Martin Scorsese Details Destructive reaction from the public during the first screening of his iconic film from the 90s

Martin Scorsese has revealed that the public was full of disgust during one of the very first screenings of Goodfellas.

The 82-year-old director remembered how His acclaimed gangster film from 1990 Had not gone well with first viewers because of his relentless violence and dark humor.

Speaking with the audience at the 30 -year anniversary display of Tribeca Film Festival of Casino in the Beacon Theater on Thursday evening next Robert de NiroHe said: “The previews were terrible. They got angry with us.

‘The first ten minutes were like an exodus of Egypt.

‘[They were] Walking through the aisle, they complain prophets to beat the theater. ‘

Scorsese reasoned that it was the humor and the violence of the film that made those early theater visitors shocked.

“Well, to be honest, they didn’t expect … I think they were really upset by … the dark humor of it. The humor and violence together … ‘

Martin Scorsese has revealed that the audience was full of disgust during one of the very first screenings of Goodfellas

The Gangster film from 1990 played Ray Liotta, Robert de Niro, Paul Sorvino and Joe Pesci

The Niro, who played in the film as a gangster James ‘Jimmy’ Conway, praised his old employee for holding ‘firm’ on his vision of the project.

“He is so hard with the pressure to make a movie and the money,” he said.

Goodfellas, adapted from the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pleggi, played Ray Liotta famous as the American gangster Henry Hill and Joe Pesci as hardened criminal Tommy Devito.

Despite the awkward first reviews, the photo would go $ 47 million at the cash register at a budget of $ 25 million.

The film – which is considered to be one of the best ever – also achieved appliance worldwide and received an impressive Six Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Pesci won the best supporting actor for his role as Tommy.

Focusing his attention on the relationship between Goodfellas and Casino, which was released five years later in 1995, Scorsese said: ‘The idea was to last the last 15 minutes before he [Henry Hill] Is arrested in Goodfellas and make that one movie: let’s go even further and just go. ‘

“Goodfellas is like a stand-up routine,” he added.

Scorsese remembered how Goodfellas did not go well with first viewers because of his inexorable violence and dark humor

Nowadays Goodfellas is seen as one of the greatest films of all time

Scorsese and Robert de Niro reunited for the casino 30 -year anniversary display at Tribeca Film Festival 2025

“That takes you and expands that and looks at how far it can stretch until it all shoots away.”

Scorsese gave advice to today’s filmmakers and begged emerging directors not to lose their ‘amateur’ status.

“Often if you get a larger budget, it is worse in terms of production,” he said. These are terrible problems.

“It is also the more money, the more risks and therefore the pressure means taking fewer opportunities aesthetic and artistic.”

He said that the love you have for the art form is “the thing you have to hold with all the money that flies around.”