Martin Scorsese and his legacy in gangster cinema

Martin Scorsese has established himself as a master of the gangster genre through a career spanning seven decades. His filmography includes seminal works such as ‘Mean Streets’, which showcased his signature frenetic editing and camera techniques, and ‘Casino’, often noted for its excess.

His 1990 masterpiece ‘Goodfellas’, based on the book ‘Wiseguy’ by Nicholas Pileggi, remains a definitive entry in the genre. The film follows Henry Hill, a mafia associate whose decision to become a government witness was driven by a need for survival after being arrested for cocaine trafficking—a violation of the rules set by mob boss Paul Cicero.