Rating 5 out of 5: This is the best gangster movie of all time! And it’s in theaters this week!

What is it about? From early childhood, Henry Hill, who was born to an Irish father and a Sicilian mother, wanted to become a gangster and belong to the mafia. As a teenager in the 1950s, he began working for Paul Cicero and greatly admired Jimmy Conway, who made truck hijacking his specialty.

Outspoken and ambitious, he helps break up the warehouses at Idlewild Airport and marries Karen, a young Jew whom he regularly cheats on. But his involvement in the drug trade sinks him…

The best gangster movie of all time!

Les Affranchis has a press average of 5/5 (for 5 critics) on AlloCiné, making it the best mafia movie of all time. It is ahead of other references in the field, such as The Godfather, Once Upon a Time in America, Casino, L’Impasse or The Prophet.

In the audience ratings, Martin Scorsese’s feature film is still first with an average of 4.5/5, behind The Godfather and Once Upon a Time in America.

The genesis of the film

At first, Martin Scorsese did not want to make a gangster film, for fear of repeating the cult classic Mean Streets (1976) starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. However, he changed his mind after reading the book while filming The Color of Money (1987). Nice boy By Nicholas Pileggi.

He then contacted producer Irwin Winkler, who had the rights to use the work. Scorsese then began adaptation work after working on New York Stories (1989). When it was released in late 1990, Les Affranchis earned around $50 million worldwide on a budget of 25.

Based on real characters

The characters of the movie actually existed. The real Henry Hill, who turned in his accomplices in May 1980, took advantage of the witness protection program and later ran an Italian restaurant called Azoresin Redmond, Washington. After the release of the film, he had to settle elsewhere, in an unknown place.

He died of cardiac arrest in 2012. One of his daughters is also in the wedding scene of Les Affranchis.

Tommy DeVito’s (Joe Pesci) real name was Tommy DeSimone, and James Conway’s (Robert De Niro) real name was Burke. The latter died of lung cancer in prison in 1996. Finally, Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) is heavily inspired by Paul Vario, a mob boss connected to New York’s famous Luche family.

Martin Scorsese’s entourage

For the needs of Affranchis, Martin Scorsese included his entourage in the filming. Thus, Catherine Scorsese, the mother of the film director, Charles Scorsese, his father, as well as the actor Frank Vincent, one of his friends, are part of the distribution. The first portrays Tommy DeVito’s mother, the second the (very) underrated Winnie character, and the third interprets King Billy Betts.

For the record, this is not the first time that Frank Vincent has bitten the dust from Joe Pesci’s hand, as the latter also beat him (though not to death…) in Raging Bull (1980). In Casino (1996), the roles are reversed and it is Vincent who carries out the action (with the help of accomplices armed with iron rods) for a scene of extreme violence in a cornfield…

Why Ray Liotta?

In Les Affranchis, the public discovered the unknown Ray Liotta in Henry Hill’s Cannes, who gave a great performance alongside big names Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Martin Scorsese really chose to entrust this character to a lesser-known actor. The reason for this choice?

According to Liotta, Scorsese scouted her for the comedies Dangerous in All Aspects (1986) and A Dream’s End (1989) for the “explosive energy” she exuded. The comedian later explained that he had auditioned multiple times for the role.

But it was during the 1988 Venice Film Festival that everything finally came out: Scorsese was there for the presentation of The Last Temptation of Christ and was constantly surrounded by bodyguards because of the controversy surrounding the film.

When Liotta tried to talk to the director towards him and his bodyguards, the actor did not lose his composure.

Seeing this scene, Scorsese was surprised by the fact that Liotta didn’t get angry, and thought that it perfectly matched what he was looking for in Henry Hill: someone who observes things and doesn’t lose touch. means even the most. delicate situations.

From June 7 to August 29, UGC cinemas celebrate 100 years of Warner Bros. with a special program of 100 studio masterpieces in 20 UGC cinemas across France throughout the summer at €8.50 per seat.

All programming at ugc.fr :

UGC Ciné Cité les Halles: 1 film per day, or 84 films during the summer, and various events and entertainment to accompany this anniversary program.

UCG Ciné Cité Bercy: special retrospectives around franchises and filmmakers (Lord of the Rings, Christopher Nolan, DC Universe, etc.)

Dedicated programming in 18 cinemas in France on Saturday and Sunday evenings: UGC Ciné Cité Vélizy, UGC Ciné Cité Créteil, UGC Ciné Cité Cergy, UGC Issy les Moulineaux, UGC Ciné Cité La Défense, UGC Ciné Ciné Cité Créteil UGC Ciné Cité Parly, UGC Ciné Cité Noisy -le-Grand, UGC Ciné Cité Part-Dieu (Lyon), UGC Ciné Cité Internationale (Lyon), UGC Ciné Cité Atlantis (Nantes), UGC Ciné Cité Bordeaux, UGC Ciné Cité Cité Cité Cà CàC. Fleet (Bordeaux), UGC Talence (Bordeaux), UGC Ciné Cité Lille, UGC Ciné Cité Strasbourg, UGC Nancy.