Film Studies Essays Goodfellas

Film Studies Essays Goodfellas Critical analysis of American crime film Goodfellas. Focusing on the attitudes towards criminality and law suggested in this film. American cinema seems to have always had a preoccupation with crime and criminals, which is a testament not just to the proliferation of the crime genre, but to the quality of its luminaries.   Of course it helps that James Cagney and the gangster flicks of the thirties and forties were drawing in crowds at the same time as one of America’s greatest crime writers, Raymond Chandler, was creating private eye masterpieces such as The Big Sleep, and adapting other works such as Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) for the screen.   One of the largest audience drawing genre types of the forties behind melodrama and musical, it’s not hard to see how Bogart Bacall, Chandler, Wilder, Cagney, Spillane and Aldrich could go on to influence both mainstream an alternative cinema for over half a century. Of course this is not to diminish the overseas influence on the crime genre (and of course its many sub-genres), and in particular of Godard and Truffaut and Melville’s French new wave, the nouvelle vague, and its flagship text A Bout De Souffle (Godard, 1960), whose acknowledgement of cinematic technique tied up in the very act of telling a cinematic tall tale can be seen as a direct precursor to Tarantino’s post-modern technique of actively referencing other films in his own work (see the glowing briefcase in Pulp Fiction [1994] which references the uranium filled briefcase in Kiss Me, Deadly [Aldrich, 1955]). So we can see that cinema has had an active preoccupation with criminality for the best part of seventy years.   Whilst film noir and the gangster films of the thirties tend to focus on the structure of good versus bad and the devolution of the good, Tarantino’s earlier works fuse together conventional cinematic notions of crime and criminality with the comic-realistic spanner-in-the-works of occupational mishaps (e.g. killing of a victim and the ensuing difficulty in covering up the mess, or a consideration of how long it actually takes an abdominal gun-shot wound to kill a man).   In this essay I shall be considering how Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) presents ideas of crime and its relation to violence. One of the few Scorsese films post-Raging Bull (1980) to receive much critical acclaim (along with most recent outing The Aviator, 2004), Goodfellas maintains the ambivalent attitude toward violence that we can also see in Raging Bull and Taxi Driver (1976), although it is a far less visually brutal film.   Instead the brutality comes through the constant underlying pressure of impending violence, which exists throughout like a drum track pounding out the rhythm in every scene.   Similar also to these two other films, and to Mean Streets, there is a tension that exists is his work between the repellent nature of his characters’ violent outbursts, and our sympathy with, for instance, Travis’ loneliness and isolation, Jake’s feelings of betrayal and the cultural limitations laid upon his masculinity, or Henry’s drive for success and his relative restraint compared to his associates.   Steve Neale and Murray Smith state that: â€Å"This ambivalent attitude to its protagonist is what makes Taxi Driver a great film. It is a film fuelled by the tension of sympathising with Travis’ loneliness while being repelled by his violent, anti-social behaviour. This is echoed in the tension between the reality of the street scenes and the lavish and seductive cinematography (by Michael Chapman) and music (by Bernard Herrmann).† There is a similar relationship between the visual and aural aesthetics in Goodfellas and the constant simmering presence of violence.   Far more than these previous dealings with violence, crime and masculinity, Goodfellas is a visually pleasing film, all bright colours and smooth camera work, and even the scenes of violence are not nearly as vividly potent as Travis’ shoot-out in the finale to Taxi Driver.   Whereas in Mean Streets the aural gleefulness of the soul soundtrack was tempered and contrasted by the verite starkness and of its imagery (the proliferation of hand-held camera work, the red-light tainted nightclub scene, the natural light in Harvey Keitel’s apartment), in Goodfellas the up-tempo soundtrack is accompanied by a camera which prowls smoothly on cranes and dollies, and lighting which brings out the colours of his characters’ expensive and brash clothing and houses.   More than his earlier works, the aesthetic of Goodfellas is typically cinematic – there is none of the gritty, subversive, nouveau vague inspired imagery. The relevance of this is in Scorsese’s sympathetic response to Henry’s preoccupation with the trappings of power and prestige that his violent ways have afforded him.   Even at the climax of the film, when Henry is released into the safe anonymity of the witness protection programme, and surrounded by suburban comfort, he can’t help but miss the privileges and excitement of ‘the life’.   When Henry asks Karen to hide his gun for him, having witnessed him viciously beat a young man who came on too strong, she was not repelled by his violent masculinity, but admits that â€Å"it turned me on†.   In a film of such explosive violence and derogatory machismo, perhaps the most shocking violent outburst comes in the first act when the young Henry is struck by his father for skipping school.   What is most shocking is the casual manner in which Henry as narrator recalls this domestic abuse – he recalls he had to â€Å"take a few beatin gs†, but in the long run he stills feels it was well worth it.   Henry, like Karen, is intoxicated by the power, money and lavish material gains that ‘the life’ can afford him and his family.   The constant presence of violence made erratic by ego, and the need to carry out vile deeds such as burying a foul smelling corpse, or to go through violent domestic abuse, are merely the downsides of the job – like back pain to a construction worker, or knee damage to a sportsman, and it is this tension, this acceptance of violence as an everyday occurrence, which Scorsese explores.   Like Henry, who is more sensitive than Tommy and Jimmy, the audience experience the pleasurable excesses and comforts alongside the brutal and repellent nature of the work, and neither is solely celebrated or derided in isolation.   Neale and Smith state: â€Å"Scorsese [does not want] to completely distance himself from Travis in order to make an explicitly polemical film against vigilantism and everything else unpleasant about the character. This is the type of film perhaps Robert Altman or Stanley Kubrick would have made. But Scorsese rarely wants this kind of distance from his characters, and his films contain a dynamism few others achieve because of this.† The film is famous for the manner in which its violence explodes out of seemingly innocuous situations, and we can see this reflected in the way Tommy lashes out at the poor young waiter who can’t keep a tight enough hold on his mouth, shooting him in the foot and then later killing him.   In this instance, it is the unavoidable flaws in the characteristics of these men that escalate into bloody violence, and this is a theme which is continued throughout – more often that not, it is the characters inability to avoid their own greed or their own machismo which leads to their downfall.   The young waiter thinks Tommy is too big for his boots, and can’t help but keep adding a little smart line under his breath, even though he knows he is pushing it with a dangerous man.   In the same way as Tommy, he refuses to let someone steal whatever level of dominance and respect he may have, however little, even if it increases the threat of injury, or even death.   Li kewise Tommy’s downfall comes in his inability to get comfortable in his station, to tone down his tough-little-guy, bull-in-a-china-shop persona, until he finally realises his mistake with a quiet â€Å"Oh no† as he heads off not to become a made-man, but to be shot in the head.   It is this terminal ambition, this tendency to always want more – more power, more money, more cocaine, more respect – which instigates the violence.   So then we can see not just in Goodfellas but throughout Scorsese’s work, there exists tempered a consideration of the repellent nature of violent crime tangled up in a close study of character, and the forces that drive these criminals to their acts of criminality.   For all its set pieces and murders, the most memorable aspect of Goodfellas is the way in which the flaws in these characters personalities and the overtly masculine posturing nature of their world always instigate and escalate the violence, and ultimately bring about their own downfall – Tommy’s slaying of a made man is brought on by the man’s big mouth and his desire to have the last word, as well as Tommy’s indignation at someone trying to confirm his seniority over him.   Like many of the scenes in the film, it starts off banal and escalates through both characters’ inability to calm the situation until one of them is dead.   At the heart of this is Tommy’s diss atisfaction with his status – he has some respect, but he wants more.   Likewise Jimmy has some power and a big share of their Lufthansa cash, but he wants more.   Henry and Karen want more cocaine, more time, a more casual lifestyle.   Scorsese seems to be suggesting that crime does pay, just not enough. BIBLIOGRAPHY: John Belton, American Cinema/American Culture, McGraw/Hill, 1994 John Belton, Movies and Mass Culture, Athlone Press, 1996 Steven Cohan and Ina Rae Hark, Screening The Male, Routledge, 1993 Steve Neale and Murray Smith, Contemporary Hollywood Cinema, Routledge, 1998 Robert Warshow, The gangster as tragic hero in The Immediate Experience, Harvard Press, 1962 Robin Wood, Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan, Columbia, 1986 Justin Wyatt, High Concept, University of Texas, 1994

The Radical Period of The French Revolution Essay -- European Europe H

The Radical Period of The French Revolution By the end of 1971, Europe was preparing to witness the end of a seemingly triumphant revolution in France. The country was restructuring its government in a forceful and bloodless manner, while the tyrant King Louis the XVI agreed to the demands of the masses (albeit without much choice). However, due to the fanatical aspirations of men such as Danton, Marat and Robespierre,it would be only a matter of months before the moderate stage of social and political reform was transformed into a radical phase of barbaric and violent force. In their quest for freedom, equality and fraternity, the leaders of the Jacobins inadvertently turned the revolution into an oligarchic dictatorship that threatened to destroy all that was achieved in the previous two years of insurrection. The revolution took a sharp turn on August 9th, 1792. The Municipal government was overthrown in Paris and a Commune was established by the leaders of the radical forces. During this time there were continual food riots erupting in every area of the country and, with the threat of war against Austria and Prussia looming, it was vital that order was to be maintained during such tumultuous times. Although the constitution was already enshrined and the citizens had their freedom and liberties, there was still plenty of public dissent and disapproval as to whether or not these laws would help create a new government and prevent the country from breaking apart. The people had come this far and were not prepared to watch their efforts lead to failure or the restoration of an absolute monarch. As a result, the radical forces were able to gain the support of the citizens in declaring that the ... ...) who allegedly opposed the will of the Jacobins, and therefore opposed the will of the republic. Robespierre never intended to justify his ends through such violent means. 1793 marked a year that could have been prevented, a period that should never have befallen the liberated citizens of France. Mirabeau warned that the destruction of the Monarchy would plunge the country into anarchy and his words rang true. France was not prepared for such social and political upheaval, and the resulting shift towards a republic would change the country forever. The Jacobins discarded their holy bible, the constitution, in order to ensure the security and stability of the country. Not only did their hasty actions backfire, but the tens of thousands of lives that perished during their reign symbolized the radical stage of the revolution in all its bloody glory.

About the first day of school Essay

As the arctic cold rain drops sprinkled diagonally with my loose, flowing auburn hair, I splashed across the street to the bus stop. Although it was showery and very damp, I was happy about my upcoming day, the clouds were fluffy and dark grey, and there was a wonderful scent in the air, which perfumed of the spring morning. Just as I strode across the street, the mustard tinted bus, filled with immature, junior high students pulled up beside me. I wasn’t thrilled to be riding the bus, but it was either step onto the yellow, nightmare filled vehicle, or walk in the rain, so I quickly chose the bus. I selected a seat in the center of the bus, next to a small built looking girl in a purple sweater, plastic rimmed glasses, and navy jeans. The youngster had brunette short hair, and tiny diamond studded earrings shinning in her ears. See more:  Social Satire in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Essay She smiled at me, looking at me in a way a puppy dog would. I could tell she wanted me to talk with her, but I had no intentions in making friends with a childish schoolgirl who probably could have been about age thirteen. â€Å"Hi, I am Dominique† she said in a hyperactive way. â€Å"I am so happy that you sat with me; what is your name?† I pretended to care, not wanting to be rude to the young girl I responded, â€Å"I am Megan, and truthfully I only sat with you because all of the other seats were filled.† I did however find it interesting that this bizarre looking child was so frenzied in this time of the morning. â€Å"My favorite animal is the dog, do you like dogs† she asked in a begging way, â€Å"I have three dogs. They are all German shepherds; those are my favorite kind of dogs.† As she spoke, I could smell her breathe, it smelling of uncleanness, and was filled with the stench of lucky charms and reeked of what I thought odored like toilet water. I was this time that I was thinking about her atrocious  breathe, that I noticed around her neck, she wore a silver chain, and it had a charm of what appeared to be some kind of canine. Not wanting to continue a conversation, I said; â€Å"No, I am not found of dogs.† This of course was a lie. At this point in our conversation, she got a horrible look, that reminded me of when I once ate a sour lemon. â€Å"What? How could you not like dogs?† she yelped loudly, people turned in embarrassment for her. All of a sudden, the young girl started barking very piercingly. It was an awful yowl that echoed through each ear. I couldn’t believe that this girl, who seemed sane, was barking at me because I didn’t like dogs. Barking is a perfectly natural canine behavior. Birds sing; frogs croak; and a dog barks, whines and howls. This was the first time seeing a girl bark. Not sure what to do, I tried to ignore it, it seemed never ending, although it had only been going through my head for about forty seconds, I wanted to duck tape the girls mouth. She seemed to have a small mouth, it was decorated with a lip gloss that shimmered as she woofed, and it surprised me that so much noise could come out of such a small mouth. It was about this time, that a miracle happened; I, out of the blue realized that we were arriving at the school. I could recognize the bulky, red bricked, structure that read *****ENTER YOUR SCHOOL NAME HERE ****. There were tiny pink flowers planted in a bed around little green bushes, and I had never seen such a beautiful sight. Maybe I enjoyed that moment in time in which I realized that I soon would be removed from this nightmare, but I unexpectedly wanted to be nowhere but inside the School.

The Book Learner Centered - 1277 Words

The book is learner centered. The authors have based their ideas on the experiences of college students right from the date of enrollment in graduation year. In other words, the authors has provided some insights in the opinion of college students on how to share an educational experience with the next generation college students (Bell, McGrane, Anderson, Gunderson, 2011). Summary The book is divided into three main parts: academics and learning, navigating the institution, and survival strategies (Bell et al., 2011). The first part, academics and learning, entails the initial experiences of the students. The authors managed to summarise all these initial encounters into four parts: arrival at college, grades attained, technology and†¦show more content†¦degree from the University of Claremont. Therefore, the information provided in the book is scholarly and can be relied upon by sociology students (Bell et al., 2011). Sociological Theories The book is inclusive. The authors looked at the experiences of students in the academic perspective, social perspective, religious and technological perspectives. The authors took the view on the premise that, most experiences at college are encountered outside their formal learning routine (Bell et al., 2011). Students interact more outside their normal school or academic routine. The developmental concept is one of the sociological theories used by the authors to conduct their research. For instance, the authors have been able to explain in detail the developmental aspect of college students life as a whole, from religious to educational aspects. The purpose of the book This book is intended to fill a gap in the existing literature. The authors have manged to achieve this by critically exploring a topic that other scholars have neglected. Previous studies emphasized the Serious Emotional Disturbance of students in their studies (Biggins Vaininetti, 2000). Most past studies do not provide an educational experience to college students, but are only intended to provide some specific information on matters such as emotional disturbance amongst college students. Bell et al. (2011) have managed to fill this gap. These authors have been able to connect the link between