Looking Back at Mean Streets (1973)

Martin Scorsese is almost certainly one of the greatest directors alive today. He is the reclusive genius responsible for some of the most influential films of the past four decades.

The vast critical acclaim Scorsese has received throughout his career seems mostly to settle on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. His more recent works Shutter Island, The Departed, The Aviator and Gangs of New York have awakened an entirely new cinema going generation to his extensive film making talents. However, even with such a stellar filmography, rarely has Scorsese matched the blazing authenticity of his early work in 1973’s Mean Streets.

Both written and directed by Scorsese, Mean Streets proved to be the fervent director’s real breakthrough. Filmed on a miniscule budget of $500,000 and featuring a largely unknown cast (at the time); Mean Streets was an unforeseen success. A significant factor of this success was undoubtedly down to the two young male leads; newcomers Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro, who are simply mesmerising throughout.  

Mean Streets follows Charlie, a small time hood trying to scrape a living in the Lower East Side of New York. Charlie is torn between living life on the street, and maintaining his faith as a devout Catholic; a line Scorsese himself was forced to walk in his younger days. In a haze of guilt, Charlie takes crazed Johnny Boy under his wing, as a form of symbolic penance. However, Johnny Boys reckless nature soon spells trouble for Charlie and his aspirations in the neighbourhood of Little Italy…

Mean Streets showcases the striking quality of the young DeNiro’s acting ability with his performance as the unhinged menace Johnny Boy. DeNiro’s breakout role stands in stark contrast to performances the actor would later become famous for. Indeed, the unique form of introspective brooding that DeNiro has become synonymous with is noticeably absent in Mean Streets.  Instead, Johnny Boy is a delight to behold; disturbingly charming, menacing, chaotic, maniacally violent and surprisingly funny.

Harvey Keitel’s Charlie is the perfect counterbalance to the psychotic Johnny Boy. Keitel perfectly portrays the conflicted Charlie; his soul in turmoil and his heart confused. It is testament to Keitel’s ability as an actor that he is able to bring a considerable degree of likeability and empathy to what is a largely unfavourable character. Indeed, as the eyes and ears of the audience in this violent, unforgiving world; his performance is of utmost importance, and deservedly launched Keitel’s career into the upper echelon of the Hollywood dream machine.

Charlie’s delicate religious sensibilities prove to be a key theme throughout Mean Streets. The plot itself deals mainly with Charlie’s unique idea of penance through helping the renegade Johnny Boy, and his fear of hell is apparent at many points in the film. Charlie is continually seen to expose his hand to a naked flame; this reminds him of “the pain of hell” more clearly than reciting Hail Marys ever could. Also of interest is Scorsese’s extravagant use of lighting throughout the film. In one of the most profound settings; Tony’s bar, the tavern is enveloped in a sinister red glow, clearly symbolic in depicting the idea of Charlie’s omnipresent fear of hell.

Mean Streets is host to many of the features that have since become trademarks of Scorsese’s filmmaking. The conflicted characters, eclectic rock soundtrack, brutal violence, religious symbolism and dazzling camera work are all present and correct. The limited budget of Mean Streets prevented Scorsese from depicting an elaborate, hugely stylised vision of Mafia life as he was able to later accomplish in Goodfellas and Casino. Instead, the raw, almost documentarian feel of Mean Streets screams authenticity, and exudes power to rival even the most celebrated films of the crime genre.

Looking back to 1973, Mean Streets proved to be the film that united two of the greatest cinematic talents of the past century; Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. The incendiary duo would go on to change Hollywood film making forever. For that reason alone, Mean Streets stands as one of the most important films of the last 50 years.