MEAN STREETS (1973) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Martin Scorsese Writers: Martin Scorsese and Mardik Martin Starring: Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro, David Proval, Amy Robinson, Richard Romanus, Cesare Danova, David Carradine, Robert Carradine, Martin Scorsese, Catherine Scorsese
In 1973, a year after "The Godfather" made organized crime kind of glorious, director Martin Scorsese exploded onto the big screen with his highly ambitious, and incredibly personal "Mean Streets," which chronicled what seemed to be his early adulthood in Little Italy, a place where there's organized crime which can look glamorous to anyone on the cusp of maturity. To me, this film is about this cusp, and how life lessons like what happens in this film can help us to grow as people, and someday mature fully.
"Mean Streets" deals with Charlie (Harvey Keitel), who is supposed to be the young Scorsese. He is basically defined as an angel stuck between heaven and hell. Highly religious, though easily seduced by crime, sleazy women, and other assorted things prohibited by catholicism, he is an immature, though a little more mature than most of his clique.
Charlie is a frequent church-goer, but also resides at his one friend's (David Proval) bar. We see him at his most reverent at church, then cut to him at the bar where he's doing what he always does: hanging around, drinking, etc. He seems to be more in his element there, and also seems more hypnotizing there. We are lured into his world, and show the same fascination he does when he gazes up at the topless dancers.
Charlie also has another big weakness: his friendship to the incredibly immature Johnny Boy (Robert DeNiro). Johnny owes money to everyone in the world, it seems, and Charlie acts as his parole officer, checking in on him, and always making sure he's making money to pay off his debts. One of his more outstanding debts belongs to one of Charlie's friends and associates, Michael (Richard Romanus), who is constantly bugging Charlie for the money.
He's obsessed with Johnny in more ways than one. The two share a kind of homoerotic relationship, at one time crashing in the same bed as eachother. Then, in the same shot, we see that it's deeper than that. Charlie is kind of dating or pseudo-dating Johnny's cousin, Theresa (Amy Robinson), who's also on Charlie's case to de-friend Johnny and move away with her.
With all these tense things going on, as well as his job for one of the local mafia heads (Cesare Danova), we see Charlie caught in a self-made cage. The finale, which is often criticized but brilliant when understood, brings about the maturity of Charlie, and also the awakening of a couple other characters.
"Mean Streets" is told in a breezy, epiodic fashion, allowing us to get to know the characters in a friendly fashion. Johnny Boy's a seductive character, being child-like and fancy free and all that good stuff. He has no responsibilites, is a good ladies man, and seems to always be in a state of happiness. Charlie is more like the majority of us: passive with a bit of fatherhood over Johnny Boy, who he idolizes in a non-sexual way (yes, there's homoeroticism between the two, but nothing serious, although one could say that his relationship with Theresa is a growth from the one with Johnny).
"Mean Streets," the first big film from Scorsese, is a ferociously original film. Its directing style is gritty, often resembling a crude documentary from the era, only with DeNiro and Keitel as the main subjects. Its violence is sudden, often impulsive, catching us off guard. One time, a drunken man at the bar (David Carridine, around the time "Kung Fu" took off) is suddenly shot by an unknown assailant (Robert Carridine, his cousin, I think). And there are some great brawl scene taking place in a local pool hall, ending with some bit of gritty police corruption.
Scorsese has called this one of his most personal films (I think his most personal as well as favorite might be "Italianamerica," a short documentary on his parents), and its bursting with the personal touches of a man who lived all this. While it's not up there with my favorites of Scorsese (i.e. "After Hours" and "Taxi Driver"), it's definitely one of his best films, and a prime example of how to mould your personal experiences into a powerful film.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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