best of the 90's

Rating: Null/10 (28 December 2001)

THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT CONSTITUTES A SPOILER.
Does Goodfellas deserve to be compared to The Godfather? Well, let's see. It should be stated, first, that I am not debating whether or not Goodfellas is a good film; it is a brilliant film and one of best of the 90's.
Goodfellas, like The Godfather, does a wonderful job of balancing scenes of gangster lifestyle, its affect on a domestic situation, and its affect on the individual. Both films are beautifully shot, and the screenplays are superb-making Italian coloquialisms and steady torrents of profanity sound like works of art worthy of Faulkner and Hemingway. But the real difference is Scorcese's ability elicit emotion in every shot, his ability to put meaning in every frame of film. With music, composition, color, mis-en-scene, or acting, Scorsese's direction is masterful and "on-purposes"; no scenes or shots are meant merely to establish a location or a situation: they all have underlying messages.
The simple truth is this: Scorsese is just a better director than Coppola. He, Scorsese, is a technical virtuoso, an unsurpassed master of movement, and a risktaker. Don't agree? Just watch the night club scene-moving through the bowels of the club set to doo wop music. Is any scene in The Godfather as moving as this one? As effective as this one? So, the question is, does the Godfather deserve to be in the same company as Goodfellas?