I admit to having a fascination with the work of director Martin Scorcese and his often cast actor Robert de Niro so it is with some viewing trepidation that I went back to visit his early work from fifty years ago (at the time of this review) a film that I and countless other people of my generation have overlooked not on purpose as such but because his later cannon receives so much more kudos.
I very quickly gathered that the film is more low budget, gritty and darker than his flashier later exploits but don't let that destract you. If anything it makes it all the more a viewing pleasure. Instead of the big mafia types of other Scorcese films, Mean Streets goes further down the food chain as such to the lower tier criminals of the Little Italy area of New York City. The gangster violence is just as frenetic but with scenes more grimy, down to earth and less budgetary.
The film deals with several characters in the scene, mainly Charlie (Harvey Keitel) who knows his demons and that of his wisecracking, immature younger friend Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) who owns several thousand dollars to loan sharks in Little Italy. Added to the mix of the screenplay is that Charlie is having a sexual relationship with Johnny Boy's cousin Teresa, who is epileptic or described callously as 'sick in the head' by one of the mafia loan sharks in one scene.
Johnny Boy is a complex character who has scenes of immaturity and manic depression in equal measure enabling De Niro to show the film viewer of 1973 upon the film's release his obvious talent. A talent that Scorcese was to put to use in his stock company.
The film's soundtrack is an ode to the musical tastes of Scorcese and a clue of what lie ahead in his directorial style.
Scenes of violence and bloodshed prevail as the film develops into a crescendo of a shoot out, car crash scene. Also look out for a great pool room brawl that are reminders of past great movies and future ones ahead.
My advice to a younger generation who may have albeit accidentally overlooked this film is to watch it and read about it. A fascinating early Scorcese film.
I very quickly gathered that the film is more low budget, gritty and darker than his flashier later exploits but don't let that destract you. If anything it makes it all the more a viewing pleasure. Instead of the big mafia types of other Scorcese films, Mean Streets goes further down the food chain as such to the lower tier criminals of the Little Italy area of New York City. The gangster violence is just as frenetic but with scenes more grimy, down to earth and less budgetary.
The film deals with several characters in the scene, mainly Charlie (Harvey Keitel) who knows his demons and that of his wisecracking, immature younger friend Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) who owns several thousand dollars to loan sharks in Little Italy. Added to the mix of the screenplay is that Charlie is having a sexual relationship with Johnny Boy's cousin Teresa, who is epileptic or described callously as 'sick in the head' by one of the mafia loan sharks in one scene.
Johnny Boy is a complex character who has scenes of immaturity and manic depression in equal measure enabling De Niro to show the film viewer of 1973 upon the film's release his obvious talent. A talent that Scorcese was to put to use in his stock company.
The film's soundtrack is an ode to the musical tastes of Scorcese and a clue of what lie ahead in his directorial style.
Scenes of violence and bloodshed prevail as the film develops into a crescendo of a shoot out, car crash scene. Also look out for a great pool room brawl that are reminders of past great movies and future ones ahead.
My advice to a younger generation who may have albeit accidentally overlooked this film is to watch it and read about it. A fascinating early Scorcese film.