Great Foreign Movies - Mean Streets. Review on Mean Streets Movie

Sometimes I wonder what is hell? For outsider, it might look ugly, nasty, grim, unpleasant, and the world you never want to live. For insider, doesn’t matter how much uncluttered, unorganized, or unpleasant their world is, it is always their home.

Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese's earlier autobiographical movie, Mean Streets (1973) looks at the New York City's Little Italy (Place where he himself grown up) and how young kids adopts living their previous generation’s low-level criminal lifestyle and even though from outside, it looks filthy and unmoral, from inside, its a environment they don’t want to leave doesn’t matter how worse it is.

Story

In New York City's Little Italy, religious Charlie (Harvey Keitel) is the young nephew of mobster Giovanni (Cesare Danova). He is caught between his catholic faith and his bully work running numbers, making collections, claiming debts for his uncle. Despite everyone respects him in the neibourhood, he relentlessly feels guilty of being involved in crime and dreams of escaping the life of low-level criminal life and opening his own restaurant.

Charlie finds redemption of his inner demons by helping his childhood pal, Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro), a reckless yet charming crook that owes money to everyone and is more than likely headed for a bullet in his head. Charlie relentlessly tries to keep the indebted Johnny out of trouble from Micheal (Richard Romanus), local loan shark.

Charlie is also in love with Johnny’s strong-willed yet epileptic cousin, Teresa (Amy Robinson), who wants to move away to the city. Even though Charlie knows consequences of Little Italy’s violent life, he seems so deeply rooted with his Italian-American mafia culture that it becomes really hard for him to move away from the society he grew up.

As Charlie is having dilemma of what’s right and what’s wrong, hotheaded Johnny does something unthinkable. Will Charlie able to save irresponsible Johnny? Will Charlie have to pay the price being father figure of foolhardy Johnny?

Analysis

Mean Streets is a vintage Scorsese film where violence, guilt, brotherhood are common movie themes. It is widely known as Scorsese's autobiographical film where Harvey Keitel plays Scorsese himself demonstrating his own conscious of growing up in New York's ruthless Little Italy area. Mean streets released in the sandwiched year of between God Father and God Father II. If Godfather analyzes the life of mafia dons and upper end of food chain of mobs, Mean streets talks about people at the lower end of food chain of Mobs environment. At first sight, it’s a gritty story of small time crooks and mob wannabes. As you go deeper, it seems like story of one guy who tries hard to live proper life but ends up being victim of violent society.

Mean Streets is full of memorable scenes. Most of sequences are taken as leaf from brutal Little Italy’s streets life. Some of my favorites are - De Niro blowing up mailbox for fun, De Niro firing bullets from the terrace to the empty street lights for fun, De Niro enters Proval’s bar with two girls and subsequent chat between Keitel and De Niro regarding where he got the money and how Di Niro makes unsuccessful excuses, and Keitel and Amy Robinson's seductive scenes. Best of them is famous poolroom scene where small arguments turn into bloody wrestling fight. In one of the scene, movie shows how directionless youth life in gangster influenced area - Michael gets $20 bill and Tony and Charlie wants to celebrate it by going to the theater. It's that simple. Once you get hold of currency, use it right away. There are no theories of saving money for future or help parents to bring bread and butter for family.

As far as acting, the combination of De Niro (Johnny), Keitel (Charlie), Amy Robinson (Teresa), David Proval (Tony), Richard Romanus (Michael), George Memmoli (Joey), and Cesare Danova (Giovanni) is deadly lethal. Harvey Keitel as Charlie is real heartbeats of the film. His role as morally conflicted anti-hero who is struggling with responsibility and identity is cinema’s one of the most powerhouse performances. Even though Di Nero doesn’t get same screen time as Keitel, his role as Johnny boy as hotheaded rebellious punk is memorable and most importantly started his long successful collaborations with Scorsese for next two decades replacing earlier Keitel-Scorsese collaborations. Amy Robinson as Keitel's neighbor and forbidden love interest works as seductive bombshell. Her naked scenes with Keitel is explosively seductive yet sensual and her naked body movements are more than enough to move any man lying on his couch.

There aren’t many weaknesses in Mean Streets. If there is then many complained about its narrative structure and non-cohesive screenplay. I found it little bit confusing at first but once screenplay identifies Keitel’s dilemma, it’s easy to understand that this movie is nothing but study of how criminals becomes victims of the environment they grows up. Mean Streets is also great showcase of early talents of Scorsese with raw gray visuals, innovative zigzag story structure, handheld camera work, and artistic editing.

One of the specialties of Scorsese's movies is a movie soundtrack. Being ardent rock music fan, Scorsese is known for incorporating rock-n-roll soundtracks in his films especially Taxi Driver, The Goodfellas, and The Departed. Mean Street is not behind and blessed by Eric Clapton and Rolling Stone’s soundtracks.

Conclusion

Ever since I have seen Mean Streets, I was blown away by its raw gritty look and feel especially how small-time hoodlums spend (or kill?) their precious time on streets, bars, and cinemas doing nothing. It takes viewer into heartland of brutal and violent mafia influenced neibourhood and injects unforgettable characters into your mind. If you are fan of Scorsese then this is must see. It is one of the most underrated Scorsese movies ever.