As Nicholas Pileggi tells it, “You got to remember one thing when you’re dealing with these guys. The only reason they’re talking to you is they think they’re going to earn off of you. … It’s that cold, that deadly.”
“These guys” refers to mob types that the author met over the years as a reporter or while researching his books. Pileggi went on to co-write the screenplays with Martin Scorsese based on his books for the films “GoodFellas” and “Casino,” the 10th-anniversary edition of which is out this week ($22.98). The 1995 mob film stars Robert De Niro as Ace Rothstein, the manager of a Las Vegas casino in the 1960s and ’70s.
The 72-year-old author spent a lot of time interviewing mobsters for both the stories and the dialogue – “Casino’s” Rothstein was based on a real-life character – and would often ask the same question four or five times.
“The first time they answer it, the first sentence is sensational. The second time you ask, the third sentence of their answer is the good one. Or you’ll ask it again, and they’ll remember the color of the car that was shooting at them. It was a yellow Bonneville convertible. I’ll try to get the best quotes for a scene and that will wind up in the dialogue.”
Pileggi, who heard a lot of these guys talk while growing up in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst area, notes that many of these guys are good storytellers.
“They’re really raconteurs, and they really love to have a good time and go to the bars … buy each other drinks and tell stories in which, for the most part, they’re the hero.”
They’re not heroes in “GoodFellas” and “Casino,” which graphically shows the violence of their world. Pileggi gives Scorsese credit for being able to take the material and create a spectacular scene.
“‘Casino’ could have been a lot less inspired. It could have had a lot less genius. Marty took it and made it his vision. The book is fine. Nobody can take the book away from me. But he took that book and made it quite amazing. … And looking at it again, I am just amazed at just how much better it was than I had even remembered it.”
Interestingly, Pileggi isn’t alone in that assessment; the film is gaining a cult status. Coming out only five years after “GoodFellas,” “Casino” seemed a bit like Scorsese was going over the same ground. Now, with a bit more distance, the film can stand on its own merits, which are many. And for a nearly three-hour film, it’s never boring.
