George Parkin.: November 2014

Listening Task Two.

Film: Goodfellas (styled as GoodFellas)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Music: ambiguous (discussed below)
Release: 1990

Goodfellas is an American crime film and gangster epic directed by Martin Scorsese. It is an adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese. The film follows the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associate Henry Hill and his friends over a period from 1955 to 1980. The particular clip I have chosen to analyse surrounds mobster Henry Hill and his girlfriend Karen as they arrive at the Copacabana nightclub and make their way inside for an evening of entertainment.

Goodfellas is often considered one of the greatest films of all time, both in the crime genre and in general. Furthermore, the Copacabana steadicam shot stands out as one of the most famous, complex and memorable shots in the film. Scorsese is often praised for perfecting the long take that continuously flows through the kitchen of the Copacabana Club, without a single cut. His impressive command of multiple actors and attention to detail are often singled out for mention, but rarely spoken about is the use of music chosen to play during the shot. One song plays almost continuously through the three minute long clip; "Then He Kissed Me", written and produced by Phil Spector, the song was first released in 1963 by girl-group The Crystals.

The use of "Then He Kissed Me" as the pivotal song accompaniment to the steadicam shot is of almost unparalleled significance. The song its begin with the strumming of an acoustic guitar the moment Henry Hill hands over his keys to the valet across the street. The tempo and pitch remain similar as the character cross the street but the song itself without becoming louder or increasing in pace somehow opens itself up, steadily more instruments are introduced including an electric guitar, maraca's and percussion instrumentals specifically the tambourine. Throughout the extended walk around the kitchen the song and music remains steady, it doesn't intrude into the audible dialogue and really works to frame the shot as piece of historical significance, rather than just another throw-away piece of film. You see, in order to really understand the reasoning behind this piece of music you have to not only pay attention to the films narrative which is essentially told through the use of song at this point in the movie, but also historical context and personal decisions made by Scorsese.

Goodfellas (Soundtrack)

Director Martin Scorsese chose the song for Goodfellas only if they commented on the scene or the characters "in an oblique way". The only rule he adhered to with the soundtrack was to only use music which could have been heard at that time, I will talk about how this relates to the historical context of the film later. But firstly I want to talk about the way Scorsese's choice of music comments on the characters, their emotions and their state of mind. An overt example is the use of the song "Life Is But a Dream" by the Harptones. This is heard playing during Henry and Karen's wedding and it is indicative of her mood, for her life is a dream. She is marrying a wealthy, charismatic, well-connected man who seems like the perfect gentlemen, these are the good times in their lives. The men during the wedding scene are riding high, the proceeds from organised crime has allowed them to live a life they only could of dreamed of growing up. While Karen wears white, she is unspoiled, unadulterated and ultimately naive. She is willing to look the other way when it comes to Henry's nefarious dealings if he remains her affluent and luxurious lifestyle. She is willing to do this because she is yet to see what the reality of being a mob wife involves, she is yet to dirty herself.

In a way the entire scene plays like a dream sequence, like something straight out of a fairy tale. The dancing and the way Karen is so overwhelmed when she is introduced to Paulie's sons and nephews. There even moments when she spins around in slow-motion which are we know alters our sense perceptions and sense of reality. She is dizzy, she is drunk, she is a princess. The way Henry's mob associates queue up to hand over money to Henry as a gift shows his connections, and the way the pair sit on thrones on the highest table at the reception elicits a response from the audience. Henry's influence and power could be described as having peaked, its not necessarily all downhill from onward but we the viewer recognise that it cannot last forever. But the fleeing moment in history that Henry describes in another scene as a "glorious time" is encouraged by the filmmakers. We are encouraged not to think about the future, we want to believe it can all last forever and this is best summed up by a line from another Scorsese movie, 1983's The King of Comedy: "Better to be king for a night, than a schmuck for a lifetime."

Although Scorsese continues to give the audience insights into the characters thoughts and feelings overtly through his choice of music - as I demonstrated above - he also influences the audience in a covert manner. The events of June 11 1970 at the lounge-restaurant The Suite in Queens, New York is a perfect example of a subtle song choice that foreshadows what is to come. Tommy DeVito played Joe Pesci gets into a tense confrontation with Billy Batts played by Frank Vincent, a made man in the Gambino Crime Family. Later, when Pesci returns to settle the dispute with Batts the song Atlantis by Donovan is playing, this is interesting as the lyrics are significant to what happens next. Tommy and Jimmy Conway played by Robert De Niro brutally kick, beat and stomp a highly intoxicated Batts until he is unconscious, Tommy also attempts to shoot him with a pistol. The song Atlantis includes lyrics like "way down below the ocean" this is likely a subtle reference to the 1972 gangster epic The Godfather which was directed by Scorsese's friend and colleague Francis Ford Coppola and heavily influenced Scorsese's later films including this one.

In The Godfather there is a particularly famous scene where Sonny (James Caan) and Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) receive a delivery, it is a soaking wet bullet-proof vest, wrapped up inside the vest are several fish, it is explained that this is an old Sicilian message meaning, Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes. Brasi, who was Don Corleone's top enforcer, was murdered before this scene; his hand stabbed, thus pinning it to the bar and subsequently garroted to death. The assumption to be made from the nature of the message is that Brasi's corpse was thrown into a body of water, likely the Hudson River as the film takes place in New York but also because the disposable of bodies at sea is characteristic of organised crime specifically the Mafia. Interestingly, there is a physical resembalance between Lenny Montana who plays Brasi (a though mob enforcer) and Vincent who plays Batts (a vicious, obnoxious gangster and racketeer). But more importantly the two suffer a similar fate, brutally murdered and their corpses disposed of. Batts himself wasn't dumped in the river or disposed of at sea, rather he was finished off in the trunk of Henry's car - a combination of stabbing and shooting - before being buried in upstate New York. Although Batts doesn't end up sleeping with the fishes in a literal sense, he does so in a metaphorical sense. The combination of the song Atlantis (itself a fictional island surrounded by water) along with the nod to The Godfather and the similarities between the characters it seems too great and too many a coincidence to ignore. Ultimately the characters of Brasi and Batts run parallel in both films, the pair are killed unlawfully in a mob world, and the Corleone's and Gambino's respectively take revenge on the perpetrators of the murders. In the case Goodfellas it is Tommy who is murdered as "revenge for Billy Batts and a lot of other things." While in The Godfather Virgil Sollozzo is shot dead by Michael Corleone. Again the murder was revenge not just for Brasi, but a lot of other things such as orchestrating an unsuccessful hit on Michael's father Don Vito.

Interestingly as a side note, while I theorize that Billy Batt's death was foreshadowed by the use of music that hearkens back to the murder of Luca Brasi, an event that took place in a film made some 18 year earlier. I also should mention that Brasi's death, the event that symbolises Batt's death was also foreshadowed: when Brasi enters the establishment in which his life will end, on the windows, which he passes by there are fish patterns created by stenciling on the glass, they are painted gold and are clearly there as a result of a conscious artistic decision made by director Francis Ford Coppola.

"Rages to Riches" performed by Tony Bennett is another overt example of choosing a song to aid the narrative and elicit certain responses from the audience; in this case Henry quite literally goes from rags (son of an electrician, working-class blue-collar family) to riches ("at thirteen, I was making more money than most of the grownups in the neighborhood. I had more money than I could spend. I had it all.")
The Rolling Stones music specifically "Gimme Shelter" is a Scorsese trademark used in many of his films. The use of "Gimme Shelter" and music by the Rolling Stones in general comes to symbolize drug use and its depredations such as paranoia, insomnia and mania. "Gimme Shelter" plays in Goodfellas when Henry is cutting cocaine at Sandy's apartment and is used to introduce Jimmy and Tommy when while waiting to check in with their parole officer talk with Henry about his Pittsburgh connection and take a look at his stash of crash which he carries with him in a bag. "Monkey Man" also by the Rolling Stones is played when Lois, Henry's babysitter and drug mule is introduced and again when Henry is mixing cocaine at Sandy's place. "Monkey Man" is also heard during Henry's last day as a wiseguy. The song can be heard during the frantic driving scenes and specifically when he and Karen hide the guns Henry had in his trunk at Karen's mother's house.
"Memo from Turner" by Mick Jagger, the lead vocalist and founding member of the Rollings Stones is also played when Henry leaves Jimmy's house with the unwanted guns, on his way to meet with his Pittsburgh connection. This is significant as it is another example of music by or related the Rolling Stones to ground the central theme of drug use and it's consequences. The idea that music by the Rolling Stones was selected to fulfill this role is doubly significant as members of the band such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were habitual users of a wide range of narcotics, this was publicly known and celebrated as they were seen as the archetypal rockers.

Goodfellas (Historical Context)

Goodfellas is essentially a historical period film. It is set between 1955 and 1980 as the tagline suggests: "Three Decades of Life in the Mafia." - the book Wiseguy on which the film was based wasn't published until 1986 and the film itself was released four years later in 1990. The result of this mean't period sets needed to be constructed, cars from that era procured not to mention costumes, hairstyles, and period cultural references in the script. As I mentioned before Scorsese was keen to only music that the characters onscreen could of hear, so for example if a scene took place in 1973 he could use a song that was current or older. This helps ground the film, thus reinforcing the sense of time and place. A number of songs that Scorsese selected to play in Goodfellas can certainly be said to comment on the time period and provide wider historical context for the audience, a good example of this is the music by New York crooners. I have already mentioned the significance of Tony Bennett's music "Rags to Riches", other interesting musical contributions come from the likes of Bobby Darin and Jerry Vale.

Darin and Vale were both born in the Bronx in the 1930s and grew up in New York at a time when it was dominated by the Mafia - the result of this is the inclusion of music that mobsters themselves would of heard on Mulberry Street by musicians who themselves would of associated with gangsters who lived in their neighborhoods, Frank Sinatra whose famous song "My Way" is included over the end credits (albeit covered by Sex Pistols frontman and punk legend Sid Vicious) this is notable because perhaps even more than Darin or Vale, Sinatra was intricately connected with Mafia.

Throughout his career Sinatra was dogged by alleged personal and professional links to organised crime. Figures such as Carlo Gambino, Sam Giancana, Lucky Luciano and Joseph Fischetti were just a few of the professional criminals who garnered considerable attention when they were seeing cavorting with ol' blue eyes. In fact, it could be argued the mob helped launch Sinatra's career; Joseph's brother Charles, a notorious Chicago gangster who worked for the Capone Outfit arranged work for Sinatra. Together the two brothers ran the Fontainebleau Hotel complex in Miami, Florida and Sinatra performed there. Through Charles he was introduced to the father of modern organised crime, Lucky Luciano in Cuba. Afterward, Sinatra performed at Lucky's Christmas party and visited him after his deportation to Italy at least twice. To give you an impression of how potent the idea that Sinatra was "mobbed-up" became, when Mario Puzo came to write The Godfather he created the character Johnny Fontane, portrayed as a man whose career was aided by links to organised crime and is widely believed to be based on Sinatra. The singer was supposedly furious with Puzo for creating the character. But ultimately this is not unusual he was born in 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey shortly before the mob would go through something of a renaissance aided by prohibition. The gangs would grow larger, more powerful and become better organised eventually being run like a corporation at the same time a young Sinatra was trying to make it in the world of entertainment. Also featured on the Goodfellas soundtrack "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" which plays during the mob life montage and when Henry narrates - it is sung by Dean Martin who had links to Sinatra throughout his life. The Rat Pack was the name used by the press and the general public to refer to a group of entertainers, featuring Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop; who appeared together on stage and in films during the 1960s.

This sense of historical context that is given by the choice of music is quite profound, every detail has been considered and the fact Scorsese selected specific artists who were either aided by mobster or more importantly listened to and admired by mobsters aids the narrative (helping the story flow/maintain pace) and reinforces a sense of time and place, all key characteristics when it comes to a successful film production.

When it comes to examining the artists whose music was selected for use in Goodfellas it is important recognise that Scorsese didn't just choose artists because they helped ground the film in its specific era, there is of course the matter of him personally liking their music, as evidenced by his repeated use of music by the Rolling Stones. Sinatra also relates to this closely as Scorsese has a long history involving the famous singer, having tried for many decades to produce a long awaited biopic about his life and music. In addition to that star of Goodfellas Ray Liotta actually went onto play Sinatra in the 1998 HBO TV movie The Rat Pack. Moreover, a few years after Goodfellas Scorsese directed another gangster movie, Casino released in 1995. The film focuses on the mob infiltration of Las Vegas during the 1970s and 80s. Because the Rat Pack and other stars of that era had a reputation for headlining Las Vegas shows not only did Scorsese include a lot of their music but he also gave people from that era roles in the picture, either playing character or cameoing as themselves. The best example of this phenomena is Don Rickles the famous insult comic who was supported by Sinatra in his early years which enabled him to become a popular headline performer on the Vegas strip, in the film he has a prominent role playing Billy Sherbert, a casino manager. Other examples include Frankie Avalon, Steve Allen and Jayne Meadows all appearing as themselves.

A final note on Scorsese, Goodfellas and music.

The reason I listed the composer as ambiguous is because no one person is responsible for Goodfellas unique sound, in fact nobody composed musical score from original music rather the films soundtrack was brought about through an intense and scrupulous process of selecting the right songs. According to Scorsese, a lot of non-dialogue scenes were shot to playback. For example, he had "Layla (Piano Exit)" by Derek and the Dominos playing on set while shooting the scene where the dead bodies are discovered in the car and the meat truck. Sometimes, lyrics of songs were put between lines of dialogue to comment on the action, in fact sometimes the song lyrics give nothing away but nevertheless the choice of music provides something of a window into the minds of the characters we are watching. A prime example of this is when "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream is played during a scene where Jimmy contemplates killing Morrie and other members of his crew. Some of the songs Scorsese had written into the script, others he discovered during the editing phase and found they fitted the film perfectly, better in some cases than songs he had in mind originally.

"Music and film are almost one and the same. There's the rhythm, the pace of music - and the equivalent of that in film is the camera movement, how long you hold a shot on screen before you cut, if you don't cut, the look on a person's face. For me, actually, the editing process is really like creating a musical piece. Even if there is no music in the film - I think the shots themselves have a rhythm and pace. Most of the shots I design and most of the way I approach any scene comes from music. I usually put myself in a room or a couple of rooms for about eight or nine days with music and design a picture on the page. That changes, of course, when you get to location to a certain extent. But basically the philosophy of the shots comes from listening to music - all kinds of music. In [the] Aviator, it certainly was jazz music and swing music of the Twenties, Thirties and Forties, but also Bach and Beethoven. Actually, originally we wanted to use the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh, but it's been used so much. But it had the right feeling." - Martin Scorsese.

An Afterword on the song "Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals.

When it comes to the narrative of the song itself I have mentioned very little. The story line of the song if you will follows a young woman's encounter, romance, and eventual marriage with a fellow youth. This is interesting because I have commented extensively on this piece regarding Henry and Karen's marriage and the song "Life is But a Dream" that is played during their fairytale wedding. The up beat tone that is found in "Then He Kissed Me" is appropriate seeing as Henry and Karen have just embarked on their whirlwind romance, she is in awe of Henry and in the prime of her life. Karen is clearly impressed by Henry's lifestyle, the way he drives his car right up to the front of the club, how he bypasses the long queue, and secured a prime, front-row table that is hastily erected seemingly out of nowhere especially for their evening, despite the fact many others having been waiting patiently for some time. Karen like during the wedding scene is naive, wide-eyed and overwhelmed especially by Henry's endless cash flow as he greases many a palm on their way into the club. His familiarity with everyone, his innumerable friends (one group sends over champagne) is similar to when Paulie introduces her to all of his relatives. Eventually she asks him with a air of suspicion "what do you do?" in a slick swaggering style he replies "I'm in construction."

The way this scene unfolds is almost identical to the narrative of the song "Then He Kissed Me" and this is what I was talking about at the beginning when I said dialogue has been suspended and the song is essentially telling the story at this point, almost single-handedly fueling the narrative. Without this particular song the pair are simply walking through a kitchen aimlessly, the song in and of itself successfully frames an entire three minute sequence. It should be noted just how remarkable this is.

Interestingly, at this point in the film when Karen is barely Henry's girlfriend you can tell how eager he is to impress her, he pulls out all the stops and after their disastrous first date (and subsequently standing her up) he is determined to make a good impression, she if only for a brief fleeting second has his undivided attention. Later Henry begins a long-term affair, his mistress is named Janice and the nature of their relationship as well as Henry's general behavior at the time appears as something of a banality. During the narration Henry describes how he juggles multiple women; "Saturday night was for wives, but Friday night at the Copa was always for the girlfriends," it's almost as if there is a mutual understanding between him and Karen, at least for the time being, Henry is able to hide in plain sight. The nature of his relationship with women is explored through song in this scene particularly. "Pretend You Don't See Her" by Jerry Vale is performed on stage for Henry, Tommy and their mistresses the song lyrics are very telling: "pretend you don't love her" is something Henry has to do, it seems his relationship with Janice is somewhat tolerable for Karen as long as it remains physical and he in fact truly loves her, and the idea of pretending not to see her as the title and lyrics suggest applies to Karen, she is aware of what her husband is doing, she knows what kind of man she married and even if she doesn't know specifics she knows how the other mobsters treat their wives and why should Henry be any different? Therefore Karen must carry on as if Janice doesn't exist, she can never talk about it and it must never be brought up despite it being something of an open secret. Henry's narration once again provides clarity; "I set Janice in an apartment around the corner from The Suite. That way I was able to stay over a couple of nights a week. Karen was home with the kids and she never asked questions anyway."

Another song that contrasts sharply with "Then He Kissed Me" is "Wives and Lovers" by Jack Jones. This song is played later in the film after Henry has been released from prison and broken off his relationship with Janice (although he soon takes up with a new mistress, Janice's friend Sandy). The song plays specifically when Karen is showing of their new house and furniture to Morrie's wife Belle. The song continues playing when Morrie quietly pitches the Lufthansa Heist to Henry when they are alone. It is fair to be suspicion of such a song when you carefully take note of the lyrics; afterall given how fragile Henry and Karen's relationship is it would be unusual if this song wasn't selected for how it neatly comments on the characters romantic status. The song itself acts as a piece of advice for married women. Encouraging them to stay attractive and attentive to their husbands, ("wives should always be lovers too") to avoid their husbands straying with "girls at the office"

"Day after day there are girls at the office

And men will always be men

Don't send him off with your hair still in curlers

You may not see him again"

The songs theme of martial infidelity is not only applicable to Henry and Karen but seems to directly relate the misogynistic mob world in which Karen inhabits. In fact, the song becomes something of an apologist for unfaithful men, it clearly promotes the idea that a wife must stay attractive and entertain her man or he is bound to lose interest, in which case him sleeping around is not only understandable but ultimately justified, at least according to the song. The situation that the song depicts accurately reflects Karen's life, she is trapped in a world where it is acceptable for men to have affairs and keep mistresses and she is being judged by society as being responsible for this. What really to be appreciated at this point is the contrast between the two Karens. The wide-eyed naive Karen who was bowled over by Henry and his bravado at the beginning of the film to the women she has become now, deeply cynical, mistrusting and ultimately resigned.

This is a clear example of Scorsese using different songs and types of music to chart not only a characters life in terms of time pasted but also there emotional and mental progression or perhaps regression. Scorsese has created a soundtrack that is able to comment on all of these things because of his astute taste in music. Only a profoundly important filmmaker could bring the audience to ask such deep and meaningful questions simply because of a song. Such as, did she bring it upon herself? Didn't she know who she was marrying? What does the future hold? Was she happen then, is she happen now? Was she simply blind-sighted in the beginning? All of these questions are valid and are the product of song choice.

Film: The Graduate

Director: Mike Nichols

Music: Dave Grusin

Release: 1967

George Parkin.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Tuesday 11 November 2014

First Assignment, talking head - video essay The Shining (1980)

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Narrative Theory, film language - analysis (ending) The Shining (1980)

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Narrative Theory, film language - analysis (beginning) The Shining (1980)

Sound/Music, film language - analysis: Goodfellas (1990), The Graduate (1967), Smokey and the Bandit (1977) & Toy Story 2 (1999)

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