These are 2 of the best films of director Martin Scorcese’s
oeuvre – and cover his favorite subject: the Mafia. Where they do
differ in my opinion is in the treatment, and hence the reason
why I believe “Casino” wins out.
“Goodfellas”
.. 
These are 2 of the best films of director Martin Scorcese’s
oeuvre – and cover his favorite subject: the Mafia. Where they do
differ in my opinion is in the treatment, and hence the reason
why I believe “Casino” wins out.
“Goodfellas” is a voyeuristic view into the workings of the
Mafia, and hence (maybe) the plot was not so tight. We get an
inside view of the organization through the eyes of the character
Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta. The viewer learns of the
goings-on in the mob, but there is no story - no beginning or
end, so to speak. The characters in the film seem a little over
the top; but again that’s mainly to showcase the Mafia Way in a 2
hour movie. The greatness of this film was in revealing (to the
viewer) of the mob’s way of life and how being a ‘bad guy’ can so
easily look like the obvious thing to aspire to.
“Casino” on the other hand has a fantastic plot: the Mafia gets a
great opportunity to run a hugely profitable gambling business in
Vegas BUT owing to human frailties – love, jealousy and
deception – among the those that run the town, the Mafia screws
up. And lets the big (bad) corporations finally take over. The
key characters – Sam/Ace (DeNiro) and Nicky (Joe Pesci) – are
incredibly well constructed and come across as more ‘real’ and
human than those in “Goodfellas”. Owing to the brilliance of the
narrative and the characters, the director actually makes us feel
sad that the Mafia lost Vegas and it got turned into
“Disneyland”. Great stuff, Mr. Scorcese.
Which is why my vote goes to Casino!
These are 2 of the best films of director Martin Scorcese’s
oeuvre – and cover his favorite subject: the Mafia. Where they do
differ in my opinion is in the treatment, and hence the reason
why I believe “Casino” wins out.
“Goodfellas” is a voyeuristic view into the workings of the
Mafia, and hence (maybe) the plot was not so tight. We get an
inside view of the organization through the eyes of the character
Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta. The viewer learns of the
goings-on in the mob, but there is no story - no beginning or
end, so to speak. The characters in the film seem a little over
the top; but again that’s mainly to showcase the Mafia Way in a 2
hour movie. The greatness of this film was in revealing (to the
viewer) of the mob’s way of life and how being a ‘bad guy’ can so
easily look like the obvious thing to aspire to.
“Casino” on the other hand has a fantastic plot: the Mafia gets a
great opportunity to run a hugely profitable gambling business in
Vegas BUT owing to human frailties – love, jealousy and
deception – among the those that run the town, the Mafia screws
up. And lets the big (bad) corporations finally take over. The
key characters – Sam/Ace (DeNiro) and Nicky (Joe Pesci) – are
incredibly well constructed and come across as more ‘real’ and
human than those in “Goodfellas”. Owing to the brilliance of the
narrative and the characters, the director actually makes us feel
sad that the Mafia lost Vegas and it got turned into
“Disneyland”. Great stuff, Mr. Scorcese.
Which is why my vote goes to Casino!
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