"Good Guys" has had a huge and far-reaching impact on contemporary filmmakers. To this day, it is still one of the pinnacles of Hollywood genre filmmaking.
Author | Adrian Danx
Translated by | cardamom
Originally published in The Conversation, this article has been edited
It's hard to imagine Martin Scorsese's GoodFellas (1990) being 30 years old. As a film for everyone from Quentin Tarantino, Fernando Morales to David Bergeron. The contemporary filmmakers of David O. Russell and Paul Thomas Anderson have had a huge impact on their work. To this day, "Good Guys" still symbolizes one of the pinnacles of Hollywood genre filmmaking.
Figure | A classic clip from the movie "Good Guys"
From the story to the shooting, the meticulous attention to every detail embodied in the film has become a prominent symbol of "Good Guys" - majestic subjective follow-up, overlapping and sometimes improvised lines, powerful editing, breathtaking rock soundtracks, and profound insights into gang criminal life... "Good Guys" shows the ultimate in stylistic virtuosity.
The film chronicles the 25-year career of a young brother on the fringes of a gang. Influenced by films such as Truffaut's Jules et Jim (1962), Good Guys is brilliantly designed and executed, with bold mix-and-match in tone, style and emotion.
Figure | Robert De Niro plays Jimmy in the film
For example, who can forget the moving scenes of Henry (Ray Lyot), Jimmy (Robert De Niro), Tommy (Joe Casey) and her mother (played by Catherine Scorsese, director her own mother) – the boys visit Tommy's mother on the way to murder and they are about to kill the "mafia members" tied to the trunk of the car.
Figure | Clip from the movie "Good Guys"
Despite the obvious tension (the film is not for anyone with any anxiety disorder), the equal humor, affection, communication, wonderful performance, and slightly sweet tone of this scene are extremely impressive. Even when we hear Tommy mischievously ask his mother if he can borrow a long meat cutter, the charm of the scene is not broken—we seem to be in the same car as these characters, driving together to the end of the journey, sharing every moment with them.
Figure | Tommy in the movie "Good Guys"
A highly ritualized world
The film's choice of often flashy environment creates a strong sense of material reality and pleasure, helping us into a world that is largely masculine, chauvinistic. The world is defined by perishable depravity, hair-trigger violence, moral ambiguity and arbitrariness.
"Good Guys" creates a nuanced environment in which we both observe and are lured into it. As in many of Scorsese's films, we understand the story from the perspective of an outsider who is gradually guided into a highly ritualistic and symbolic world. Unlike many other era films, the world seems real, and as Scorsese points out, every frame is "full of action and detail."
In the process, an unstoppable sense of abundance pours in. Although creators such as editor Thelma Schoonmaker and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus are often mentioned separately for their contributions to the film, Kristi Zea's art designs really bring this "isolated" world to life.
For example, the cheesy, expensive, but just right home interior design is full of rich hints and immersive. From the moment the story begins — a harsh red taillight illuminates Henry's face , and he declares , " In my memory , I always wanted to be a mafia " — we are completely captivated.
Figure | Stills from the movie "Good Guys"
A match made in heaven for music and performance
Scorsese's films are often difficult to define and describe. They often start to show their advantage from a piece of music, an impromptu repetition of a particular song, or a quick transition from one song to another. This use of music provided these films with angular, sometimes slightly obtrusive, almost jazz-style rhythms and tones.
For example, in the final stages of the film, Karen 's (Lonan Breco)'s unusual, drug-filled frenzied days and Michael's moments of freedom are scored by musicians such as Harry Nilsson, Muddy Waters, and the Rolling Stones, all of which are wild and dazzling.
While the use of soundtrack compilations has become a cliché, Scorsese's choice of specific tracks and musical fragments is still very fresh. After Jimmy's killing spree, Derek & the Dominos' mournful and ever-charging Layla is accompanied by carefully choreographed images of corpses, a design that still takes people's breath away.
It is also due to the close connection between music and performance that it is difficult to imagine that a particular moment, gesture or action can be replaced by another piece of music.
Although it is a truly influential gangster movie, its combination of characters, action and sound is almost enough to be called a musical theater work.
An uneasy love letter
"Good Guys" is at the midpoint of Scorsese's career and is an important point in his return to peak status after creating some very different styles of work in the 80s. The film ushered in a remarkable period of productivity in the first half of the '90s, when keywords included The Age of Innocence (1993), his documentary A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995), and The Good Guy's "Good Guys" Demon Gemini", Casino (1995).
Figure | Movie "The Age of Innocence"
Figure | The movie Martin Scorsese's American Film Journey
Figure | Movie "Casino Storm"
In many ways, "Good Guys" is a troubling love letter to gangster cinema, filled with references to early works such as The Roaring Twenties (1939), which were beloved and had a profound influence on the genre.
Following the twists and turns of traditional narrative patterns and modelled on screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi's nonfiction "Wise Guy," Good Guys may have been the hallmark of Scorsese's career. It also has a dangerous allure.
Figure | Stills from the movie "Blood of the Bootleg"
In Casino, we see many of the same metaphors, with some familiar actors, but it's so informative that it's exhausting—the world of crime has little fun left.
In Good Guys, when Tommy, played by Percy, is last seen in front of the camera and shot directly at the camera, and Sid Vicious's version of "My Way" is played as the soundtrack, it's clear that you know which movie world you want to be in more.
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