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Food, Violence, and Henry Hill in Goodfellas

Martin Scorsese’s 1990 film Goodfellas depicts a dramatization of the mob life through the eyes of Henry Hill. While not necessarily decrying or glorifying the mafia as a whole, the film does its best attempt to objectively depict Henry’s life in the mob and his eventual downfall as his lifestyle begins to spiral out of control. Consequently, Henry experiences the highest of highs and the lowest of lows throughout his life as he works and lives as an extension of mob influence. Henry’s lifestyle is visually symbolized and enhanced through the depictions of both food and violence that Scorsese interplays throughout the film, representing the emotional roller coaster that is his life. Food and violence serve to contrast one another and depict conflicting messages. While food represents the quintessential “high life” of the mob in which Henry reaps the fruits of his labor and exemplifies the glory of his experience as well as

“civilizing” the criminals in comparison to other lowly offenders because of their status, violence serves as a grim reminder that his riches do not come freely, but instead at the hands of a truly violent and coldhearted lifestyle that being involved with the mafia entails, including murder and robbery[1].

Martin Scorsese utilizes shots and images of food in order to relate the ideas associated with the high points of Henry’s life in the mob. One of the most important attributes that the mob values is the aspect of camaraderie, family, and loyalty. Food conveys these values by bringing Henry and all of his associates together in a relatively warm and inviting atmosphere in which they all appear to get along swimmingly as they experience multiple events such as birthdays or Henry’s wedding with huge feasts and a multitude of Italian food. Because food is utilized as a cohesive force in which it brings Henry and the rest of his colleagues together, it serves as a major symbol in order to communicate the inviting atmosphere Henry experiences. 2

Meals are depicted as a huge deal that unite the Lucchese crime family and therefore represent the values of family and loyalty through the fact that it does bring a myriad of these criminals and murderers into a scene that looks like a wholesome family dinner, ultimately civilizing the crime family because their status separates them from other criminals who do not experience the same sense of loyalty or respect among one another. The importance of food in relation to family is also stressed in the day in which Henry is arrested, as he is on a cocaine fueled rampage in order to successfully organize a drug deal. Even though Henry has an extremely chaotic morning emphasized by his paranoia over a police helicopter overhead and having to meet a bunch of commitments before he can go through with his deal, one of the biggest causes of his stress involves cooking dinner with his family, reinforced by his repeated insistence that his brother stirs the sauce. It is clear that dinner is a big deal to Henry because it symbolizes family[2] values that were not apparent in his own family’s upbringing when he is younger, considering the only time the audience sees his mother and father is early on in the movie when his father whips him with a belt for truancy. Food also represents the benefits and perks of the mob as they exploit the general societal system, illuminated when Henry, Paulie, and his other associates are arrested for assaulting the brother of an FBI typist. Though they still have to serve their sentence, they live relatively comfortably in prison, being able to cook their own meals which are at a near gourmet level including pasta and steak. Their ability to eat food on their own accord symbolizes their ability to manipulate the system with their mafia influence as they pay off and bribe corrupt authority in order to get what they want in any circumstance. The high life of the mob is further exemplified with the Copacabana, a lounge in which Henry and his peers inhabit frequently. They experience special treatment as they are waited on hand and foot as they court their respective dates with food and wine. Their special treatment is 3

exemplified by the “oner[3],” tracking shot that follows Henry and his then-girlfriend Karen through the kitchen of the Copacabana, opting for a more private entrance as they bypass the line that leaks onto the street. Ultimately, food and meals represent the high point in Henry’s mob life as they represent the fruits of his labor and the values of loyalty and respect associated with the mafia.

On the other hand, violence represents the lowest and worst parts of the mob life and serves to represent the gritty and dark part of the mafia. The most notable violent acts are perpetrated by Henry’s associate and friend, Tommy, including the murder of Billy Batts, a made man from a different crime family, which could result in swift retribution if it is discovered that they were the culprits in his death. This meant that Henry, Tommy, and their other friend Jimmy the Gent must quickly hide his body in order to divert attention away from their responsibility in his death. Burying Billy’s corpse is highlighted by “finishing” their kill as Tommy further stabs his body in the trunk of their car while Jimmy empties a clip of ammunition into Billy to further solidify his death. Instead of being glorified, Billy’s murder is depicted as heavily crude and brutal, exemplified by the red lighting that symbolizes a sense of darkness and evil associated with killing and subsequently killing him. The grim nature of his death is further reinforced when they have to dig his corpse back up months later in order to relocate it as a result of the burial site becoming a site for homes. Henry can hardly stand the smell of death as he dry heaves and vomits while trying to recover Billy Batts’ body. In comparison to the glamour of the food in meals and Henry’s prison sentence, violence represents the dark nature of the mafia that cannot be truly masked by any sense of grandeur or extravagance that the mob life also brings. Ultimately, Henry and the rest of the crime family 4 are criminals, and that is undeniable no matter how “civilized” the mob is with their extravagant living.

Food and violence represent starkly different ideals in the mob life that is depicted in

Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Food represents the expression of grandeur and status that the mob life utilizes that “civilizes” their criminal lifestyle as a result of its symbolism regarding the concepts and values of loyalty, respect, family, and camaraderie that the mob values extremely heavily. On the other hand, violence contrasts these ideas in the film and instead represents the dark nature of the mob and ultimately conveys them for what Henry and his associates truly are: criminals. These motifs contrast and complement one another in order to reinforce the emotional roller coaster that is Henry’s tenure with the mob.