Review of Mean Streets (1973) by Matt G — 18 Jul 2011
Just saw this for the first time recently. Scorsese's first film seems to be only concerned with a few cinematic elements - Queens criminal culture, character, formalistic experiments with time - and it makes the film really youthful, rough around the edges, and full of energy.
I could almost see the events of the story being rambled to me by Scorsese himself (in a way I'd imagine the same for Tarantino's movies), and I like that a lot. In a way, it's one of his best because it's so perfectly encapsulates a lot of the essence of his work, without the limitations of coherency, if that makes any sense.
What he gets is this, a film most similar to Goodfellas in its clear moral stance toward its characters, but without the heavyhandedness of such a film. This is something much more recklessly subtle. Not as powerful as something like Taxi Driver or King of Comedy, but it has moments of character honesty and authenticity I felt Goodfellas, The Aviator, or Gangs of New York never attempted.
This review of Mean Streets (1973) was written by Matt G on 18 Jul 2011.
Mean Streets has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
