At the heart of Martin Scorsese’s second independent, and breakout, film, Mean Streets, are two young men who have been friends their entire lives: Charlie Cappa (Harvey Keitel) and John “Johnny Boy” Civello (Robert De Niro). Charlie’s uncle is deep in the mafia and expects Charlie to follow suit. Johnny Boy is a gambler who appears to owe money to every loan shark in the city. Not only does he owe them, he mocks them and refuses to pay back what he owes. Charlie spends most of his time trying to help Johnny Boy keep a job, pay his debts, and stay safe.
Buy Mean Streets (Criterion Collection)Charlie is having an affair with Johnny Boy’s cousin, Teresa (Amy Robinson), but she has epilepsy and is strangely ostracized by most who know her. Charlie’s uncle wants him to ditch Teresa, but Charlie is in love. Charlie is also struggling with his Catholic faith and the juxtaposition of that faith with his current trajectory toward a life of crime. Neither the Church nor Charlie’s gang seem able to provide answers. Charlie and Johnny Boy are navigating that middle ground between high school and marriage with the same confusion most experience, but for these two young men the stakes are much higher. Bad decisions could lead to bad ends.
Though Scorsese, Keitel, and De Niro had all made “small,” low-budget, independent films for the previous decade, it is not until 1973’s Mean Streets that we really see their talents bloom. Scorsese is especially good at directing fight scenes that not only feel realistic in their portrayals, they also feel like you might get punched. Scorsese puts you in the middle of every scene, and it isn’t more than ten minutes before you feel like you are surrounded by old friends.
Both Keitel and De Niro have proven their abilities over the years, but seeing them young, and seeing them in the midst of learning their eventual abilities is a special treat. Keitel is perfectly reserved and filled with love for his at-risk buddy. De Niro is the frenetic young thug looking for a good time, pretty much the exact opposite of what he would soon show us in Taxi Driver, another showstopper for Scorsese, Keitel, and De Niro.
Special Features:
- New 4K restoration, approved by director Martin Scorsese and collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Excerpted conversation between Scorsese and filmmaker Rickard Linklater from a 2011 Directors Guild of America event
- Selected-scene audio commentary featuring Scorsese and actor Amy Robinson
- New video essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith about the film’s physicality and its portrayal of brotherhood
- Interview with director of photography Kent Wakeford
- Excerpt from the documentary Mardik: Baghdad to Hollywood (2008) featuring Mean Streets cowriter Mardik Martin as well as Scorsese, journalist Peter Biskind, and filmmaker Amy Heckerling
- Martin Scorsese: Back on the Block (1973), a promotional video from the film’s original theatrical release
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Essay by critic Lucy Sante
A streamlined script, the birth of three powerhouses in Scorsese, Keitel, and De Niro, fantastic editing, scads of great music, a truly independent spirit, and an arm’s length of special features make the Criterion Collection’s version of Mean Streets a must see.
