Young and Ambitious Film, Everyone's Commitment Made It a Masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2004)

In his early masterpiece, Martin Scorsese demonstrates his talent to capture the atmosphere of one region in one era, New York City in the 70s through working class' point of view, while leaving his own recognizable signature: the unpredictable and slightly confusing storytelling to yield both reality and eccentricity simultaneously.
Everyone involved, including young Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, Jodie Foster in her teenage, rising cinematographer Michael Chapman, and veteran film composer Bernard Herrmann, seems to have committed, believing that this young, ambitious, and promising film would become a masterpiece. Herrmann's rare, moody and jazzy score became his swansong; his having passed away before the film's theatrical release symbolizes the end of one era of American film.