"It's all
bullshit except the pain. The pain of hell. The
burn from a lighted match increased a million
times. Infinite. Now, ya don't fuck around with
the infinite. There's no way you do that. The
pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can
touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in
your heart... your soul, the spiritual side. And
ya know... the worst of the two is the
spiritual." -Charlie (Harvey Keitel)
Before "Taxi Driver," before "Goodfellas,"
before "Raging Bull," there was "Mean Streets."
It's hard for me to imagine a time where the
name Scorsese wasn't an immediate reminder of
important and brilliant filmmaking, but when
"Mean Streets" was released in 1973, the name
wasn't known. Neither were the names Keitel and
De Niro, the lead actors in the film. The world
of film was also evolving. The glitz and cheese
of the 1950s was beginning to wear off, and the
personal, gritty filmmaking of the 1970s was
taking over. Scorsese was easily the most
important director of the 1970s, and he would
become one of the most important directors of
all time.
"Mean Streets" is a look at a group of
small-time hoods in New York City. The
protagonist (antihero?) is Charlie (Harvey
Keitel), the nephew of the local crime boss, and
an overall nice guy. His grappling with what he
does for a living and his religious beliefs
provide the themes of the movie. Charlie is a
fascinating character played marvelously by
Keitel. This is a character that in many movies
would have been romanticized, but here he is a
broken and unhappy man, who knows that what he
does is reprehensible and doesn't know how to
solve it and is tired of the usual "ten Hail
Mary's" advice his priest always gives him.
In addition to struggling with his faith,
Charlie has another conflict: with a young hood
named Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro), who owes
thousands of dollars to many people. Charlie
only wants to help Johnny Boy pay off his debts,
but Johnny is an immature, apparently mentally
unbalanced young man who leads himself and
Charlie into a shocking episode of violence that
is powerful and disturbing.
Ahh, Martin Scorsese. Your impact on the world
of film began here. Although much of your
trademark style seems to still be in the
experimental stages, it is all there. The
creative, often graceful cinematography, the
beautiful use of music, the shocking and sudden
violence...even De Niro, your trademark actor is
here. This is a film that came first in a string
of masterpieces, but it feels like an old friend
after seeing "Goodfellas" and "Taxi Driver."
"Mean Streets" is a brutal, brilliant, and 100%
original film that has already carved itself a
place in film history. All that's left is for
you to watch it.
"You don't make up for your sins in church. You
do it in the streets. You do it at home. The
rest is bullshit and you know it."
©
Written by Jacob Hall
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Richard
Propes' Comment
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