When I started this thread, I kept thinking about GoodFellas--not sure why. So I googled GoodFellas and food and found, of all things...a website devoted to the topic! Ya gotta love the Internet. This site owner maintains that GoodFellas is a "food film" according to his criteria:
What exactly is a food film? The mere presence of food in a movie does not categorize the movie as a food film. The film must meet certain criteria to be included in the food film genre. GoodFellas is not considered by many to be a typical “food film.” However, it meets the three criteria of that food films must follow. The first criterion is that food must appear or be talked about in the film several times. Second, the main characters must be knowledgeable about the preparation or consumption of food. The characters cannot just be in the presence of food and mindlessly eat it as a means of sustenance they must appreciate it. Lastly, the food in the movie must also be a part of the characters' culture and therefore must bring out the characters' culture. Food films use these criteria as a method of conveying themes and presenting certain aspects of the film and characters.By this definition, GoodFellas falls into the category of food films. Each criterion is met thoroughly and is important to the film.
In my own mind, I kept remembering the scene near the end, when Henry Hill is making sauce. The scene gets a special mention:
The last example of a main character making food is very disturbing. Henry Hill, under the influence of cocaine, is in a drug-fuelled paranoia of the FBI. Helicopters above keep tracking his location and he eventually goes home. He starts preparing a meal amidst the FBI helicopters overhead. He seems equally worried,or obsessed as the London Food Film Festival says, about the preparation of the pasta sauce as much as the FBI helicopters overhead. One of his last orders is to "keep an eye on the sauce and watch the helicopters," right before the FBI catches him. Even during his last moments of freedom, Hill is concerned about the preparation of the baked ziti so that Michael will like it.
And he sums up with:
One thing that you will never find in this movie is the gangsters going to a fast food restaurant. For example, in Pulp Fiction there is a scene where one of the main characters Jules is eating a Big Kahuna Burger and remarking on how good it is. A scene like this would be blasphemous in GoodFellas. The Italian culture's take on food is that it is made by your mother or you eat at a restaurant that is owned by a friend that is basically family. No fast food restaurant could ever possibly compare to the food that the mobsters eat. All the meals are basically home cooked. Also, the whole family or friends are present during the cooking of the meal. The presence of family and friends during meal time is very important in the Italian culture. There is nothing more evident of one's culture than a home cooked meal with family or friends.
GoodFellas...A Food Film!
L
