Mean Streets ***** (1973, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Richard Romanus) – Classic Movie Review 2473

Mean Streets is renowned as the independently made movie that announced Martin Scorsese’s arrival as a world-class film director in 1973. The first film collaboration between Scorsese and star Robert De Niro, it is a key Seventies movie, the quintessential New York film, and a perennial cult favourite.

His expert, beady eye for realistic observation is fixed on the world of petty crime in this typically ultra-tough-toned tale of for Italian New Yorkers (Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, David Proval and Richard Romanus) who hang out together on the mean streets of Little Italy.

Keitel packs a powerful punch as Charlie Cappa, the hero about to take over a restaurant from his Mafia uncle, Giovanni (Cesare Danova). The young De Niro is quite extraordinary — a firecracker of jagged-edged energy — as Johnny Boy Chavello, the crazed small-time hood who struggles to succeed but insults a Mafia man by not repaying a loan, then steals from the friend who tries to help.

Scorsese, who co-writes the screenplay with Mardik Martin, bases his story on characters and events in the Little Italy neighbourhood where he grew up. His complete control of the medium includes the innovative use of the hand-held camera and imaginative use of some great rock songs (much of it from his own record collection), whose rights cost half of the film’s budget.

Art grew out of necessity for Scorsese back in those days. The hand-held camera largely had to be used because the film’s small budget didn’t stretch to laying down lots of tracks for all the planned tracking shots.

The voiceover narration at the start (‘You don’t make up for your sins in Church; you do it on the street; everything else is bullshit and you know it…”) is spoken by Scorsese not by Keitel, who is supposed to be having these ideas.

Martin Scorsese appears as Jimmy Shorts and his mother Catherine can be seen on the landing closing a window in the very last shot of the movie. Scorsese filmed for 25 days, but only six actually in New York and the rest in Los Angeles, including the famous pool hall sequence, as they couldn’t afford to do the full shoot in New York.

It is based on a script that Scorsese and Martin wrote in the 1960s, called Season of the Witch. The new title, Mean Streets, was suggested by film critic Jay Cocks, and is inspired by a line from Raymond Chandler, ‘Down these mean streets a man must go’, ironically Los Angeles.

Scorsese edited the film, but consulted Sidney Levin for advice and put his name on the credits since Scorsese wasn’t registered as a film editor.

The church in the movie is St Patrick’s Old Cathedral, used a year later in The Godfather Part II.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2473

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