Mean Streets

This might not technically be Scorsese’s finest but I think that’s exactly what makes it so good. It’s rough around the edges in all aspects but that only adds to the gritty, raw feel of the whole thing. The soundtrack is phenomenal, I think that’s what made me fall in love with this film when I first saw it, every song used elevates whatever scene it’s part of to a whole other level of greatness. Harvey Keitel is so unbelievably good in this as smalltime gangster Charlie, he battles a lot with his guilt over the crimes he commits, religion, his relationship with Teresa and having to take responsibility for everything his friend Johnny Boy does throughout the film. This is the first Scorsese De Niro collaboration and it’s evident from the start that they were made for each other, I always wonder where they would be now if they hadn’t had the other throughout the early parts of both of their careers, probably the greatest artistic collaboration of all time. This film feels very much like Scorsese showing off everything he’s capable of early on between the soundtrack, dialogue, characters, setting and visuals. It’s been said in other reviews on here but this film is so red, whenever I think of Mean Streets I think of that shitty oversaturated red lit bar. I don’t think this will ever not be my favourite Scorsese film, this will be my 4th log on Letterboxd but if I were to guess I’d say I’ve probably watched this film upwards of about 20 times. This film has the greatest opening credits ever. No contest. I’ve never listened to Be My Baby by The Ronettes without having the entire opening credits run through my head. I’ll love this film till the day I die.