The Suite: Scene Analysis

We see Tommy Devito repeatedly beating Billy Bates with a pistol from a low angle shot after Billy insulted Tommy by telling him “To go home and get your F***en shine box” in reference to Tommy’s old job cleaning shoes in “The Suite” a restaurant opened by Henry Hill. The low angle shot is used to make Tommy appear bigger, stronger and thus more menacing. The use of a red single source of light creates an effect where Tommy is covered in darkness along with red light; representing his violent nature. At the same time, we hear the song "Atlantis" by Donovan, which is reminiscent of the hippy culture which was at a high during the 60’s when the scene occurred. The message of the song talks about peace, love and creating a utopia where everyone
one is happy as well as healthy, which is the complete opposite of the scene. Scorsese uses this juxtaposition to adds contrast to the scene making it feel more light-hearted and adding some ironic humor despite the horrific violence depicted as well as glorifying the violence. We also hear the diegetic sound of the sound of Jimmy and Tommy kicking and hitting Billy Bates. Scorsese uses this to helps emphasize the over reaction to the situation along with the extreme violence these men are will to escalate to over nothing. This shows how the men have become so preoccupied with climbing up the ranks in the mob together with being desensitized to the violence they don’t even realizing that they are attacking,as well as consequently killing a made man, someone who's meant to untouchable or the consequence that it will bring, all over a someone “busting (Tommy’s) balls”. By doing this, Martin Scorsese has successfully depicted the brutal reality of the mob life and the terrible violence they enacted on one another. He also shows despite the strong message of family presented by the mob, it is everyone for themselves, which can also be seen by Henry Hills betrayal of the mod later in the film.