parker.mov / editologica

work film ◆ established

Goodfellas

also: Goodfellas (1990)

edited by
Thelma Schoonmaker
year
1990

artin Scorsese’s 1990 crime film, edited by Thelma Schoonmaker, widely studied for its elastic control of velocity, voiceover, freeze frames, needle drops, and point-of-view alignment. The film’s editing turns criminal life into a seductive flow of anecdotes and escalating momentum before that same velocity curdles into paranoia and collapse.

notes

Goodfellas moves like memory on stimulants — funny, glamorous, selective, and suddenly sick with consequence.

visual examples

  • The Copacabana entrance shot and its aftermath: extended movement punctuated by selective editorial emphasis
  • The final-act cocaine-paranoia sequence: compressed time, jumpy energy, and accumulating sensory overload

related · 7

Contrast Cuts Editorial Breathing Room freeze frame Long-Take Accumulation Music as Structure Reaction Shot Priority Thelma Schoonmaker

references

  1. Thelma Schoonmaker Interviews on Scorsese collaborations (2014)
  2. Film criticism and editing analysis Goodfellas as editing benchmark (2015)