Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Movie Derek Cianfrance Has 'Seen A Million Times'

The weekends on All Things Considered series Movies I've Seen A Million Times features filmmakers, actors, writers and directors talking about the movies that they never get tired of watching.

The movie that writer-director Derek Cianfrance, whose credits include the films Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines — currently in theaters — could watch a million times is Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.


Writer-director Derek Cianfrance
Chris Young / AP
/
AP
Writer-director Derek Cianfrance

Interview Highlights

On why he loved Goodfellas the first time he watched it

"It felt like the best movie I had ever seen. It had the best performances. It had the best use of music and period music, no real score."

On why he thinks the movie was robbed at the Oscars

"You know, flash-forward, like, March of 1991, the Academy Awards, I couldn't believe that Dances With Wolves was winning the best picture over Goodfellas. I mean, to this day, does anyone really think that Dances With Wolves is a better movie than Goodfellas? I certainly don't."

On what the film means to him

"You know, as a filmmaker, as a film lover, it's a film to aspire to make, and I'm just so thankful that Scorsese made it and it's out there in the world. You know, it's like a friend of mine, you know? I can watch it and feel like I'm visiting an old pal."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Lily Percy