Martin Scorsese is the king of gangster movies, having shown his cinematic mastery to capture the violent and complex nature of his characters and their situations in movies like Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed, and The Irishman among others.
It’s always tough to pick the best of the lot, but Goodfellas is one particular movie that enjoyed critical and commercial success during its early days and has also stood the test of time, impressing a new generation of movie buffs with plenty of iconic scenes. And whenever there’s any mention of Goodfellas, there’s always talk about the hilarious scene involving Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta in a restaurant.
How Did Joe Pesci Convince Martin Scorsese to Change His Script for Goodfellas
Martin Scorsese‘s Goodfellas revolves around Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), James Conway (Robert De Niro), and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) climbing up the ladder in the mob world and pushing the limits in their own ways, which eventually leads to disappointing conclusions for them.
Inspired by Nicholas Pileggi’s book Wiseguy, Scorsese explores the different aspects of the mob world through the life of Henry. Despite the violent nature of the theme, the genius of the filmmaker – who filled it with interesting repartee and hilarious sequences – ensures it’s a joyride for the audience.
In particular, Pesci’s “How am I funny?” scene really leaves a strong mark on the viewers and perfectly encapsulates the tone of Goodfellas. In a restaurant, Tommy tells a story that gets everyone at the table laughing. Henry then compliments Tommy by saying he’s a funny guy. Pesci’s character takes it as a backhanded remark and gets angry. As everyone on the table gets serious, Tommy breaks his pretense and starts to laugh.
Scorsese naturally got plenty of plaudits for creating the scene. However, it wasn’t really part of his script and instead, Pesci acted out the scene for him before accepting a role in Goodfellas. Speaking to GQ, the Taxi Driver director revealed:
“I wanted Joe Pesci to be in the film and I think he resisted it. I know he resisted it, he said: ‘I don’t know, gangster stuff.” I said this character’s really interesting based on a real guy. He said, “Well, if you do it, I gotta tell you something.” And I said, “Well what is it?” He goes, “Not here.” And he acted out this scene that happened to him.”
Scorsese continued: “I knew exactly where to put it. We went through the scene over and over again, recorded it all, each take, and then I create from the actor’s improvisations and tried to make sure that it accelerated the right way.”
Another interesting aspect of the scene was the 80-year-old deciding to not do close-ups while filming the scene, as he wanted viewers to observe the changing reactions of the people around them.
Which Robert De Niro Scene Martin Scorsese Planned Before Finishing His Script
The Pesci scene isn’t the only moment of the movie that came out of the filmmaker and his actors’ minds spontaneously.
The famous De Niro scene, where he stands in a bar while smoking a cigarette was enhanced through the use of a song, and the idea for the same came before Scorsese even finished writing the scene. Screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi revealed (via omidfilms – YouTube):
“We were writing this scene where De Niro is standing at the bar with a cigarette. As I’m typing that stuff, [Scorsese] says ‘Put in Cream.’ I said, ‘What cream?’ He says, ‘Just write that, write down Cream.’ I was like ‘what cream, what are you talking about?’ and he goes, ‘Just put it, just put it, do me a favour, just put it.’ So I type in ‘cream,’ and while we’re typing the scene [Scorsese] is already listening to the music.”
The song Sunshine of Your Love by Cream plays in the background and De Niro’s eyes have a gleam that conveys he has made up his mind to kill his crew in the aftermath of the Lufthansa heist. A truly remarkable sequence from Scorsese!
