Mean Streets [1973]

You don’t make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it

Martin Scorsese

This is Martin Scorsese’s third film. But to all intent and purpose, this film to me, is his first. This is not as much a film as it is a  “I am here. I have arrived” statement.  It’s all there,  the choice of lighting: the tone and the color, setting the shots,  the rapid cuts, the choice of location, the characterization, the dialogs…everything screams the arrival of an unusual talent. It’s all easy to sit in retrospect and analyze/admire this gem but unless there is a personal stimulus or a deeply felt sentiment, it is difficult to visualize a film like Mean Streets.  In other words, Mean Streets is Scorsese’s personal work and Charlie (played beautifully by Harvey Keital) the film’s protagonist, is almost the director’s alter ego.

The story’s about a bunch of small time crooks trying to make …hmm what to say…ends meet? Yeah, pretty much that. Each of them are twisted in their own sweet way, none more so than Johnny Boy (who else but Robert DeNiro) who’s got a penchant for domestic violence, disregard for the rules, is restless and owes money all over the town. Him along with Charlie are the two lead characters of this story. Charlie is everything that Johnny Boy is not. He is orderly, civilized, reasonable,  tries to live up to his uncle’s status, nurses secretive hopes of turning into a priest and is torn between his profession (collecting dues owned by people to his uncle) and his passion (priesthood). To make matters complex, he’s in love with Johnny Boy’s epileptic cousin. What pans how, make up the rest of the film.

Mean Streets is shot on low budget but it doesn’t use it as an excuse to slack. Yes, if one really wants to nitpick and be sadistic, one can say that the post-production could have been tighter. But that kind of polishing would’ve robbed the film of its unique  raw, uninhibited “street smartness”. The pace and the plot of the film has also been cited as its major drawbacks. I disagree. Mean Streets is a character study and not a plot driven formula, it indulges in a meticulous deconstruction of its principal characters answering more to the “Why”s than the “What”s.   The whole thing looks very tedious because  the “Whys” and the “Whats” are not universal moral inquiries\questions but those which emanate from personal contradictions. So that which makes sense to Scorsese may not resonate with the audience.  But I, for one, do not mind such narcissistic endeavors, for it brings out the best in an artist.

The “alleged” slow pacing allows the characters to bloom, unfold into complex, multi-dimensional entities, it lets them emote in a way that was up until then rarely seen on cinema. Don’t believe me?  Watch the film, two characters have a difference in opinion, they fight, they patch up. In any other film the characters would’ve switched to another emotion but not with Scorsese. Because he understands principles of human anger. It does not abate or arise at the flip of a  switch nor does it always get projected at the right party.  So he stays put with the situation, now a new character comes into the scene completely unaware of the  fight, makes some usual day-to-day remark or a joke and BAM! one of the character involved in a prior fight, confronts the startled/puzzled newcomer in a hostile manner.  Ex) Watch Harvey Kietel in the bar, trying to seduce a “Jewish” chick, watch how for no reason how he attacks her male friend. The key to that anger lies in the prior scene where he and DeNiro have a huge fight and have temporarily reconciled.

Another striking aspect of this film is the conversation. In a typical Scorsese movie these come of as callous, harmless, light-hearted and a bit daffy rambling but one can sense that there  impending sense of violence simmering below the surface. It’s like sitting on an time-bomb not knowing when it’ll blow. He may have perfected this art in his later films like the Taxi Driver,Goodfellas, Casino etc. But this movie is where it all started. For a good example, watch the brawl that breaks out at Tony’s place (and keep an eye on Johnny Boy’s hilarious antics, btw)

What is also apparent in the video is the wizardry in camera work. The camera just slithers into the room with such ease and with minimal disturbance, its like being in the middle of  all that melee .  Many before me have ranted about how the film is technically superior, my opinion isn’t much different. If you see it for the first time now, there is a good chance of you not appreciating it because these tricks have been copied and re-copied and re-re-copied so many times, in so many films with so many added variations that today it may seem a bit common-place.

Great films inevitably, have great performances (kinda dumb statement to make, I know) and this film has 2 of them delivered by Harvey Kietal (and wrinkle-free, young  Harvey Kietal at that) and  Robert De Niro. Both are strange kind of friends,  totally antipodal in characters, they are not bound by camaraderie  but by selfish need. Charlie needs Johnny Boy because he feels that by protecting Johnny Boy from harm, he’s making some kind of spiritual progress. Johnny Boy, on the other hand, has a simpler need. He needs Charlie to protect him from all those from whom he borrowed money.  But if you think they are feigning their friendship, you are wrong because they are not. They do enjoy each other’s company but the primordial  essence of friendship (that being sacrifice and trust) is replaced by instinctive fear and need. This has to be one of Harvey Kietel’s best performances. He subtly emotes his naive religious beliefs, his desperation to please his uncle, to protect a crazy friend, to love a difficult woman.  To use the over used phrase its a “Triumph of Casting”. Now De Niro,  I’m not even gonna talk about “Johnny Boy”.  Instead here’s a video, it’ll tell you all you need to know about him.

Mean Streets is a definite masterpiece. For many reasons. But more than anything this film is an inspiration, a symbol of hope to countless, wannabe film-makers. It tells you that there are people who made films they believed in and succeeded. For that reason alone, this film is quite close to my heart.