Product: Mean Streets (1973)
Rating: 4.0
Great neighborhood film
I often watch films for the place and period they are set in. I also watch for the director as opposed to the cast. Mean Streets is a great slice of Little Italy in the 70s--and anything 1970s New York is very interesting to me as a city planner. The film is also Scorcese's work that resonates most with me. Everything is in the context of the neighborhood and is seen through the eyes of youth. There is a wonderful innocence about that. The whole district is a character, and with far more nuance than the set of mob-centric films. I love the scene where the kids from Riverdale (Bronx, but suburban Bronx) are looking to buy fireworks and whatever else. They are tourists who don't get the neighborhood. Through this and many other contrasts, the film makes me feel like a local. Thank you, Mr. Scorcese. Oh yes--and through Harvey Keitel's main character (love his performance) we get a near autobiography of an essential director. This is also our first view of the magnificent Scorcese/De Niro partnership. Not too bloody, perhaps more racy than it needs to be. On the whole, wonderful stuff.