Three things will always be true of Martin Scorsese films: morally compromised characters, crackling tension, and killer needle drops. About midway through GoodFellas, this Scorsese trifecta quite possibly reaches its peak.
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Ranked No. 9 on Rolling Stone’s roundup of the greatest rock ’n’ roll movie moments, the legendary “Shine Box Scene” is just one of many examples of Scorsese’s superior ability to pair music with mayhem. As RS puts it, “He can jolt you with a song you’ve never heard, or bring new drama to one you thought you already knew.”
View this post on InstagramLet’s first set the scene: It’s June 11, 1970, in Queens, New York, and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) are having a drink at Henry’s dimly lit mob hangout, The Suite Lounge. At the other end of the bar, Billy Batts (Frank Vincent) is celebrating his recent release from prison.
Meanwhile, Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) enters the scene with his girl. Pleasantries are exchanged before Billy starts breaking Tommy’s you-know-what about his past as a shoeshine boy. Once Billy hurls the fatal taunt — “Now go home and get your f—ing shine box” — Tommy snaps.
Related: 1963 Timeless Anthem That Opens a Legendary Film Ranked Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Movie Moment
A dangerous and unhinged made-man, Tommy and his girl leave before he returns solo in a fit of rage, brutally ambushing Billy with Jimmy and leaving him unconscious. The song that soundtracks the clash of mob egos? Donovan’s “Atlantis.” Watch the scene in full here.
Released in 1969, the single was featured on the Scottish singer-songwriter’s seventh studio album, Barabajagal. A hypnotic tune, “Atlantis” begins with a mythic spoken-word incantation about the lost city of Atlantis, then swells into a repetitive, joyful chorus, “Way down below the ocean / Where I wanna be, she may be.”
The song’s contrast of tension and emotional release provides the perfect complement to Scorsese’s bloodbath, with the “gentle folkie love-beads” track taking “on a strange new malevolence, even as De Niro and Pesci seem lost in their own version of Donovan’s reverie.”
In May 1969, Donovan’s signature track peaked at No. 7 on theBillboard Hot 100 and became a worldwide success, even topping charts in Switzerland.
In similar form Goodfellas became a global phenomenon, with critics calling it one of the greatest films of all time and the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences rewarding the film with six nominations, one of which it won. Which one? Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Joe Pesci.
It seems we’ve come full circle.
Related: 1973 Timeless Anthem That Closes an Iconic Film Ranked Among Greatest Rock ’n’ Roll Movie Moments
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