cliffs below
After many years of my brother and father talking up the movie I decided to watch it.
I've been on a big Scorsese kick lately, having (re)seen Gangs of New York, Casino, Goodfellas, the Departed, and Raging Bull in the past few weeks. I decided to give Mean Streets a go.
First, while watching the movie, you truly got a sense of how good Harvey Keitel is of an actor, and albeit I appreciated him in past works (e.g. Taxi Driver, Resevoir Dogs) this is his most "featured" role I have seen of his to date. It is almost funny that Robert Deniro's role is such a doofus, and he plays a dopey guy so well, this solidifies his versatility, and what I consider him, the most versatile (aging) man in hollywood. Anyway, enough of the acting.
The movie is much less event driven (Goodfellas - majority of events entail the rise and fall of Henry Hill which took a big turn after the killing of Billy Batts, Raging Bull - Lamotta's rise as a prize figher) that his other movies, which came as almost a surprise to me, so much as after 1 hour I was shocked that approximately half the movie was over and nothing had "happened" yet, almost to the extent that after the movie ended I had to sit and think for a while. I realized that this movie was not "event driven" and did not have a definitive end or beginning when you take a step back, it is a mere episode in the overall new york organized crime circuit dealing with street hoods of all levels.
I usually don't "get" undertones in movies right away, and I am not sure if I get the movie at all. But from what I put together Harvey Keitel gives himself up, or repents for his sins on the street (as you learn by going somewhere that he doesn't know [brooklyn] as if he was given previous directions by some of the guys Deniro owed money to) to get Deniro killed, and he was going down with him? (in other words allegorically as the story of Christ dying for the sins) is this even remotely what it is trying to do? Why did Keitel bring his girlfriend? Did Keitel and Dinero survive? are we supposed to know? Can someone give me any better explination of the movie?
Thanks,
Don
Cliffs:
- explain mean streets.
- why did keitel bring his gf with him if he knew he was going to get deniro shot
- did deniro die
- what happened to everyone
- are we supposed to know any of that?
After many years of my brother and father talking up the movie I decided to watch it.
I've been on a big Scorsese kick lately, having (re)seen Gangs of New York, Casino, Goodfellas, the Departed, and Raging Bull in the past few weeks. I decided to give Mean Streets a go.
First, while watching the movie, you truly got a sense of how good Harvey Keitel is of an actor, and albeit I appreciated him in past works (e.g. Taxi Driver, Resevoir Dogs) this is his most "featured" role I have seen of his to date. It is almost funny that Robert Deniro's role is such a doofus, and he plays a dopey guy so well, this solidifies his versatility, and what I consider him, the most versatile (aging) man in hollywood. Anyway, enough of the acting.
The movie is much less event driven (Goodfellas - majority of events entail the rise and fall of Henry Hill which took a big turn after the killing of Billy Batts, Raging Bull - Lamotta's rise as a prize figher) that his other movies, which came as almost a surprise to me, so much as after 1 hour I was shocked that approximately half the movie was over and nothing had "happened" yet, almost to the extent that after the movie ended I had to sit and think for a while. I realized that this movie was not "event driven" and did not have a definitive end or beginning when you take a step back, it is a mere episode in the overall new york organized crime circuit dealing with street hoods of all levels.
I usually don't "get" undertones in movies right away, and I am not sure if I get the movie at all. But from what I put together Harvey Keitel gives himself up, or repents for his sins on the street (as you learn by going somewhere that he doesn't know [brooklyn] as if he was given previous directions by some of the guys Deniro owed money to) to get Deniro killed, and he was going down with him? (in other words allegorically as the story of Christ dying for the sins) is this even remotely what it is trying to do? Why did Keitel bring his girlfriend? Did Keitel and Dinero survive? are we supposed to know? Can someone give me any better explination of the movie?
Thanks,
Don
Cliffs:
- explain mean streets.
- why did keitel bring his gf with him if he knew he was going to get deniro shot
- did deniro die
- what happened to everyone
- are we supposed to know any of that?
