‘Goodfellas’ 25th Anniversary Celebrated At Tribeca Film Festival

The cast of the iconic Martin Scorsese gangster film, Goodfellas, celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday evening.

A re-mastered version of the beloved effort was screened at New York City’s Beacon Theatre in front of 3,000 adoring fans, where it was greeted as if it was a rock n’ roll performance. The crowd cheered the introduction of each character, laughed riotously to each joke, and regularly shouted things out. However, rather than any of this being done in a disobedient manner, it was still cordial, and everyone was bonded together by their appreciation for Goodfellas.

After the screening, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart oversaw a question and answer session with the star’s cast Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Lorraine Bracco, and Paul Sorvino, as well as the writer of the book Wiseguys, which Goodfellas was based on, and the film’s co-writer, Nicholas Pileggi.

And during their discussion with Stewart, many revelations were made, with Paul Sorvino explaining that even though the group don’t see each other on a regular basis, when they do, they immediately feel linked to each other.

According to Indiewire, Sorvino remarked, “We sometimes run into each other. What happens is, you see each other 10 or 15 years later, and it is as if the time has not passed. Because we got to know each other so well at an emotional or spiritual level; and it never goes away.”

Meanwhile, Ray Liotta revealed that Martin Scorsese didn’t want the actor to meet Henry Hill, the gangster who Liotta portrayed in the film and whose story it told. But when the actor did actually meet him a few years after it had been released, Liotta confirmed that Hill was not only a big fan of his performance, but he thanked Liotta for not making him look like a “scumbag.”

This was hugely surprising to Liotta, who asked Hill,”Did you see the movie?” Liotta questioned Hill’s judgment because Goodfellas depicted the character cheating on his wife, taking copious amounts of drugs, and being involved in numerous beatings and murders.

Nick Pileggi also revealed that Martin Scorsese was never truly satisfied with Goodfellas, even explaining to the writer at the film’s premiere that he wish he’d been able to make edits. Pileggi recalled, “We were at the Ziegfeld, I was sitting next to him, and he said, ‘We should have cut that.’ ‘Marty,’ I said, ‘we’re at the Ziegfeld, it’s the opening of the movie, and the editing is over’.”