Mean Streets

Do you know what the Queen said?… 'If I had balls I’d be a King.'....... Obviously.

Mean Streets is a good early example of Martin Scorsese being an auteur, for his first New York based film he gives us a classic example of his art.

You can tell his BA and MA have really paid off, he shows examples of French new wave cinema techniques and also Italian neorealism combined with his own now well known style to create a film that was not only gritty but funny.

This was Martin Scorsese’s third feature film and we can see he has already got a style in mind for his career, we have the bar tracking shot, voice overs, strong red lighting, religious background for the main character and also a heavy soundtrack all these elements can be seen in his 1990 film Goodfellas. Also he starts this picture with old home movie footage for the main character (played excellently by Harvey Keitel) which is similar to the cut scenes in Raging Bull.

This was Robert De Niro’s first film with Scorsese yet you can see a partnership would soon blossom, He plays the character Johnny Boy a care free yet out of control young street tough that owes money all over the neighbourhood, You feel for his character even when you know his actions are going to get him in trouble, In his introduction to the film he is seen blowing up a mailbox for no other reason then he found it funny.

If you haven’t seen this picture I would recommend it. The characters are believable and the narrative is simple yet deep, you get swept along for the journey into 1970’s New York.