Mean streets is a classic film, and one that can be appreciated less so for the plot than the presentation. For catholics raised before vatican ii, it has a resonance that it may lack for other audiences. Mean streets is one of the finest crime films that i have seen, and with a great cast that deliver some stunning performances, this is a finely crafted film that only scorsese could pull off. Wtf the ending mean streets 1973 discussion moviechat. Martin scorseses mean streets isnt so much a gangster movie as a perceptive, sympathetic, finally tragic story about how it is to grow up in a. After making the interesting whos that knocking at my door. The film recalls days when there was a greater emphasis on sinand rigid ground rules, inspiring dread of eternal suffering if a sinner died without absolution. Recommendation engine sorted out realistic, serious, rough and stylized films with plots about crimes, crime, gangsters, murder, gangster, brutality and violence mostly in crime, drama and thriller genres. Mean streets has been an acclaimed classic for a long time but what doesnt get said too often is how wonderfully funny it is. Its an intellectual man movie but a man movie nonetheless.
The zboys, as they come to be known, perfect their craft in the empty swimming pools of unsuspecting suburban homeowners, pioneering a thrilling new sport and eventually moving into legend. In later films, he took cinema to new heights with the flowering of his technical skills and the broadening of his material, but mean streets remains unsurpassed for the emotional intensity which only a young director, passionate about film and intent on making a personal statement, could achieve. Gangster film, drama, new hollywood, slice of life. Mean streets is a graphic adventure game developed and published by access software for msdos and commodore 64 in 1989. Mean streets 1973 cast and crew a slice of street life in little italy among lower echelon mafiosos, unbalanced punks, and petty criminals. The film isnt plot directed, being most forcibly a character study of charlie instead. Throughout the arc of movie history, a certain few filmmakers step in with. A smalltime hood aspires to work his way up the ranks of a local mob. Every character in the film wants charlie to let johnny boy get what he had coming to him. Mean streets 1973 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. In mean streets, keitel plays charlie, the emotional centre of the movie, and scorseses onscreen alterego.
Mean streets is the film that established director martin scorseses reputation, and it is often considered his most personal and emblematic work. Charlie is a guy trapped between his catholic spiritual longings and the reality of survival on the street. Even his name johnny boy elicits the perception of delayed maturity, a manchild fighting fist to fist with his own responsibilities. Martin scorseses mean streets is not primarily about punk gangsters at all, but about living in a state of sin. Thats why we might read a herman melville story as kafkaesque, or why mean streets feels like a linklater hangout movie, but with mafiosi. How martin scorseses mean streets explores the themes of. Now he has been plunged in, and he isnt equal to the experience. Mean streets and whos that knocking at my door are really the only scorsese films. Mean streets is a 1973 american crime film directed by martin scorsese and cowritten by. Piri is the eldest son of two puerto rican immigrants living in the new york city area with his family. Mean streets is the film that launched the career of one of the finest american. I think raging bull, taxi driver, silence, the departed, goodfellas, and shutter island are all superior films. Martin scorseses mean streets isnt so much a gangster movie as a perceptive, sympathetic, finally tragic story about how it is to grow up in a gangster environment. Hes not tough enough to be a mafia collector and not strong enough to resist.
Mean streets scorseses equations for raunchy narrow minded brother is an awe inspiring formula that works magically as a family drama rather than your usual street boys feud. Mean streets is set in the bars, restaurants, gogo clubs, apartments, and, in particular, the streets of little italy. But on mean streets, scorsese more patiently provides, along with the grainy, shuddery, noirish character of the film, a more authentic reality that is deliberately paced and unaffected enough to. Charlie has his hands full keeping the reckless johnny boy on the straight and narrow. Mean streets discussion paper watching martin scorseses mean streets 1973, a specific theme kept creeping through the story line. Charlie harvey keitel, a charming 27yearold who is supported by his devoutly catholic mother. At the same time, charlie is having an affair with johnnys cousin, teresa. Mean streets nude scenes images and 3 videos including appearances from jeannie bell amy robinson. Its like the director had said to his team okay, lets stop here, everybody is tired of this crap, lets finish it and move to something else. Mean streets plot summary from imdb a smalltime hood struggles to succeed on the mean streets of little italy. The definitive new york movie, and one of the few to successfully integrate rock music into the structure of film. That charlie tries, and fails, to reconcile these two worlds is essentially what mean streets is all about. A smalltime hood gets in over his head with a vicious loan shark.
The plot is nonexistent, the pace is uneven, the montage is rough. It was ported to the atari st and amiga in 1990 but these ports were only released in europe. The whole movie appears to be harvey keitel endlessly saying he has to pay his debts. Scorsese crafts a film with a well executed plot that is engaging from start to finish. The poolhall mook confrontation is one of best comedy scenes ever. The films storyline is about some friends growing up in a new york city section little italy during the 1970s.
Its the most abrupt, unexpected, bland ending ive ever seen in a good or supposed to be good movie. Casino 1995, pusher 1996, once upon a time in america 1984, goodfellas 1990, bad lieutenant 1992. Mean streets is a jazzy riff of a movie, zigging and zagging as if to the. Martin scorseses influential mean streets is a fascinating look at a young director setting himself up as one of the. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. The semiautobiographical picture taps directly into the experiences he had growing up in new york citys little italy in the late 50s. Youve never seen the color red until youve seen mean streets on celluloid.
What weaves together most scenes in mean streets is how charlie harvey keitel feels responsible for johnny boy robert deniro, his friend. Mean streets is the first most significant feature film by scorsese. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing faces mean streets near you. Down these mean streets is a 1967 memoir written by piri thomas detailing his late childhood through young adulthood. No matter how many better films scorsese makes, mean streets will. Such a film is mean streets, the third feature film by martin scorsese, the once.
The dialogue and characters werent strong enough to justify a movie which doesnt have a whole lot of plot. Mean streets is a movie so rich in content, so teaming with talent both in front of and behind the camera, that the temptation is to go on and on about it. In comparison with his later films, however, mean streets seems more like a rough sketch both thematically and stylistically than a fullyrealized achievement, despite the films distinction when. He spends his days wandering the streets of new york city and nights hanging out. Mean streets is a 1973 american crime film directed by martin scorsese and cowritten by scorsese and mardik martin. A smalltime hood, he works for his uncle, making collections and reclaiming bad debts. In the earlier film, he was still on the edge of life, of sex, of violence. Its characters like scorsese himself have grown up in new yorks little italy, and they understand everything about that small slice of human society except how to survive in it. Mean streets is a 1973 american crime film directed by martin scorsese and co written by. The movie doesnt have the headlong flow, the unspoken confidence in every choice, that became a scorsese hallmark.
The films story concerns life of some young men in new yorks little italy area. The movie rewards more than one viewing, as i took the opportunity to do through amazons rental program. Mean streets is the film that launched the career of one of the finest american filmmakers of his generation. He spends his childhood in the puerto rican section of harlem, though his family later moves to the italian. Mean streets continues and expands the theme of showing the life of young men who are limited and constrained, literally and figuratively, by the boundaries of little italy miliora 124. No matter how many better films scorsese makes, mean streets will forever remain his most personal. He has created a dysfunctional family drama that is explored in an ironic tone that leans towards intense life changing dram as it ages on screen. The future is set for tony and michael owning a neighbourhood bar and making deals in the mean streets of new york citys little italy. The film centers on the struggles of four residents of little italy, all men in their mid20s who aspire to be gangsters, loan sharks or just plain hoods. Mean streets after martin scorsese went to hollywood in 1972 to direct the lowbudget boxcar bertha for bmovie mogul roger corman, the young director showed the film to maverick director john cassavetes and got an instant earful of urgent advice. Scorsese himself has said that mean streets is a story of a modern saint, a saint in his own society, but his society happens to be gangsters. Applying the directors view to the films title, its clear that the hero described in. Mean streets 1973 is martin scorseses third fulllength feature film and first. A fictionalized take on the group of brilliant young skateboarders raised in the mean streets of dogtown in santa monica, california.
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