Why I prefer The Godfather 1&2 to GoodFellas

(Image of the Godfather courtesy of rottentomatoes.com)



(image courtesy of wikipedia.com)

This is one of those posts where I have to briefly get something off my chest. In his review the very influential and popular critic, Roger Ebert, declared that GoodFellas was ‘The best mob movie ever’.  Obviously this was a clear challenge to The Godfather which is not only one of the best mob movies ever made but one of the greatest films ever made. Every time I watch GoodFellas I grapple with Ebert’s statement of opinion not only because I prefer The Godfather 1&2, which I just consider to be one massive film, but because I was influenced greatly by Ebert’s criticism of films. He was my go to critic when I was starting to appreciate the great films. His ‘Great Film’ series influenced me greatly. I also used to scour his catalogue of reviews on the great films of the past as well as the current releases.  I was just beginning to appreciate the great films in my late teens, early 20s period. So when I came across his GoodFellas review where he made that declaration I was stumped for the first time. It is those moments when you realize that you’ll never be able to truly follow someone as completely ever again. You will still go along with what they’re saying and will still agree from time to time but you realize that you have come of age and must challenge those who have influenced you. As I went along I realized that I began to disagree with Ebert on a lot of other points but overall i still find myself agreeing with a lot that he says. I understand now more clearly his middle class position and how that influenced how he reviewed films. There are a lot of reviews where he was clearly biased and tried to instill some relevant moral argument into his reviews. One of the biases in his reviews was his overall love for Scorsese. Need I say  more. I didn’t have to be told because I discovered it on my own just by reading his reviews.

Now to the matter at hand. I do think that GoodFellas is an exceptional film. It is a great film about the mob underworld but it is still not my overall favorite mob film. It has a very high kinetic energy and once it gets started the high tempo never subsides and it moves along quite smoothly. One of its strongest points is the counter narrative by Karen, Henry’s wife. The perspective of an ordinary person drawn into the lifestyle of the mob underworld; taken away by its charm but eventually finding it repulsive. I also like the fall from grace because eventually the glamour of the mob lifestyle, which is essentially presented with a carefree, do what you want sort of vibe is eventually replaced by a more sombre tone as things start to fall apart. The ordinary people who pay their taxes are the suckers until you have to join them once the government gets a hold of you.  It’s a lot like life actually. It is a very good film and it has a lot to say but for me it’s not on the level of  The Godfather 1&2 because it is not a very expansive film. It is quite limited to a small group in the mob underworld: Henry, Jimmy and Tommy. They are primarily enforcers. It’s exciting watching them together but it does not have the big picture feel.  The film is also based on a true story which does make it grounded but in the end it does not say much about the mob underworld and the various intricacies that make it function. The Godfather 1&2 do have that expansive feel where there is a lot of meditation on American society especially how the mob underworld makes its mark. These films do emphasize what the mob underworld represents to society and how it became embedded in American society. It has a lot of meditations on the immigrant experience in America and why family bonds were so important for survival.  GoodFellas might mention the links with Sicily but in The Godfather 1&2 it forms a significant part of the story and we are allowed to see why the links are so important especially how some Italian Americans made the transition from the Old World to the New. Whereas GoodFellas focuses on a particular true story in the mob underworld  The Godfather1&2 is about the mob underworld in general with emphasis on the Corleone family. Yes The Godfather 1&2 are fictional but a lot of it is rooted in the reality of the mob underworld in general or its general history. With GoodFellas only focusing on the enforcers it is difficult to appreciate the big picture. The perspective of the enforcer is much more exciting because it’s more violent but The Godfather 1&2 offer the perspective of the very top which is why you get a better understanding of how the mob underworld comes into being and how it becomes embedded into American society, particularly through its links with the dominant bourgeoisie. So whereas in GoodFellas we get to see how Henry, Jimmy, and Tommy deal small time in drugs and theft in The Godfather 1&2 we get to see how the mob underworld makes real money. Real money on the level of the dominant bourgeoisie represented by the casinos in The Godfather 1&2. Scorsese did make a film about the mob’s participation in the casinos in Casino (1995). Casino was actually the first film where I got exposed to Scorsese.  In The Godfather part 2  Michael even goes as far as making an investment in Cuba. You can’t get bigger than that when explaining the reach of the mob underworld and the dark finance in American society. The money of the mob underworld as highlighted in The Godfather 1&2 makes you wonder about how much money is really circulating in the world economy and how much of it is represented by nefarious activity. The legends about Pablo Escobar’s money are really something. In GoodFellas the trade in drugs is really small time because in The Godfather part 1 they are discussing how the trade will be controlled. Even Paulie in Goodfellas seems like a small timer.

So for me the difference between The Godfather 1&2 and GoodFellas is more about perspective. You realize immediately that the flashy lifestyle of the mob in GoodFellas is really small time and does not offer much in terms of showing the reach of the mob underworld in American society. I mention the 2 Godfather films just to highlight my point about perspective. Even if I was comparing GoodFellas with just 1 or 2 I would still come to the same conclusion. GoodFellas is a very good film and a great film in terms of technique and so on but in terms of perspective it’s not on the level of either The Godfather part 1 or The Godfather part 2. So here I am revealing my own bias for big picture and expansive films. My bias is towards films that say something meaningful about society in general. If it’s based on a true story then even better but here I am revealing my bias for the more epic films. The word ‘epic’ has been taken over by mass media and absorbed in the general culture…. ‘that’s epic’…… but in this sense the epic nature of The Godfathers 1&2 is what I prefer to the small time presentation of the mob in GoodFellas. So yes, I don’t think GoodFellas is the best mob movie ever. Whew! I can finally lay the issue to rest and move on.