Martin Scorsese sheds light on ‘Goodfellas’ inspiration

Martin Scorsese is regarded as one of the top filmmakers in Hollywood. His stellar work speaks for itself. One of the most iconic films he helmed was the 1990 crime-drama Goodfellas, as he explained what led him to inspire such a masterpiece.

Explaining the fusion of two films, 1960 Ocean Eleven and 1962 Jules and Jim inspired his direction of the Academy-nominated movie.

“The feeling of Ocean’s Eleven, the casual ease, and relaxation of the Rat Pack—that was what I remembered in a lot of the people involved in the ‘criminal element’ when I was growing up, it’s what I felt in Nick Pileggi’s book Wise Guy, it’s what we wanted in the picture,” he added.

Meanwhile, the French film inspired, the mob drama’s pace and style, “I wanted GoodFellas to surge across the screen, coming at the audience from all sides, just as Truffaut did in Jules and Jim, especially in its opening section.”

In the latest film of Martin, Killers of the Flower Moon, its lead star, Lily Gladstone, urges Indigenous viewers to watch the film until “you feel ready.”

“See it when and only if you feel ready and see it with people you feel safe with,” adding, “You’ll likely have a lot of generational grief to process. You’re not alone.