It can be an odd experience to watch a famous director’s early films for the first time after being so familiar with their later work.  Often times the voice that seemed so original in the early work is diluted by having seen the latter films first, making the work seem primitive, without the initial impact that it may have had.  With a truly great director though, that early work can be as relevant and fresh as their later films, adding to their already accomplished filmography by giving the groundwork for what would come afterwards.  Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, is one of those movies. 
    Mean Streets was Scorsese’s third film, but his first where he put his own personal stamp on what he shot.  Following the Roger Corman produced Boxcar Bertha, director John Cassavetes encouraged Scorsese to shoot the film that he wanted, telling Scorsese to direct something that was more personal than the standard B grade cinema he churned out for Corman.    This is that film, a mixture of Catholic guilt, street wise redemption and morality that would lay out the foundation of Scorsese’s work for the next thirty years.
    Taking place in Little Italy during the early 70’s, Mean Streets follows the life of Charlie (Harvey Keitel), a young man faced with his own religious guilt over the path he has chosen as a low level hood in his Uncle’s crime family.   He looks to his friend, Johnny Boy (a fiery Robert DeNiro) as a means for salvation; By protecting him from the loan sharks that want Johnny for his failure to pay his debts, Charlie can make amends for the life he has chosen.   While Charlie is the main character of the story, it’s DeNiro’s Johnny Boy that steals the thunder.  His character is a deadbeat, a dishonorable man amidst a sea of crime and filth.  With any other actor, he could be annoying, but DeNiro almost makes you root for him to pull himself out of his owns stupidity and out of the train wreck that is his life.  His entrance to the Rolling Stones' “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is a scene for the ages, filling the viewer in on Johnny’s characteristics through the choice of song and DeNiro’s choices of body language and facial expression.  This is DeNiro’s coming out party, setting the stage for his numerous acting turns with Scorsese that would continue for decades.
    For the most part, Scorsese’s cinematography on the film is a blueprint for much of his work that would follow.  From the opening use of “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes to the steady cam shot following Charlie as he enters his friend’s bar, the various trappings that would become Scorsese’s trademark are all here, albeit in a primitive form.  But, it works for what the movie is trying to do, the immediacy of Scorsese’s own situation is transplanted into the film, giving it a tension that may not work with a slicker production value.  It feels lived in, as if it were an autobiographical story ripped from the pages of his own diary.  His work would continue on this trajectory, at times being brutally honest and personal, which is a huge improvement over his previous film, which was pedestrian at best. 
    Following Mean Streets, Scorsese would be hand picked by Francis Ford Coppola to direct The Godfather Part II, a job that the studio heads and Scorsese would balk at (Coppola would return to helm the movie).  Instead, on Coppola’s recommendation he would direct Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a far cry from the crime-infested commentary on decaying city life that was Mean Streets.  Scorsese would return on multiple occasions to the themes of Catholic guilt and moral decay throughout his career and while he would improve on these themes, Mean Streets still holds up as a classic, both of the genre and of Scorsese’s own works.