First of all I have to admit that Scorsese is one of my best liked directors and that I watched Goodfellas several times, in english and dubbed in Italian.
I had some troubles in separating this scene from the entire film, that I know by heart. However I watched again the scene as it was standing alone and tried to forget all the rest.
Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), the main character, hand in hand with his girlfriend Karen (Lorraine Bracco) arrives in front of a fashionable place and, from that moment on, everything talks about that man being an important person. The first clue is the direct comparison between the charmed Karen, for the first time in that place, and the disenchanted Henry, who knows and is known/respected by everybody. This is his "home field": all doors are open for him, from the tradesmen's entrance to the front row. He never waits, even for a second, in order to be recognized: the film camera and Karen together follow him in a fluent path until the table, expressly placed at the last moment, just in time, as everybody were waiting for him and offer a bottle, wave hand and start the show. Tips are not means to be handled with gloves, they are part of a contract, and eveybody surrounding him look bound to this contract. The contract is not open, is not clear, is alarming.
