After Martin Scorsese went to Hollywood in 1972 to direct the low-budget
Boxcar Bertha for B-movie mogul Roger Corman, the young director showed
the film to maverick director John Cassavetes and got an instant earful of
urgent advice. "It's crap," said Cassavetes in no uncertain terms, "now go
out and make something that comes from your heart." Scorsese took the
advice and focused his energy on Mean Streets, a riveting contemporary film
about low-life gangsters in New York's Little Italy that critic Pauline Kael
would later call "a true original, and a triumph of personal filmmaking."
Starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel in roles that announced their talent
to the world, it set the stage for Scorsese's emergence as one of the
greatest American filmmakers. Introducing themes and character types that
Scorsese would return to in Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, Casino, and other films,
the loosely structured story is drawn directly from Scorsese's background in
the Italian neighborhoods of New York, and it seethes with the raw vitality of
a filmmaker who has found his creative groove. As the irresponsible and
reckless Johnny Boy, De Niro offers striking contrast to Keitel's Charlie, who
struggles to reconcile gang life with Catholic guilt. More of an episodic
portrait than a plot-driven crime story, Mean Streets remains one of
Scorsese's most direct and fascinating films--a masterful calling card for a
director whose greatness was clearly apparent from that point forward