Film Analysis (2001: A Space Odyssey | Goodfellas) [Part 1]

Introduction 

I will analyse two cult films; 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir. Stanley Kubrick) and Goodfellas (1990, dir. Martin Scorsese). 

2001: A Space Odyssey is a science fiction (sci-fi) epic feature, with ground-breaking visual effects, a provocative narrative and an inspired score: shot on a Super Panavision 70 camera. It was loosely based on Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Sentinel”, which inspired the infamous monolith present throughout the film, and was produced concurrently with his novel of the same name. Although it was financed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), in order to qualify for the Eady Levy tax, MGM subcontracted production of the film to Kubrick’s production company, Stanley Kubrick Productions, thus giving Kubrick complete creative control over the film. The film’s budget was an estimated $12 million (just shy of a hundred million today), and the film grossed $146 million at the box office (today, over one billion). The film runs for 142 minutes. Clarke wrote several sequel books to 2001, but only the first, 2010: Odyssey Two, was turned into a spin-off feature, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, which flopped at the box office. The film was made during The Space Race between the United States and the former Soviet Union but, although the effects of weightlessness and the concept of artificial gravity were beginning to be understood, the portrayals of space, space travel and its effects on humans in science fiction films of the time were far from accurate. This fact led Kubrick to hire and consult acclaimed scientists, engineers, directors and illustrators such as Chesley Bonestell, whose work inspired the American space program, Colin Low, who directed the animated short Universe: which was bulk ordered by NASA for its realism, and Douglas Huntley Trumbull, who created many photographic effects for the films such as the ‘Star Gate’ sequence which required a custom-built slit-scan machine, to “create a work of art which would arouse the emotions of wonder, awe … even, if appropriate, terror” [Clarke, Arthur C. (1972)]. There wasn’t a target audience in particular for the film, except those seeking a more intellectually oriented science fiction narrative. However, due primarily to the psychedelic nature of the Star Gate sequence, it was a hit with hippies and celebrity drug users alike. For example, David Bowie took some cannabis tincture before watching 2001 and six months later wrote his first global hit, ‘Space Oddity,’ featuring his first successful character, Major Tom, based on crewmember Dr. David Bowman. 

Goodfellas is a biographical gangster feature, with a rich cast of actors, masterful use of the Steadicam and innovative editing: shot on an Arriflex 35BL 4S camera. The story is based on the nonfiction book, Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi: which chronicles the life of Henry Hill, a Mafia associate turned informant. Pileggi collaborated with Scorsese on the screenplay, deciding which parts of the book would be in the film and which sections would be changed. The film had a budget of approximately $25 million (52¼ million USD today) and was distributed by Warner Bros., grossing around $47 million (presently, just under $100 million) at the box office. It runs for 146 minutes and is a standalone film; despite several recent films, such as The Irishman (2019, dir. Martin Scorsese), which shares many members of the Goodfellas cast, widely hypothesised to be sequels. Additionally, in a Boston Globe article, Scorsese Tackles the Mob, Matthew Gilbert viewed the film as the third instalment in a trilogy of gangster films by Scorsese. Scorsese was vehemently gripped with the concept, as he viewed Pileggi’s Wiseguy as the most vérité portrayal of an organised crime syndicate he had ever read. The audience the film is likely to attract is presumably male-dominated, with a majority enjoying on-screen violence.