Benefit
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2002
- Messages
- 5,193
This was Scorsese's precursor to Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, and the first time he and Robert De Niro hooked up. It isn't as polished as his later work, but certainly worth a look.
Following in the footsteps of The Godfather, Mean Street's portrayal of New York gangsters isn't nearly as lyrical or sweeping as Coppola's epic. Of course, it's not meant to be. It is a visceral slice of the real mean streets, not a glamorized depiction of the upper echelon of organized crime. It is intensely personal, raw and undiluted by sentimental charms or theatrical flair. These hoodlums aren't throwing around wads of cash; for them, 30 bucks is a nice score.
There is a heavy dose of Catholic symbolism and a pronounced heaven/hell dichotomy, with a lot of thematic waffling over redemption, salvation, penance, guilt, absolution of sin and other theological concepts all wrapped in the gritty mantle of running numbers, bar fights and collecting debts.
The acting is raw; Keitel and De Niro are great but had obviously yet to harness the full extent of their potential. The camera work is very lively, as you would expect, with a lot of handheld sequences and some pretty ambitious tracking shots that are worth a look. The violent scenes have a very hard-edged quality; they are anything but methodical which contributes to the realism. 60s rock classics make for a nice aural backdrop and became a staple of Martin Scorsese filmmaking.
This movie is at the opposite end of the spectrum from The Godfather. The hoodlums are essentially low-lifes with no future, struggling with the same problems all of us low-lifes struggle with: money problems, girl problems, retarded emotional maturity, etc. These very basic human issues are transposed into the colorful world of the New York underworld, which gives them that much more punch.
The dialogue is pretty fresh too. Couldn't tell how much was improvised, but it comes across as quite authentic. Neat film.
Following in the footsteps of The Godfather, Mean Street's portrayal of New York gangsters isn't nearly as lyrical or sweeping as Coppola's epic. Of course, it's not meant to be. It is a visceral slice of the real mean streets, not a glamorized depiction of the upper echelon of organized crime. It is intensely personal, raw and undiluted by sentimental charms or theatrical flair. These hoodlums aren't throwing around wads of cash; for them, 30 bucks is a nice score.
There is a heavy dose of Catholic symbolism and a pronounced heaven/hell dichotomy, with a lot of thematic waffling over redemption, salvation, penance, guilt, absolution of sin and other theological concepts all wrapped in the gritty mantle of running numbers, bar fights and collecting debts.
The acting is raw; Keitel and De Niro are great but had obviously yet to harness the full extent of their potential. The camera work is very lively, as you would expect, with a lot of handheld sequences and some pretty ambitious tracking shots that are worth a look. The violent scenes have a very hard-edged quality; they are anything but methodical which contributes to the realism. 60s rock classics make for a nice aural backdrop and became a staple of Martin Scorsese filmmaking.
This movie is at the opposite end of the spectrum from The Godfather. The hoodlums are essentially low-lifes with no future, struggling with the same problems all of us low-lifes struggle with: money problems, girl problems, retarded emotional maturity, etc. These very basic human issues are transposed into the colorful world of the New York underworld, which gives them that much more punch.
The dialogue is pretty fresh too. Couldn't tell how much was improvised, but it comes across as quite authentic. Neat film.
