Martin Scorsese The Music Master.

'From the first shot of his first feature,” Roger Ebert wrote in 1990, “Scorsese has loved to use popular music as a counterpoint to the dramatic moments in his films. He doesn’t simply compile a soundtrack of golden oldies; he finds the precise sounds to underline every moment.” This quote from Gantsters Mixtape: The Rock and Roll music of Martin Scorsese  perfectly sums up the very idea of what music means to films and to life itself. A song can inflect and infer so much more emotion and mood that dialogue alone can. And Martin Scorsese is the maestro when it comes to using popular music to define action and narrative within film. Mt favorite film of all time is Goodfellas. For me this film, reminds me of my family specifically my mother. We would always watch this together when I was growing up. She was Italian and grew up in North Denver in the 50's. Her high school classmate Skip Laguardia was gunned down in his driveway by the mafia in Denver, which if you didn't think their was any mafia in Denver, their was. I remember eating a Gaetanos restaurant when i was a kid and hearing stories and being both intrigued and scared because that place was in a shit part of town. So i was of course always fascinated by the mafia and what makes Goodfellas greater than most is how this tale of gangsters is told along with the music. The music is juxtaposed in-between dialogue, the songs themselves often comment on the action happening on screen, and the songs instantly define each of the decades represented within the film, from the 50's through the 80's. When I hear Tony Bennett's Rags to Riches, I can only think of Ray Liotta slamming the trunk shut and opening the film. It is undeniable  and brilliant, and sets the tone of the entire film. The early songs in the film when Henry is growing up, like "Cant we be Sweethearts" by the Cleftones, and Speedo by the Cadalliacs, give the first part of the film an nostalgic romanticized look into the past, that in retrospect wasn't as carefree and innocent like the songs themselves. Studying the musical cues of Goodfellas exposes just how perfectly the songs go with the scenes themselves. "I Will Follow Him" by Betty Curtis plays when Karen tracks Henry down after he stood her up the first time.  During the legendary 3 minute steady cam shot of Henry and Karen walking through the kitchen up to the restaurant "Then He Kissed Me" begins playing by The Crystals. The song begins with the words "he walked up to me" and from Karen's perspective Henry is walking and leading her into his world both psychically and romantically.The song comments on the scenes itself. Classical compositions in film convey mood, but popular songs underlie meaning. And that's what Scorsese is great at. Even if a snip-it of a song  is played for a second then switches into another song altogether it would appear random but like the mind itself always racing from thought to thought the songs demonstrate the frantic emotions of being human.