical operations work the boss indirectly   guards his seconds in command to put others in  line rather than just do it himself all the time   a really big meter emphasis again and this  particular dialogue even brings up the predatory   meat eater element and its Association to  gangsters viewing themselves as a superior class they get fresh lobsters delivered and they have  a cooler full of meat and related to that Henry   brings up the common reference to lower class  people being perceived as inferior animals   I mean everybody else in the joint was doing  real time all mixed together living like pigs   farm animals bred for Slaughter and being lower  down the food chain is a common perception hence   subservient people get called Sheep and cattle  too but the pig's reference is a funny one pigs   are considered filthy greedy unsophisticated  but hey these Mobsters fit that mold as well   and you know the way animals sometimes take  their prized food and eat it privately and   don't want to share it with anyone and if you go  near them while they're eaten they will bite you   well here's Paulie sitting alone enjoying  a special drink from a bottle that has a   label taped on it with the word poles he  doesn't want to share this battle and he   doesn't trust his own Close Associates not  to drink from the bottle in his absence   there's your mob boss paranoia summed up and drink  fun Henry comes in with more food and drink and   the boss Paul he calls the orders as to when  they will eat again not the lack of vegetables   and fruit and they tie it it's all animal produce  and bread and alcohol even brings up the issue   of their diet but instead of saying to eat more  fruit and veg he says they should eat sandwiches at least I think he said sandwiches may have  said something else Henry also had some drugs   smuggled in with the food he'll build himself  a lucrative but short-lived career in drugs and   drugs will continue to be associated with food  and drink but for now we get another symbolic   taster Karen has been sneaking Food and Drugs  in during the visits and note that in the queue   to enter she has called forth for priority just  like Henry's mother would get served first for   groceries even if there was a cue but it's  not so appealing a context here though is it   and there's another common food reference in the  dialogue I'm afraid of Polly finds out did I just   say don't worry about him he is not helping  us out is he putting any food on the table   before we move on I'd like to mention that  a major difference between the Goodfellas   movie and the wise guy novel that it's based on is  that in the novel gangsters did their prison time   alongside corporate criminal types and they were  all physically kept apart from the lower Financial   class inmates in a completely different section  of the building that didn't even have walls well I   should say they lived in rooms that had walls but  there were no exterior walls around the premises   but people didn't bother trying to escape because  if they did then they were caught then they would   get put into the rough section of the prison  where they would likely be raped killed whatever   the open prison made it very easy for them to deal  drugs and carry on their business operations via   visitors they didn't have to get visited in a  room like this it's a fascinating change in the   narrative and maybe it was because the filmmakers  didn't want prison to be shown as too easy a riot   in the movie but whatever the reason the film  version presents the gangster easy ride in prison   as a quality of food issue instead they continue  to eat restaurant quality meals and the film   emphasizes this for several minutes because food  and drink isn't just an icing on the cake theme   it's a key psychological ingredients in gangster  mentality it's one of the central metaphors in   this film though Henry gets out of prison and we  get a panning shot of the cheap apartments his   wife and kids are living in the shot starts with  a view of their Tiny Kitchen and not much on the   table there by the way and look at what follows  visually they go to Paulie's and we cue music   and Food close up a big feast no by the way that  the kids are off on a tiny table of their own in   a separate room but that's a whole other kind  of worms in this movie attitudes to children the food and drink themes continue but  with a lesser emphasis for the next dozen   or so scenes now the hill family  have a plush new house with a wall   that opens up to reveal a selection  of quality booze that are backlit   and remember that tiny table apartment  well now they have a fancy big new one next up the planning of the Lufthansa Heist one of  the crew has a meat nickname Johnny Roast Beef had   to keep them all tied up and away from the alarms  he'll get slaughtered like an animal after the   heist the murder of stacks Edwards involves  a funny bit of banter about making coffee   come on make that coffee to go let's go don it's  a joke good job put the [ __ ] butt down here when   Mori gets killed it's done during a discussion  about where they're gonna eat and then Tommy talks   about chopping up his body with all the casualness  of a meat butcher oh we're going to dine over   there yeah they got everything chop them up call  me when you get through Frank let's chop them up   all right then Frankie Carbone is killed and hung  up in a meat truck of course that's one of the   film's major examples of a cannibalistic metaphor  regarding gangster attitudes to human life   by the way Carbone gets bullied a lot and ordered  about by Tommy and it raises a language pattern   common in our society pecking orders the idea  that those higher up get quicker access to food   and they get more of it food in relation to  hierarchical structures isn't limited to The   Goodfellas movie it's culturally infused and  is stared in the structures of other species   lots of Dinah scenes as we go forward a  major one is that Jimmy is particularly   enjoying his meal when he thinks Tommy  is being promoted to full mobster status   after Tommy's death food and drink themes  become very prominent again Henry's drug   dealing activities are blended with  his dinner preparation activities   Henry is also now clearly a Coke addict the real  Henry Hill was a lifelong Alcoholic by the way and   he was a heavy smoker which apparently contributed  to his death of a heart attack at age 69 guess he   should have scrapped the booze smoking and rich  food hi last here we get a shot of some vegetables   as an ingredient but Henry is preoccupied with the  meat I had to start braising the beef pork butt   and veal Shanks for the tomato sauce and I was  making Ziti with the meat gravy and I'm planning   to roll some peppers over the flames and he talks  about food and drug dealing in the same phone call like Paulie his criminal operations  are equated with his food preparations   the staring of drug and food preparation continues  see I had to drive over to Sandy's place mix the   stuff once and then get back to the Grave his  extra marital dish on the side throws a bag of   coke at him and we cut straight from the coke to  a close-up of pasta with some form of meat pulling   out to the larger Feast of the family have just  enjoyed and some arguing about not feeding the dog   stop feeding the dogs for the table from the plane  on top of it stop it that's a strange thing to put   in there isn't it and the daughter is defying  mother here I wonder why Henry gets arrested in   Food and Drug preparations have actually involved  kitchen utensils which the cops make fun of   what are we gonna make a cake [ __ ]  cake dude a few scenes later and Henry   is desperate to not be killed by the mob and  he needs money so he visits Paulie instead   of having poorly get over emotional and throw  a shouting tantrum which would be predictable   script writing his anger is presented more  in the form of sizzling sausages [ __ ] up not my kids I'm clean it looked in my eyes you  liked it it treated me like a [ __ ] jerk and   that frying noise plays throughout the scene Henry  then meets Jimmy and you guessed it one of their   favorite diners remember when Henry was having  trouble eating due to anxiety after Billy bats   was murdered well now both of them are anxious and  not eating he was jumpy he hadn't touched a thing   of something incidental I found funny here  is the hero sandwiches sign across the street   in fact that might not even be incidental  this is actually a vertigo shot where the   camera moves backward as it zooms  in causing the background to distort   and that gives the impression that the characters  are shrinking in relation to their environment   it's a great shot given the context but note that  the hero sandwiches sign is kept entirely in shot   if that's a fluke detail it's a lucky one  Henry now realizes Jimmy is going to have   him killed and he decides there and then  to become an informant and it's after this   momentary decision that he decides he does  want something to eat after all and after an   entire movie in which gangster Cuisine has  been almost totally centered around Italian   food pastas meat bread pizza and so on Henry  now orders an English muffin you know what um that that nationality of food Change was probably  incidental but the fact that he has decided to   eat here suggests that a weight has been lifted  from his mind because a key decision that will   save his life has just been made Paulie then gets  arrested and taken from the kitchen area that he   was last seen in with Henry and we finish with  Henry's monologue about his old life versus his   new one during which he Associates cocaine with  sugar restashed in the kitchen I had a sugar bowl   full of coke next to the bed and he sums up  the differences between the two Lifestyles as   being a difference between the quality of what he  eats and the food he speaks of is an Italian Dish   can't even get decent food right after I got  here I ordered some spaghetti with marinara   sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup  and if that doesn't convince you that   Cuisine is a central symbol in this movie  about gangster psychology then get stuffed   want to know more about the Deep symbolism of  classic movies then check out the full banquet   menu on my website collativelearning.com what  you get here on YouTube is mostly The Taste is   me I'm off to eat some healthy fruit and veg  after that delicious hog roast my mother has   just slaved over for my convenience I get to  live the rest of my life like a cake [Music]

Channel: Collative Learning

Views: 29,965

Keywords: rob ager goodfellas, colative learning goodfellas, goodfellas film analysis, goodfellas review, goofeallas retrospective, gangster psychology, goodfellas scene, goodfellas martin scorsese

Id: HA-lgBWTUlA

Length: 37min 19sec (2239 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 20 2022