Mean Streets (1973)
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A young man's loyalty to his reckless friend leads to a tense confrontation in the heart of New York's Little Italy.
The story
Charlie Cappa, a young Italian American in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, is hampered by his feeling of responsibility toward his reckless younger friend John "Johnny Boy" Civello, a small-time gambler and degenerate who refuses to work and owes money to many loan sharks. Charlie is also having a secret affair with Johnny's cousin Teresa, who is ostracized because of her condition. Caught between his devout Catholicism and his illicit Mafia work for a powerful mafioso, Charlie struggles to navigate his loyalty to his friend while facing the consequences of their shared lifestyle in the urban landscape.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Charlie Cappa, a young Italian American in Little Italy, feels responsible for his reckless friend Johnny Boy Civello, a gambler who owes money to loan sharks. Charlie is also secretly involved with Johnny's cousin, Teresa, despite warnings from his uncle, a powerful mafioso. While Charlie struggles with his faith and his role in the Mafia, Johnny becomes increasingly reckless. After a tense standoff with a loan shark named Michael, Charlie convinces Johnny to flee the neighborhood with Teresa. They are pursued and eventually ambushed by Michael and his henchman, Jimmy Shorts. During the chase, they are shot and crash into a fire hydrant. The film ends with Charlie dazed and bleeding in the water while paramedics take Teresa away and Johnny's fate remains unknown.
- First release year
- 1973
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; Italian
- Directors
- Martin Scorsese
- Writers
- Martin Scorsese · screenplay; Mardik Martin · screenplay; Martin Scorsese · story
- Cast and characters
- Robert De Niro · Johnny Boy; Harvey Keitel · Charlie Cappa; David Proval; Amy Robinson; Richard Romanus; Cesare Danova
- Genres
- crime drama; gangster; neo-noir
- Themes
- Mafia; Italian-American identity; urban life; Catholic guilt
- Tone and mood
- bleak; tense
- Premise and plot tags
- crime; drama; independent
- Reception
- Mean Streets received immense critical acclaim on its release, marking Scorsese's arrival as a major figure of the New Hollywood movement. It was praised for its performances and its portrayal of urban sin and guilt.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 92% · scale: percentage · review count: 78; Metacritic · score: 96 · scale: 100 · review count: 11
- Awards and nominations
- Best Supporting Actor · National Society of Film Critics · Win; Best Supporting Actor · New York Film Critics Circle · Win
- Production trivia
- The title is a reference to a Raymond Chandler essay.; The film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.; The soundtrack was noted for its revolutionary use of vintage pop songs.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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