Mean Streets

1973 Directed by Martin Scorsese

You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets...

A small-time hood must choose from among love, friendship and the chance to rise within the mob.

Harvey Keitel Robert De Niro David Proval Amy Robinson Richard Romanus Cesare Danova Victor Argo George Memmoli Lenny Scaletta Jeannie Bell Murray Moston David Carradine Robert Carradine Lois Walden Harry Northup Dino Seragusa D'Mitch Davis Peter Fain Juli Andelman Robert Wilder Ken Sinclair Jaime Alba Ken Konstantin Nicki "Ack" Aquilino B. Mitchell Reed Martin Scorsese

Alternative Titles

Hexenkessel, 비열한 거리, Ulice nędzy, Mizerné ulice

drama crime

110 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★ 39

The streets sure were mean!
Review by maria ★★★½ 6

i'm gonna be calling all them dumb bitches who don't like scorsese's films a mook from now on
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 7

96/100
This was my first Scorsese joint, and for many years after that knockout viewing on Late-Night TV, it was my personal favorite film of his. It has a reckless, dangerous, and innocent energy that dances through every image, but the eventual tragedy is birthed from the discovery of harsh realities.
It was, and still is, an incredibly sensual work. Every location, from dive bars to pool halls, is lit with the same evocative sense of boyish clumsiness and the furious snap of touchy emotion. Fights and arguments explode without warning or tension. All of a sudden, everyone is punching and kicking, screaming with youthful rage.
By the end, the film is so overwhelming in its singular feistiness that it seems like the world surrounding its characters will collapse. Too bad the only recognition they receive is the sight of drawn curtains in the dead of night.
Happy birthday Marty.
Review by Lulu ★★★½ 6

me, running up to martin scorsese: for $1, name a woman
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 2

96
(35mm)
"Honorable men go with honorable men."
You've never seen the color red until you've seen Mean Streets on celluloid.
Review by Peter Labuza ★★★½ 5

How does Martin Scorsese direct a scene? Beyond the soundtracks, the masculinity, the classic film references, the Catholicism, the violence, the misogyny, and all the what-not critics like to talk about when they don't talk about a movie, what does Scorsese do when he frames a shot?
Charlie sits down after dancing with the stripper, and Michael sits down next to him. Scorsese has an obvious set up between the actors and the camera—they're both staring out toward the camera, Michael sitting slightly in front so he can look back. The scene basically cuts between three shots, one larger exterior shot of both men, and single medium close-ups of each individual. As the two men talk, the shot-reverse shot doesn't…

Recent reviews

Review by Noah M. Karg ★★★★

Anfang der 70er Jahre wächst auf den Straßen von New York City eine neue Generation von Gängstern auf.
Die Straße ist ihr Spielfeld, es gibt klare Regeln und es existiert nur ein Ziel: Status.
Für diese jungen Männer ist es nicht nur ein Business, es ist ein Lifestyle. Sie identifizieren sich damit. Jeder will möglichst viel Respekt und Anerkennung bekommen.
Nur gibt es da Johnny Boy, der sich für diesen Status nicht interessiert. Er tut nur was er will und macht damit die Ideologie und Prinzipien der angehenden Mobster lächerlich, welche selbst mit aller Kraft versuchen mit den alten Hasen gleichzuziehen.
Jedoch stellt Johnny Boy durch jede Tat diesen Lifestyle in Frage und stellt ihn als sinnlos da. Besonders Michael…
Review by David Merchant ★★★½

Mean Streets is a good deception of what it is like to grow up in a gang environment. You get a good performance by Robert DeNiro. For me it just wasn't on the same level as some other gangster movies like Good Fellas.
Review by robertaetc ★★★★

o filme que basicamente coloca todos os elementos básicos do cinema de scorsese que viriam a ser trabalhados. esse é o filme mais cru e num estilo godard que ele já fez.
Review by Tom Griffiths ★★★★½

Audio commentary with director Martin Scorsese, actress Amy Robinson and co-writer Mardik Martin.

Such an interesting watch! I will always feel a creative spark after watching this film and marvelling at how Scorsese uses the camera and iconic soundtrack.
Mean Streets spent almost half of the $500,000 budget on the soundtrack, it paid off. The film was offered funding earlier IF Scorsese changed the characters into African Americans in order to create a blaxploitation movie, thankfully he never considered it.
Also, in the commentary, Martin Scorsese discusses how he would record the audio of him running scenes with actors during rehearsals, whilst they were improvising, and then afterwards he would transcribe the recordings and devise the scene around the best parts that the actors developed with each other. An amazing bit of insight and advice!
Review by lenhijenny

Watch for Scorsese's New York in its rawness and liveliness
Review by NjaAvTio ★★½

Oglamorös kriminalitet som känns verklig men också tråkig. Visar vilka jobbiga konflikter som finns för någon som vill vara en god människa inom kriminalitet vilket är intresserant men på ett sätt som inte är så njutbar att titta på. Hade velat se lite mer handling.
Review by cristiana ★★★

i think this was more of an experimental film for martin he wanted to try a theme who will later define his most iconic films
Review by Diners ★★★★

With each Martin Scorsese movie I watch, he jumps a little closer to the top of my rankings.
Review by Fabian Lohmann ★★★★

maybe my favorite de niro performance? is this a crazy take?