Interesting detail I noticed when watching this. At 5:32 and 19:01 there are pictures on the wall appearing to be The Last Supper by da Vinci. Though cropped, and arguably the same prop in the two scenes, it matches the theme you’ve highlighted here.
I think the director is also reminding us here that these horrible, murdering mobsters are, irony of ironies: catholic, religious, believers in the little baby Jesus. Ahhhh!
My favorite part is just after the garlic bit…. “How many onions did you use” “I used tree small onions” “Tree onions! How many tomatoes?” “I used two big tomatoes “ “Two tomatoes! You don’t need tree onions!” That’s all off screen, don’t know why but that always cracks me up. Such a minor argument but I love that little snippet.
also it was improvised i think, because if i remember correctly the prison cook was played by scorcese's father, and martin wrote scarce script for him and wanted him just to riff and act italian
@@FireKracker98 Food was a catalyst for everything. The Italian mobsters looked down on the American mobsters based on their inferior palate in one scene. Melfi was graped by a guy who worked at a pizza place. Pizza was how they found out AJ vandalized the school. The list goes on and on
Worthy of mention is that Italians love their food so much because Italy is full of hills. Before cars, Italians were walking up and down hills in and out of town all day. So they developed a very rich, carb heavy cuisine to support the lifestyle. My family hails from Venice on one side and Sicily on the other.
@@SpicyTexan64 This sounds like an empty generalisation pretending to be a word of wisdom. But hey, I guess one can see anything one wants in a post, even if it isn't really there.
Scorsese uses Restaurants/Clubs/Food etc like Michael Mann uses Coffee Shops. Very integral in building up the worlds these characters live in. There's absolutely a sense of realism added with these scenes Edit: Just to add, I also believe Scorsese uses meals as a good way to bring characters together and with all the improv he uses on set, it makes for a more naturalistic feel. Also, these guys commit a litany of crimes and casually eat during and after the acts. Completely lacking any conscience.
There's no coffee shop in Collateral, but there are 3 major scenes in night clubs. The 'Jazz guy' murder, the scene when Max meets Felix and then the shoot out in the club in Korea Town. You have me thinking about how he uses those scenes differently than he does in Heat now. He makes those clubs so weird and vivid. The colours pop out even more because of the digital photography and I guess the most obvious reason why is we are experiencing those places through Max's eyes.
@@davidlean1060 Yes, clubs in his more recent films. You're absolutely right. Although he was more of a hired gun with 'Collateral' so it's like Cronenberg making 'The Dead Zone'... You can feel their fingerprints on their respective film of course, but they also tend to be narratively different. With his wonderful conversion to digital(One of the few to really get his own look thru that process along with David Fincher and a cpl others), Mann captures that "Neon Pop" in all its glory. Although I think he may have used film with 'Miami Vice' for particular scenes, I can't say that with 100% certainty though. Regardless, I agree. He's got a great eye in regards to that. He's always been big on color palette thru the years. 'Manhunter' is loaded with Bright, vibrant colors. The DP(Dante Spinotti I believe) specifically mentioned how every single shot was meticulously crafted
@@mk-ultramags1107 Don't get me started on Heat and Collateral! I wouldn't even think of Heat as being my favorite of all time movie, but I struggle to think of a film I have watched and rewatched as often.
@@davidlean1060 Heat is in my Top 5-10. Hard for me to say X is better than Y or Z because so many films are great in their own unique way. I watch almost all of his work on a regular basis. I really like 'Blackhat' too. I think its an overlooked gem of a film.
I'm glad I'm not alone. Great topic COLLECTIVE LEARNING. Hey son of tiamat I'm overdue for a good Angel hair and meatballs dinner, I'll be enjoying that on my next watch of mafia flicks.
Regarding the kids eating at a small table in a separate room, at least here in midwestern America it is common practice during large gatherings. It was referred to as "the kids' table", and we used to look forward to the day we would be grown up and get to sit at the big table. I think it was out of fear that our clumsy little hands would break the good glasses (which only came out for special occasions) or otherwise make a mess.
This is very common in the South. I remember as a kid sitting at the kids table and feeling like an offical grown up when I got to sit at the adult table w/ my Grandparents Aunts Uncles and older Cousins
Something like that is pretty common with mexican families here, the grownups would eat at the dinner table while the kids would eat in the living room and watch TV.
I never would have noticed this food theme, so wild! I wanted to say every video I've seen of yours is an absolute master class in how to UA-cam. Thank you for all your wonderful content!
That laugh at the end bothered me for ages until I recognized it from the Holy Grail bridge of death scene. Very good analysis - Goodfellas always made me hungry whenever I watched it and I never stopped to consider why. Duh.
Haha, we have a winner on spotting the holy grail reference. It wasn't a laugh though. It was the narrator getting slaughtered for annoying the viewer.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention Jimmy smothering the pasta in ketchup in the scene at Tommy's mum's house. He made the dish look like Billy Bats' face.
Haha, I did notice him doing that, but didn't make the association to blood. Good call. Funnily enough, at the end of the movie Henry complains about ordering spaghetti and getting egg noodles and ketchup.
My parents' families were both very poor when they were kids. My dad started his own business and, by the time I was born, they would have been considered upper middle class. Food was extremely important to them because they had to go hungry a lot when they were young. So they always wanted the best food they could get. Ironically, I have an aversion to things like steak because I had to eat a lot of it when I was younger. My tastes run pretty cheap. It's a good thing too, because now I barely make enough to pay my rent. (I couldn't take over the family business because it's basically obsolete these days.)
Sounds a bit like my moms experience. My grandmother - who was a child during WW2 in eastern Germany - had known poverty and forced my mother to eat a lot of meat and fatty foods as a child. So much that my mom is a very picky eater nowadays who hates fatty foods.
My mother was a refugee at the end of the second world war and sought for food on rubbish dumps. She forced fed me food as she thought I would starve to death. I eat normally but if people give me food I don't want I refuse to eat it.
The blown out lighting, seemingly off framing, and ‘freshly captured’ looks of exaggerated expressions in the photos is some of the best in cinematic history. It really looks like period photos you found in a drawer years later!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film where the camera moves so perfectly. And it’s a film that has always made me feel hungry especially the scene with Tommy and his mother around the table. My favourite gangster movie. Great video subscribed!
Excellent video, Rob. There are so many details I've noticed over years of viewing that you've elaborated upon with such tantalising logic, especially the 'pecking order' concept. It's amazing how many significant and pivotal scenes take place in kitchens! If you ever write an analysis on Casino maybe the connecting thematic thread could be something like 'the bigger the ego gets the more garish the clothing becomes'.
Maybe the feeding of the guy to the lions scene also highlights their Italian heritage. Modern Italians are the descendants of the Ancient Romans who feed people to lions.
You are amazing - I have always loved the food feelings in this movie, and to have the same framing analysis you used in Blair Witch and Shining applied to this is very appetizing. One addition to your meat theme: the ever present red sauce in Italian-American cooking resembling blood and gore. This is almost always deployed in our gangster films, and very heavily in Goodfellas.
Yeah man I think I noticed that many. You’re one of the few T00berz to think on that meta level and give that extra layer of density to your content. I suppose it’s no surprise since 80% of your subject matter is about exactly that process in TV & film… 💁🏻♂️
Brilliant catch on the lady with the grocery bags!! It's no coincidence that both Scorsese and Coppola put so much focus on food and family in these mob movies. One thing I think is interesting is how culture and cigarettes has changed in film. Cigs were a huge acting tool used for years and now it's not used as much as smoking has been phased out in public. I've noticed that coffee seems to be the new cigarettes in film. Most notably the To Go franchise coffee cups with the weird lids. Most of the time they aren't even full and you can notice how the actors handle the cup whether they are full of liquid or not. Now instead of taking a puff of a cigarette for dramatic affect they take a pull off of the coffee cup. Might be a cultural thing but in the NY/NJ/PA area during the holidays and family gatherings the kids always had a separate table either in the same room or another room altogether. It was a right off passage to graduate up to the adult table.
Came here to say the same exact thing! Do you know what else is “unhealthy” if you consume too much of? Water…. It’s not what you eat, it’s the amount that matters. I can eat nothing but pizza, steak and burgers for a month and not gain a single pound, but that’s because I only eat one real meal per day.
I literally have no complaints. You broke down everything perfectly. I have seen this film about 10 times and probably knew about the food references subliminally. Robert De Niro foreshadowing in those photos was well spotted. Great effort sir.
my favourite line is said by deniro when they are eating at tommy's mother house, when tommy is making up the story about a deer and deniro goes 'the HOOF'. i never understood why scorsese put so much emphasis on that line but its just such a funny line to say and to zoom in on deniro's face when hes saying that
it always baffled me, the emphasis on 'the HOOF', ever since ive seen it for the first time which mustve been a dozen years ago and everytime ive seen ot which mustve been at least a dozen times so far i could never understand it. now when i think of it maybe they were trying to allude to 'the most dangerous game' somehow, but i think its a stretch. a lot of scenes or bits which dont make sense to me at first, overtime come together, but this one will keep me up forever.
It can also be demonstrating the quick wit and white lies gangsters deploy even when talking to their mother. Yeah this entire video is a trip lol. The hoof!
Oh, food becomes a main theme in The Sopranos. I've worked with Italians, and hung out as if I were family, and food is a huge part of Italian culture. The theme of food become a hyper focused theme in The Sopranos with the family of Johnny Sacrimoni. His wife is obese and it's a theme on it's own. Also, one of Johnny's daughters was anorexic. She explodes at a family meeting to berate the family and it's obsession with food. Of course there's many, many food references about food in The Sopranos, but the episode, "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request" is about a wedding. And the focus of the wedding is the food. John's daughter seems to point out the focus of the Italian family and food. ua-cam.com/video/NnYprkUnspI/v-deo.html and cheeze is god's food
Mr Ager, you’ve done it yet again. Once again, when I heard the description of the video I thought “oh what a stupid thing to make a video on! He’s obviously running out of ideas and now has to make up stuff about food! Of course there’s food in the film, every person eats three meals a day!” But lo and behold, I watched and was BLOWN AWAY by how obviously intentional all the food references were! It’s always a ball to dissect films with you Mr Ager! I look forward to the next one!
Haha this is awesome brother! I haven't got time to watch your upload yet but seeing the title I had to have a quick gander. Literally, I'm 47 so saw this film when it came out and everytime - I mean EVERYTIME I'm preparing meals with tomatoes and garlic I remember that scene from prison and try and make the garlic as thin as possible (not with a razorblade 😆) Thanks. Will watch the rest later
Cheers. It is so weird how the food elements imprint on the brain. I often have the same recollection when chopping up garlic to put in a meal. I don't use a razor either though.
I watch some of your videos when they come out but sometimes save really interesting looking ones as workout videos. I queue up videos to get things to the right length. Yesterday I watched one of your Shining videos which was a Part 1 and a Shining video from Minty Comedic Arts which was a part 2. Coincidence? Your analysis is so well structured and clearly explained, it's quite mind-blowing at times and it really enhanced the viewing experience. Thank you so much for your work.
Great analysis as always. Helps me to see how a smart filming crew can help create mood and atmosphere in ways so subtle you really can't notice unless you decide to see if there's something there...and it's there!
Yeah, I agree with just about everything you said. Another thing to note is that food helps to keep the story and the characters grounded. They’re doing all this crazy violent stuff, but they’re also doing very normal things like birthday parties and family dinners. It makes things surreal while keeping them from getting so out of the ordinary that we can no longer to relate to them
I think the decorations on the little lamps on the table in the Bamboo Lounge ( 8:52) which look like blood dripping down the lamps fits with the idea that the mobsters food is drenched in blood or paid for by murder and violence.
Can you do a goodfellas analysis of children? I got really interested when you brought up how the kids are out at the kids table and how that’s a whole can of worms. Great video also!
The phallic symbol in the kitchen scene is probably the Swan. Really enjoyed the video. Funny i always think of the too many onions scene when i am putting too many onions in my gravy, lol! Take it easy.
@@collativelearning watched an art programme recently (waldemar januszczak) and naughty Jupiter appeared as a swan between her folded legs and arms, was about renaissance art in venice,they were mad for erotica lol, probably wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise . Cheers.
Wow!!! This analysis is brilliant! Ya know what I find crazy!? For some strange reason "subconsciously" whenever I eat pasta or any kind of Italian food I can't help but to start thinking of this movie. It's amazing how the mental affects that movies, music and entertainment in general can have on your mind. The food scenes are definitely there for a reason.
As others have mentioned, it's clear that David Chase was influenced by the food theme of Goodfellas, using it throughout the Sopranos series. And the way he used contemporary pop or rock songs (often in an ironic way) to heighten the drama of a scene, or for the ending of the episode, I suspect was influenced by Mean Streets.
very clever script, I thought it might just be for the intro but strong food puns all the way through, .. well done! Serving up youtubers a tasty treat.
I always thought of the food scenes as showing how ordinary all this carnage was for them. Like it was as much a part of their lives as food. It also cuts down on the bullshit glamor you see in some gangster movies. They aren't all sitting around a big dramatic table doing business like in the godfather, these dudes are talking about murder and extortion while making lunch. It humanizes them to show how inhuman they actually are.
I use to say goodfellas was a cooking movie with gangsters. But wow i never realized just how much food was used to symbolize so much in this movie. Well done and great watch mate
Funny you should say that Rob because I've always found Goodfellas a very apetizing movie to watch, simply because of all the food. Makes me hungry every time I watch it. Cheers!
This video made me hungry, like watching "Goodfellas" always does. But I'm an Italian American, so food being connected to every important moment in life makes perfect sense to me.
This was divine! Wolfed it down. Nicely prepared and served, thanks! I'll tell you what, the next time I come in your joint, I'll have The Texas Chainsaw Massacre analysis, I heard that is an acquired taste and a bit hard to swallow, but I also heard it's good for a balanced diet. 🐓🐓🐄🐄
You know every time I've watched this movie I've always focused on the shot of Paulie frying those sausages. I never put it together with the Billie Bats scene but I think I was feeling a relation to that subconsciously.
I think the food themes are both simple and complex. It offers a natural behavior to occupy characters and set pieces in almost any given scene, but also it's a display of providence. Many of the most widely worshiped ancient deities were those with command over agriculture. And there's a duplicity, with meat for instance, where there is the gruesome necessity of butchery before the luxurious pleasure of feeding. Cool idea for a video!
I'm not Italian, but I feel the same connection to the food scenes during this film as I get with remembering Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and especially Easter with my grandparents and their family. it's a kind of feeling that you'll be okay they'll make sure your fed and loved. even though we never ate traditional food from Ireland (where my family originated) there was always a since of national pride I got I can't explain it but this movie gives me a similar feeling.
Hey Rob maybe should review the movie 9 1/2 weeks with that food sex scene that would tickle your spine. Or even a scene in the not so great film dark comedy Goodbye Lover where Mary Louise Parker exposing her rear end and you see some apples on the shelf next to her.
Always insightful Rob! Haven't seen any mention here but there are echoes of food culture (esp. the gangster character who frames the vignettes) in a neglected but great Japanese film called Tampopo that are massive tropes you revisit here. Give it a watch. I'm sure you'll agree it repays attention. Damn funny and profound too. Cheers on all the hard work.
Lots of food themes in the Sopranos, seems like every episode they talk about Zitti Meat also is a big big theme too, Tony talks to Melfi about fainting when his parents cut meat AFTER he saw this father mutilate a butcher to collect money
Great analysis Rob. I never noticed the food thing in Goodfellas. I'm sorta mad at myself because I know from watching Stanley Kubrick films, that you might have to pay closer attention to props being used in scenes, than you would, the dialog... Perhaps all the other directors began to pay attention to what Kubrick was doing in his films, then began doing it in their films...
There's even a Henry Hill Wiseguy Cookbook What's interesting there is he connects the recipes with people and incidents in his life, it's almost Proustian
Good factoid. Love it. The whole story of the film is being told to us in flashback in the past tense. So the narration is one long memory. So every meal or eating experience is connected to a memory. It's a chain of connected Madeleines.
I think the narrator is reading too much into the cannibalism/ food analogy, but his observation that Paulies sizzing sausages symbolizes his internal anger at Henry seems spot on!
Ganster, Mafia movies, books, shows- my favorite genre. Never really thought about the dynamics regarding food. Above the two fruit plates in the Hill the younger's kitchen looks like a depiction of the last supper. Difficult to see. A last supper type theme was used in Casino, with the mafia bosses in Kansas sat around a table full of food.
There seems to be a lot of food and eating scenes in gangster and mafia movies, especially movies about Italian American gangsters. It’s like a clique to have your gangster movie have a lot of eating scenes. Tarantino also has a lot of eating scenes or dialogue about food in his movies.
Very true about ice cream; I visited Parma with work years ago and on a day off I visited an ice cream parlour and the locals would turn up with empty tubs which are filled and taken home. Their ice cream was amazing by the way!
As an Italian food is the binding foundation of all our doings, socializing, work and the very thing that drives us to our next destination, our days are not described in moments but the moments described in their recency to the last meal or bite to eat (big difference.) Any Italian film worth its salt will zero in on food!
Great video Rob! In the scene where they are celebrating after the Lufthansa Heist, the portly guy who bought the car for his wife, and in doing so could possibly be seen as an element of Gluttony? Maybe not exactly related to food directly but the idea of gorging on something expensive perhaps?
The food may be some kind of a metaphor for ''sin''. Like eating the apple which gets you off the heaven. The characters have such an appetite for food and they are so sinful, so hungry for worldly pleasures and power. Which causes their downfall and gets them off the ''paradise'' they are in...
Interesting detail I noticed when watching this. At 5:32 and 19:01 there are pictures on the wall appearing to be The Last Supper by da Vinci. Though cropped, and arguably the same prop in the two scenes, it matches the theme you’ve highlighted here.
Oh, very well spotted. Just when I thought I'd picked up on everything. Am pinning your comment for now. Cheers :)
One dog goes one way, the other goes the other... This guys like, "Whaddya want from me?"
True last temptation scene of the last supper is a very basic plotline.
Judas betraying Jesus, Henry betraying the gang. Not sure if there's a Jesus in this gang.
I think the director is also reminding us here that these horrible, murdering mobsters are, irony of ironies: catholic, religious, believers in the little baby Jesus. Ahhhh!
My favorite part is just after the garlic bit….
“How many onions did you use”
“I used tree small onions”
“Tree onions! How many tomatoes?”
“I used two big tomatoes “
“Two tomatoes! You don’t need tree onions!”
That’s all off screen, don’t know why but that always cracks me up. Such a minor argument but I love that little snippet.
Hilarious offscreen banter. As memorable as anything else in the film.
also it was improvised i think, because if i remember correctly the prison cook was played by scorcese's father, and martin wrote scarce script for him and wanted him just to riff and act italian
"2 cans, 2 big cans"
@@ThirteenAmp ha, yeah that makes more sense
Facts!
Food was a huge theme in The Sopranos as well
Yeah. Where's my gabagoool!?
Caren's Zitti
When I saw the title of this video, I immediately thought of The Sopranos. Someone was always eating something.
@@FireKracker98 Food was a catalyst for everything. The Italian mobsters looked down on the American mobsters based on their inferior palate in one scene. Melfi was graped by a guy who worked at a pizza place. Pizza was how they found out AJ vandalized the school. The list goes on and on
@@R-Lee- Gabagool? Over hereee
Worthy of mention is that Italians love their food so much because Italy is full of hills. Before cars, Italians were walking up and down hills in and out of town all day. So they developed a very rich, carb heavy cuisine to support the lifestyle. My family hails from Venice on one side and Sicily on the other.
Not many hills in Venice though
He never said there was hills in Venice Rick, don’t be so illiterate
Bad explanation
@@SiccazHD I thought Rob did a pretty good job
The amount of food puns you dished out was impressive
Yeah, I just don’t have the appetite for that many puns. Became hard to digest and felt bloated.
@@thebonecone well I don't get chewed out so easily
A little distasteful. I don't like having metaphors shoved down my throat.
Its a spicy analysation.
These replies are just eating me up, I almost can't stomach them
its honestly amazing how you can pick these things out, ive seen this film loads of times but never thought of things in this way
Same!
You can see anything you want in a film, even if it isn't really there.
@@SpicyTexan64 This sounds like an empty generalisation pretending to be a word of wisdom. But hey, I guess one can see anything one wants in a post, even if it isn't really there.
@@SpicyTexan64 This is just a stupid platitude especially regarding this movie. It's obvious how much food is associated with the lifestyle.
This video was so fascinating that it went by so quickly and I was sad that it was over. Gonna eat my feelings now, thanks, Rob.
Scorsese uses Restaurants/Clubs/Food etc like Michael Mann uses Coffee Shops. Very integral in building up the worlds these characters live in. There's absolutely a sense of realism added with these scenes
Edit: Just to add, I also believe Scorsese uses meals as a good way to bring characters together and with all the improv he uses on set, it makes for a more naturalistic feel. Also, these guys commit a litany of crimes and casually eat during and after the acts. Completely lacking any conscience.
There's no coffee shop in Collateral, but there are 3 major scenes in night clubs. The 'Jazz guy' murder, the scene when Max meets Felix and then the shoot out in the club in Korea Town. You have me thinking about how he uses those scenes differently than he does in Heat now. He makes those clubs so weird and vivid. The colours pop out even more because of the digital photography and I guess the most obvious reason why is we are experiencing those places through Max's eyes.
@@davidlean1060 Yes, clubs in his more recent films. You're absolutely right. Although he was more of a hired gun with 'Collateral' so it's like Cronenberg making 'The Dead Zone'... You can feel their fingerprints on their respective film of course, but they also tend to be narratively different. With his wonderful conversion to digital(One of the few to really get his own look thru that process along with David Fincher and a cpl others), Mann captures that "Neon Pop" in all its glory. Although I think he may have used film with 'Miami Vice' for particular scenes, I can't say that with 100% certainty though. Regardless, I agree. He's got a great eye in regards to that. He's always been big on color palette thru the years. 'Manhunter' is loaded with Bright, vibrant colors. The DP(Dante Spinotti I believe) specifically mentioned how every single shot was meticulously crafted
@@mk-ultramags1107 Don't get me started on Heat and Collateral! I wouldn't even think of Heat as being my favorite of all time movie, but I struggle to think of a film I have watched and rewatched as often.
@@davidlean1060 Heat is in my Top 5-10. Hard for me to say X is better than Y or Z because so many films are great in their own unique way. I watch almost all of his work on a regular basis. I really like 'Blackhat' too. I think its an overlooked gem of a film.
So does Coppola
Knocked it outta the park with this video. Great work!
The sizzling of the sausages in the pan representing Paulie's anger; that's a really good observation!
I have to say it’s one of those movies that makes me extremely hungry every time I watch it.
Exactly lol... I gotta have a mortadella, salami sub )
I ate a lot while editing this vid
@@rickrolledtruth5834 I like to have angel hair and meatballs while watching it
I'm glad I'm not alone. Great topic COLLECTIVE LEARNING. Hey son of tiamat I'm overdue for a good Angel hair and meatballs dinner, I'll be enjoying that on my next watch of mafia flicks.
OMG! This is so true for me as well.
Regarding the kids eating at a small table in a separate room, at least here in midwestern America it is common practice during large gatherings. It was referred to as "the kids' table", and we used to look forward to the day we would be grown up and get to sit at the big table. I think it was out of fear that our clumsy little hands would break the good glasses (which only came out for special occasions) or otherwise make a mess.
Common in the south (where my family is from) and in the West where I am likely because of the influence.
This is very common in the South. I remember as a kid sitting at the kids table and feeling like an offical grown up when I got to sit at the adult table w/ my Grandparents Aunts Uncles and older Cousins
Same with my family. It's more of an American thing I guess. Maybe Americans just hate kids. Lol
Yes it's definitely an American thing generally, not just restricted to people of Italian descent.
Something like that is pretty common with mexican families here, the grownups would eat at the dinner table while the kids would eat in the living room and watch TV.
I never would have noticed this food theme, so wild!
I wanted to say every video I've seen of yours is an absolute master class in how to UA-cam. Thank you for all your wonderful content!
I think it was bill burr who said a long time ago that one of the most important components to a gangster film is the food
That laugh at the end bothered me for ages until I recognized it from the Holy Grail bridge of death scene. Very good analysis - Goodfellas always made me hungry whenever I watched it and I never stopped to consider why. Duh.
Haha, we have a winner on spotting the holy grail reference. It wasn't a laugh though. It was the narrator getting slaughtered for annoying the viewer.
Next course from Monty Python... Salad Days! 🎩🎩
@@collativelearning Aaah of course, it's the old man from Scene 24.
I'm surprised that you didn't mention Jimmy smothering the pasta in ketchup in the scene at Tommy's mum's house. He made the dish look like Billy Bats' face.
Haha, I did notice him doing that, but didn't make the association to blood. Good call. Funnily enough, at the end of the movie Henry complains about ordering spaghetti and getting egg noodles and ketchup.
Henry said in his book that Jimmy loved catchup very much, maybe De Niro had that in his mind
@@Vujo357 Yeah. De Niro would definitely have picked up on that, he's obsessed with getting the character right.
According to some BTS video that’s the Irish way of ruining your meal
Scorsese said Tommy's mom knew he was Irish so she made him eggs and potatoes, hence the ketchup.
My parents' families were both very poor when they were kids. My dad started his own business and, by the time I was born, they would have been considered upper middle class. Food was extremely important to them because they had to go hungry a lot when they were young. So they always wanted the best food they could get. Ironically, I have an aversion to things like steak because I had to eat a lot of it when I was younger. My tastes run pretty cheap. It's a good thing too, because now I barely make enough to pay my rent.
(I couldn't take over the family business because it's basically obsolete these days.)
Sounds a bit like my moms experience. My grandmother - who was a child during WW2 in eastern Germany - had known poverty and forced my mother to eat a lot of meat and fatty foods as a child. So much that my mom is a very picky eater nowadays who hates fatty foods.
My mother was a refugee at the end of the second world war and sought for food on rubbish dumps. She forced fed me food as she thought I would starve to death. I eat normally but if people give me food I don't want I refuse to eat it.
Great hint from you! Absolutely true.
Same here bro. Exactly.
The blown out lighting, seemingly off framing, and ‘freshly captured’ looks of exaggerated expressions in the photos is some of the best in cinematic history. It really looks like period photos you found in a drawer years later!
The part where Paulie thinly slices the garlic so it liquifies into the pan/sauce - a metaphor for how he makes people disappear without trace.
Why not just use a garlic crush and have a metaphor about how he crushes/makes mincemeat out of people who betray him?
@@richardmooresthat could’ve worked, but it’s not as beautiful, poetically speaking.
thin slice is also a phrase used to denote ways to quickly assess a topic, or to quickly assess a person.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film where the camera moves so perfectly. And it’s a film that has always made me feel hungry especially the scene with Tommy and his mother around the table. My favourite gangster movie. Great video subscribed!
I saw a breakdown on UA-cam of the camera movement in The Godfather. You'd like it.
16:08 I love how the poses in the holiday shots are perfect.. like Ray Liottta with his head hi and a daft grin
Excellent video, Rob. There are so many details I've noticed over years of viewing that you've elaborated upon with such tantalising logic, especially the 'pecking order' concept. It's amazing how many significant and pivotal scenes take place in kitchens!
If you ever write an analysis on Casino maybe the connecting thematic thread could be something like 'the bigger the ego gets the more garish the clothing becomes'.
Maybe the feeding of the guy to the lions scene also highlights their Italian heritage. Modern Italians are the descendants of the Ancient Romans who feed people to lions.
You are amazing - I have always loved the food feelings in this movie, and to have the same framing analysis you used in Blair Witch and Shining applied to this is very appetizing.
One addition to your meat theme: the ever present red sauce in Italian-American cooking resembling blood and gore. This is almost always deployed in our gangster films, and very heavily in Goodfellas.
Love all the corny food metaphors in your script Rob. great work as always 🌽
Really went for it on that one. There must a be w few dozen of them in there.
Yeah man I think I noticed that many. You’re one of the few T00berz to think on that meta level and give that extra layer of density to your content.
I suppose it’s no surprise since 80% of your subject matter is about exactly that process in TV & film… 💁🏻♂️
Brilliant catch on the lady with the grocery bags!! It's no coincidence that both Scorsese and Coppola put so much focus on food and family in these mob movies.
One thing I think is interesting is how culture and cigarettes has changed in film. Cigs were a huge acting tool used for years and now it's not used as much as smoking has been phased out in public. I've noticed that coffee seems to be the new cigarettes in film. Most notably the To Go franchise coffee cups with the weird lids. Most of the time they aren't even full and you can notice how the actors handle the cup whether they are full of liquid or not. Now instead of taking a puff of a cigarette for dramatic affect they take a pull off of the coffee cup.
Might be a cultural thing but in the NY/NJ/PA area during the holidays and family gatherings the kids always had a separate table either in the same room or another room altogether. It was a right off passage to graduate up to the adult table.
Always appreciate how off-the-cuff your vides are. It's food for thought.
"cheese and bread are so unhealthy" are you serious
Came here to say the same exact thing! Do you know what else is “unhealthy” if you consume too much of? Water….
It’s not what you eat, it’s the amount that matters. I can eat nothing but pizza, steak and burgers for a month and not gain a single pound, but that’s because I only eat one real meal per day.
Pizza is a health food. Everyone knows that.
I literally have no complaints.
You broke down everything perfectly.
I have seen this film about 10 times and probably knew about the food references subliminally.
Robert De Niro foreshadowing in those photos was well spotted.
Great effort sir.
my favourite line is said by deniro when they are eating at tommy's mother house, when tommy is making up the story about a deer and deniro goes 'the HOOF'. i never understood why scorsese put so much emphasis on that line but its just such a funny line to say and to zoom in on deniro's face when hes saying that
Hmmm, interesting
it always baffled me, the emphasis on 'the HOOF', ever since ive seen it for the first time which mustve been a dozen years ago and everytime ive seen ot which mustve been at least a dozen times so far i could never understand it. now when i think of it maybe they were trying to allude to 'the most dangerous game' somehow, but i think its a stretch. a lot of scenes or bits which dont make sense to me at first, overtime come together, but this one will keep me up forever.
It can also be demonstrating the quick wit and white lies gangsters deploy even when talking to their mother. Yeah this entire video is a trip lol. The hoof!
Oh, food becomes a main theme in The Sopranos. I've worked with Italians, and hung out as if I were family, and food is a huge part of Italian culture. The theme of food become a hyper focused theme in The Sopranos with the family of Johnny Sacrimoni. His wife is obese and it's a theme on it's own. Also, one of Johnny's daughters was anorexic. She explodes at a family meeting to berate the family and it's obsession with food. Of course there's many, many food references about food in The Sopranos, but the episode, "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request" is about a wedding. And the focus of the wedding is the food. John's daughter seems to point out the focus of the Italian family and food. ua-cam.com/video/NnYprkUnspI/v-deo.html
and cheeze is god's food
Great video and analysis.
Congratulations on finally getting this up
Bro i loved that commentary, especially how you kept mentioning theres no fruits or veggies in sight xd for real awesome analysis!
"cheese and bread are so unhealthy"
...seems like a pretty strong (double) categorical condemnation
Henny Youngman. “Take my wife…” oldest bit there is. 😂
Your perceptiveness is just on another level. A real feast for our eyes and ears!
beautiful work as usual
Mr Ager, you’ve done it yet again. Once again, when I heard the description of the video I thought “oh what a stupid thing to make a video on! He’s obviously running out of ideas and now has to make up stuff about food! Of course there’s food in the film, every person eats three meals a day!” But lo and behold, I watched and was BLOWN AWAY by how obviously intentional all the food references were! It’s always a ball to dissect films with you Mr Ager! I look forward to the next one!
Best compliment for the vid so far :)
@@collativelearning what an honor, thanks for all this great content.
Cheese is not unhealthy.
White, wheatfree bread is unhealthy.
Haha this is awesome brother!
I haven't got time to watch your upload yet but seeing the title I had to have a quick gander.
Literally, I'm 47 so saw this film when it came out and everytime - I mean EVERYTIME I'm preparing meals with tomatoes and garlic I remember that scene from prison and try and make the garlic as thin as possible (not with a razorblade 😆)
Thanks. Will watch the rest later
Cheers. It is so weird how the food elements imprint on the brain. I often have the same recollection when chopping up garlic to put in a meal. I don't use a razor either though.
The food puns in the commentary were great!
I watch some of your videos when they come out but sometimes save really interesting looking ones as workout videos. I queue up videos to get things to the right length. Yesterday I watched one of your Shining videos which was a Part 1 and a Shining video from Minty Comedic Arts which was a part 2. Coincidence? Your analysis is so well structured and clearly explained, it's quite mind-blowing at times and it really enhanced the viewing experience. Thank you so much for your work.
Superb video, thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks.
Great analysis as always. Helps me to see how a smart filming crew can help create mood and atmosphere in ways so subtle you really can't notice unless you decide to see if there's something there...and it's there!
Yeah, I agree with just about everything you said. Another thing to note is that food helps to keep the story and the characters grounded. They’re doing all this crazy violent stuff, but they’re also doing very normal things like birthday parties and family dinners. It makes things surreal while keeping them from getting so out of the ordinary that we can no longer to relate to them
I think the decorations on the little lamps on the table in the Bamboo Lounge ( 8:52) which look like blood dripping down the lamps fits with the idea that the mobsters food is drenched in blood or paid for by murder and violence.
Great and hilarious video Rob!
Can you do a goodfellas analysis of children? I got really interested when you brought up how the kids are out at the kids table and how that’s a whole can of worms. Great video also!
This is one of my favorite videos of yours.
An amazing point of view and a great observation seen in a different light....keep up the good work...👍👍👍👍
The phallic symbol in the kitchen scene is probably the Swan. Really enjoyed the video. Funny i always think of the too many onions scene when i am putting too many onions in my gravy, lol! Take it easy.
that caught my attention too, but didn't think of it that way.
@@collativelearning watched an art programme recently (waldemar januszczak) and naughty Jupiter appeared as a swan between her folded legs and arms, was about renaissance art in venice,they were mad for erotica lol, probably wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise . Cheers.
Wow!!! This analysis is brilliant! Ya know what I find crazy!? For some strange reason "subconsciously" whenever I eat pasta or any kind of Italian food I can't help but to start thinking of this movie. It's amazing how the mental affects that movies, music and entertainment in general can have on your mind. The food scenes are definitely there for a reason.
As others have mentioned, it's clear that David Chase was influenced by the food theme of Goodfellas, using it throughout the Sopranos series. And the way he used contemporary pop or rock songs (often in an ironic way) to heighten the drama of a scene, or for the ending of the episode, I suspect was influenced by Mean Streets.
4:30 It’s called spumoni. 🍨
very clever script, I thought it might just be for the intro but strong food puns all the way through, ..
well done!
Serving up youtubers a tasty treat.
Great video, i really enjoyed this.
I always thought of the food scenes as showing how ordinary all this carnage was for them. Like it was as much a part of their lives as food. It also cuts down on the bullshit glamor you see in some gangster movies. They aren't all sitting around a big dramatic table doing business like in the godfather, these dudes are talking about murder and extortion while making lunch. It humanizes them to show how inhuman they actually are.
With all the food references in the movie, I'm surprised it wasn't panned by the critics.
I use to say goodfellas was a cooking movie with gangsters. But wow i never realized just how much food was used to symbolize so much in this movie. Well done and great watch mate
That and the Godfather movies are examples of people who commit at least are at regular people who like to eat.
I jokingly called the film FOODKILLAS for years. Great work, excellent analysis as always.
The throwing of a man to the lions at the zoo is interesting because in Italy the lion is seen as a symbol of strength. 🇮🇹🦁💪🏻
Sooooo FANTASTIC!!! Thank you rob!!!!
Rob, at 28:25 Paulie says we have to eat Sangwiches lol
Funny you should say that Rob because I've always found Goodfellas a very apetizing movie to watch, simply because of all the food. Makes me hungry every time I watch it. Cheers!
What happened to your Billy Batts analysis video? I really enjoyed that video.
A song of ice and fire (the books) has a huge emphasis on food.
My friend read the fifth book before me and complained half the book was about eating beans!!
This video made me hungry, like watching "Goodfellas" always does. But I'm an Italian American, so food being connected to every important moment in life makes perfect sense to me.
Solid analysis, Rob. It makes like this kind of movie even less.
This was divine! Wolfed it down. Nicely prepared and served, thanks! I'll tell you what, the next time I come in your joint, I'll have The Texas Chainsaw Massacre analysis, I heard that is an acquired taste and a bit hard to swallow, but I also heard it's good for a balanced diet. 🐓🐓🐄🐄
28:00 all those razor blades and sharp forks that aren't being used as shanks and weapons, but being used as they were intended.
You know every time I've watched this movie I've always focused on the shot of Paulie frying those sausages. I never put it together with the Billie Bats scene but I think I was feeling a relation to that subconsciously.
Damn! Am I gullible or did you just make a perfect case for your point? Nah, I just enjoy being convinced when it's done right.
glad you got this one out rob
"Living like pigs." Also it's interesting that Italian cuisine is full of pork
Welcome to the latest edition of 'Rob Ager changes the way you watch a film forever'
I think the food themes are both simple and complex. It offers a natural behavior to occupy characters and set pieces in almost any given scene, but also it's a display of providence. Many of the most widely worshiped ancient deities were those with command over agriculture. And there's a duplicity, with meat for instance, where there is the gruesome necessity of butchery before the luxurious pleasure of feeding. Cool idea for a video!
I'm not Italian, but I feel the same connection to the food scenes during this film as I get with remembering Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, and especially Easter with my grandparents and their family. it's a kind of feeling that you'll be okay they'll make sure your fed and loved. even though we never ate traditional food from Ireland (where my family originated) there was always a since of national pride I got I can't explain it but this movie gives me a similar feeling.
Hey Rob maybe should review the movie 9 1/2 weeks with that food sex scene that would tickle your spine. Or even a scene in the not so great film dark comedy Goodbye Lover where Mary Louise Parker exposing her rear end and you see some apples on the shelf next to her.
Where is the other video of your breakdown of just the Billy Batz whack scene? I don't see it in your channel.
YT took it down. It's available on my site though.
Always insightful Rob! Haven't seen any mention here but there are echoes of food culture (esp. the gangster character who frames the vignettes) in a neglected but great Japanese film called Tampopo that are massive tropes you revisit here. Give it a watch. I'm sure you'll agree it repays attention. Damn funny and profound too. Cheers on all the hard work.
To bad you are not posting more often.. your videos are really great
Head to my site. You'll find tons more content there. My YT uploads are about a quarter of my total backlog at most
A real tour-de-force of food puns, great work LOL
You neglected to mention that the first shot of Henry as an adult is in front of Jackson Hole Diner in Queens, NY
The food scenes in this film remind me of family get-togethers that my family had when I was growing up.
Looking forward to this one.
One of my favourite movies.
Lots of food themes in the Sopranos, seems like every episode they talk about Zitti
Meat also is a big big theme too, Tony talks to Melfi about fainting when his parents cut meat AFTER he saw this father mutilate a butcher to collect money
Gabagool!
Great analysis Rob. I never noticed the food thing in Goodfellas. I'm sorta mad at myself because I know from watching Stanley Kubrick films, that you might have to pay closer attention to props being used in scenes, than you would, the dialog...
Perhaps all the other directors began to pay attention to what Kubrick was doing in his films, then began doing it in their films...
There's even a Henry Hill Wiseguy Cookbook
What's interesting there is he connects the recipes with people and incidents in his life, it's almost Proustian
Lol didn't know about that one.
Good factoid. Love it. The whole story of the film is being told to us in flashback in the past tense. So the narration is one long memory. So every meal or eating experience is connected to a memory. It's a chain of connected Madeleines.
I think the narrator is reading too much into the cannibalism/ food analogy, but his observation that Paulies sizzing sausages symbolizes his internal anger at Henry seems spot on!
It is how predators view easy people as kills. Head of big business and politicians are the modern
Ganster, Mafia movies, books, shows- my favorite genre. Never really thought about the dynamics regarding food. Above the two fruit plates in the Hill the younger's kitchen looks like a depiction of the last supper. Difficult to see. A last supper type theme was used in Casino, with the mafia bosses in Kansas sat around a table full of food.
There seems to be a lot of food and eating scenes in gangster and mafia movies, especially movies about Italian American gangsters. It’s like a clique to have your gangster movie have a lot of eating scenes.
Tarantino also has a lot of eating scenes or dialogue about food in his movies.
I never noticed all the food before, but I think it symbolizes an "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die" type of mentality.
Very true about ice cream; I visited Parma with work years ago and on a day off I visited an ice cream parlour and the locals would turn up with empty tubs which are filled and taken home. Their ice cream was amazing by the way!
As an Italian food is the binding foundation of all our doings, socializing, work and the very thing that drives us to our next destination, our days are not described in moments but the moments described in their recency to the last meal or bite to eat (big difference.) Any Italian film worth its salt will zero in on food!
Great video Rob! In the scene where they are celebrating after the Lufthansa Heist, the portly guy who bought the car for his wife, and in doing so could possibly be seen as an element of Gluttony? Maybe not exactly related to food directly but the idea of gorging on something expensive perhaps?
The food may be some kind of a metaphor for ''sin''. Like eating the apple which gets you off the heaven. The characters have such an appetite for food and they are so sinful, so hungry for worldly pleasures and power. Which causes their downfall and gets them off the ''paradise'' they are in...
They used to eat heartily in the Gemini lounge while dead bodies were draining in the bathroom.
This analysis gives me an appetite
Tasty video.