...But You'll Never Be Free.
Thus ever it will be that May 11th is Goodfellas Day.
In real life, mobster Henry Hill's worst day happened in April, but for the purposes of the epic movie Goodfellas they moved up the date stamp to May 11th, 1980.
The sequence of Henry Hill driving about town on errands, high on drugs, paranoid about a helicopter tailing him, intermixed with songs of the era that echo his mindset - including an incredible use of Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire" - is considered one of most expertly edited sequences in film history. That this movie failed to win Best Director for Martin Scorsese or Best Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker (Thelma critiqued her own work noting various continuity flaws may have hurt her chances) remains a glaring oversight with an Academy that often fails to see greatness in the moment (I'm still livid with the Oscars overlooking TRON for Best Visual Effects. TWICE).
Still, back to the movie, which was a darker historical take on the downfall of the America Mafia from the 60s to the 70s, in which Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta in an also-snubbed epic performance) narrates the moments of violence, greed, and self-immolation that doomed himself, his family, and his gangster friends.
Goodfellas is a time capsule of sorts, a shadow history of Americana during a transition of great upheaval, and the bittersweet sense that something was lost - even something as violent as what the Mafia represented - as we moved into the modern day.
One of the things I'm into as a librarian/amateur historian/amateur literary buff is the archetypes and tropes that define our understanding of the world. Have you ever heard of The Matter of Britain (Arthurian mythos), or The Matter of France (Age of Charlemagne) or the Matter of Italy (Roman Republic/Empire)? "Matter" equaling Legends, the cultural baseline that defines each of those cultures' expectations and shared archetypes that unify a nation?
I often wonder what would be the defining Matter of America, and I'm torn between the historical events of the Civil War - the struggle between freedom and slavery - or the Wild West - the settling of a frontier symbolized by the street wars such as the Gunfight at the OK Corral - or the rise and fall of the Mafia - tied to our immigration, capitalist ideals, and urban lifestyles.
If the Matter of America is indeed the Gangster narrative, then Goodfellas takes a serious spot in our national identity (alongside The Godfather and the 1930s Gangster films that codified the "rise and fall" cycle).
Now go get your shinebox.
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