Goodfellas in the 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese who co-wrote the screenplay with Nicholas Pileggi. The film was based in New York and based on the true events of the Lucchese crime family.
From my research I concluded that Goodfellas conforms to almost all conventions of gangster movies. It is based in a urban city with the main character building there way up just to have it taken away again. Traditional values and faith and family are distinct as well as extreme violence.
There were elements of faith during this film (particularly Catholicism for the majority of the mob members) and Scorsese uses this trademark as a way of portraying guilt through religion. Henry (Ray Liotta) wears a cross necklace around his neck through the duration of the film to portray this.
The fancy gangster lifestyle was heavily emphasised through the mise-en-scene. Every mob member was extremely well dressed in suits with expensive jewellery. They would dine in the fanciest restaurant and were served the finest wine without having to ask.
The mob members also conformed to the stereotype of gangsters playing poker, smoking cigars and having a large amount of disposable money.
The cinematography also to an extent conforms to the conventions of gangster movies - although there isn't many. When digging up the body of a "made man" of another crime family, the scene has a dark, murky red hue to set the atmosphere of a situation that is very dangerous and potentially life threatening.
Scorsese has a trademark of using long tracking shots in his films. Although this isn't a convention of gangster films its effective in showing the magnitude of the luxurious lifestyle and respect given to members of this mob. They know virtually everyone and are respected by everyone and that is why they were able to get away with so much throughout this film.
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