Day 40: You Don't Make Up For Your Sins In Church. You Do It In The Streets.

MEAN STREETS (1973)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, David Proval, Ann Robinson, Richard Romanus

Charlie (Keitel) is a devout Catholic who walks a fine line between his faith and his job “debt collecting” for his mafia uncle.  Johnny Boy (De Niro) is an irresponsible hood who owes money to every big shot in the neighborhood.  Michael (Romanus) is one of those big shots.  Tony (Proval) owns the bar where they all hang out together.  But Johnny’s lack of concern over his debts casts a shadow on everyone, especially Charlie, who vouched to Michael for Johnny.  To top it all off, Charlie is dating Johnny’s cousin Theresa (Robinson).  As Johnny’s devil-may-care attitude gets him into more and more trouble, Charlie gets caught in the middle and tries his best to do not only what’s best for his friend, but also not to lose his spot in the organization.

Martin Scorsese’s second feature is a gritty slice of life in New York’s Little Italy, reportedly based on things he actually experienced growing up there.  But even for such a low budget film and such a young director, there is already a lot of technical savvy on display.  Scorsese shows that he already can speak the cinematic language and use it to his advantage.  Right after a scene of Charlie in church, we cut to Tony’s bar, where topless girls gyrate and people drink, dance and shoot pool.  The whole bar is bathed in a deep red light, making it look as if Charlie was in heaven in the morning and in hell at night.  In what has become a staple of Scorsese’s films, most of the soundtrack consists of old rock ‘n roll standards, mixed in with some opera and classical music.  But the one part that stood out was a scene where Charlie gets drunk at a party and passes out.  Keitel wore a rig on his chest the held the camera in front of him.  The effect is that Charlie’s head stays stationary while the background spins and shakes violently.  I’ve seen other directors use this trick (Darren Aronofsky, Guy Ritchie), but this is the earliest film I’ve ever seen it in.

This film is also notable for being the first of many collaborations between Scorsese and Robert De Niro.  It seems that once Scorsese finds an actor he likes, he casts him in as many films as possible.  He’s doing it now with Leonardo DiCaprio.  But this was the first time these two had worked together, and they would go on to do some of the most memorable films of the 70’s.  And De Niro is great here as Johnny Boy.  His utter disdain for all authority shines through and makes him, at times, very entertaining.  At other times, he’s downright scary.  He’s a loose cannon that could go off at any time.  And in a culture that thrives on respect and order, that is a huge problem. 

Mean Streets is a good watch for a lot of reasons.  I love going back to the earlier films of established directors to see where they got their start and how they honed their skills.  Most of what we think of when we think of Scorsese and his films (gangsters, gritty New York locales, and a rock soundtrack) are already here.  But it’s also fun to watch and see how many of Scorsese’s tricks have been “borrowed” from other directors since then.  But that’s the thing about filmmaking: if you see somebody do something you like, you use it in your own film.  I’m sure Scorsese borrowed a trick or two from Roger Corman.  But here, he stands on his own, and it put him on the map.