Mean Streets

"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." Any flaws that this film might have are all excusable. This is one of the early Martin Scorsese films and what a great one! In Mean Streets we see a raw Martin Scorsese and it's very interesting to identify his technical skills and trademarks even in a much more amateur way. And don't get me wrong when I say amateur, this film has a strong direction and it's a pretty good film! It's very interesting to see what this amazing director has improved through all this years. This was also the beginning of one of the most sucessfull director/actor collaborations since it was in this film that Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese worked together for the first time. Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro deliver great performances in the streets of New York City with a particularly beautiful dark atmosphere. A defined genre born with this film, it's what I like to call the "Scorsese's Gangster Films" and nobody does it better than he does. Just for that, this film is worth a watch.

Although it looks like experimental cinema, there are glimpses of the future Scorserse. Robert de Niro seems to be rehearsing for Taxi Driver and later films.