Review of Mean Streets by Scorsese

This film has resonance for me. I saw it years ago when I was persuing a law degree. I had given up on wiritng, but I guess I still clung to some dream of being a writer or filmmaker. So, years later I'm writing a blog about Mean Streets and studying Martin Scorsess for a screenwriting degree. How things change! How they work themselves out! On to the film.

The film was great. It reminds me of some the Dogme95 films that I watched a few years ago. Unknown actors, unsteady camera shots, and totally believable scripts. The script was great. It blends Italian- American experience in with gangster movies and is a clear precurso to Scrosese's other films. Of course he has other films which I haven't scene. I have made it a goal to watch his less studied films and to watch his more studied films like Goodfellas and Casino. I've seen both several times and was awe struck each time I watched the film. Perhaps as a screenwriting student I'll be less overwhelmed then as a "passive" viewer.

The film is very realist. You can see the influence of the neo-realist movement on Scrosese in this film. The fighting, the arguements, the action which follows from scene to scene are derivative of the Italian neo-realist tradition. I was particularly taken with the fighting scenes. There is such passion in them. It's as if they are fighting for their lives. The bar scenes reminded of the many times I'd been in a bar during my undergraduate years. And the scenes with the African- American dancer pushed the envelope for the time. How could he love a black woman? I guess now it pretty acceptable. Not back then, though. Scorsese was one of the first director to put race in front of people's eyes. Before, and at the time of the film, race was a taboo topic. Now there are several black film directors. And tolerance for different race couples is at an all time high.

This was a cheap film, but it comes off as a very slick, well shot film. There aren't any errors. There isn't anything wrong with the film. It is a startlingly good debut film from Scorsese. One that put him on the map. Made him an auteur. Perhaps not as moving as Taxi Driver it was to be commended anyway. The narrative is great. The photography is commendable. And the acting is totally real. It's a start along the way to films that are more epic like Casino and more nuanced like Goodfellas. I think those films are the culmination of Scorsese's work. I thought he should have won more awards then he did for those films. Anyway I'll have a good time watching Scorsese films as well as writing about them and learning how to shoot films from them. Ciao!