Mean Streets (1973)

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Director: Martin Scorsese

Writers: Martin Scorsese and Mardik Martin, story by Martin Scorsese

Stars: Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro, Amy Robinson, David Proval, Richard Romanus, Cesare Danova, Victor Argo, George Memmoli



Martin Scorsese's film is a slice of life drama about small-time hoods in New York's Little Italy. 



Charlie (Harvey Keitel) collects debts for his uncle and waits for his opportunity to take ownership of a rinky-dink little restaurant.

 


He is conflicted and guilt-ridden over the immoral lifestyle he must lead and the small-minded prejudices he must endure in order to maintain such a life of mediocrity.

 


He is pressured to turn his back on a woman he cares about (Amy Robinson) because she has epilepsy (which makes her "crazy" in the eyes of his family), and he feels a responsibility to protect his childhood friend Johnny Boy (Robert DeNiro), an erratic hoodlum who has doom written all over him.

 


Charlie's care of Johnny Boy is like a penance he must pay. 



Scorsese, Keitel, and DeNiro at the start of their careers show the greatness they would maintain for decades. 



This film has a gritty, documentary feel that really communicates the way these people live.

 


Although the world it presents is not one I would want to live in, Scorcese (who did grow up in it) presents it with clear eyes and a sympathetic mind.






























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