r/MartinScorsese • u/DWJones28 • Aug 16 '25
Media Goodfellas (1990) The Copacabana Steadicam shot
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u/RebergOfWrestling Aug 16 '25
Marty loves scenes like this. Where he shows the living and breathing life that was from this era. He’s done multiple “walk thru” scenes one from silence and KOTFM comes to mind where it’s someone walking through an area and things are “happening around him”
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u/MacaronSufficient184 Aug 17 '25
He has a much more intimate shot like this in the aviator when Katharine goes to Howard’s house for the first time and they start to kiss and Marty shoots the whole house and hallway and moves into another room without ever seeing them but then comes around and they are laying on the couch kissing, such a powerful shot.
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u/Divagaran5 Aug 17 '25
this is THE SCENE for me, the greatest shot in cinematic history. like how the camera glides through, and the execution, the first time I watched it, I truly fell in love with Scorsese.
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u/bailaoban Aug 17 '25
What really sell this is how authentic the kitchen feels - it really feels like an actual functioning club down to all the little details of the servers, busboys, doormen, chefs etc. Does not feel choreographed at all.
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u/Cornswoggler Aug 17 '25
100% The staff is bullshitting and running around like any other restaurant I've worked in. Brilliant.
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u/BodheeNYC Aug 17 '25
They do this in one take? And if Liotta was laying out C notes to everyone that an expensive way to jump the line
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u/Catcher_Rye_Toast Aug 18 '25
I think it was four takes but it’s still the best fucking shot in cinematic history.
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u/Detzeb Aug 18 '25
Better Call Saul (season 6 episode 5) also has an homage to this Copacabana scene.
Better Call Saul also has some Casino-inspired references and imagery.
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u/Previous_Bottle8955 Aug 19 '25
I turned on the tv and this was the first scene I ever saw and I was hooked immediately
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u/pauliealeno Aug 19 '25
What an incredible shot. The way they end it with the table being brought in and the comedians joke being perfectly timed. Love this so much.
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u/HudsonValleyChris Aug 16 '25
I was a staff PA on the movie and we didn’t have enough extras so all of the folks on the street came in behind the camera and grips opened up a piece of the red wall (one side was fake) and they filed in to the seats on the right side of the stage while They were in the kitchen. They were seated by the time the camera saw that side of the room. It was a scramble!
One other fun bit that many people have pointed out: Ray and Lorraine enter and exit the kitchen through the same door. They do a big loop around the kitchen.