Hailed as one of the most original American films of all time, Martin Scorsese's directing bloomed into pop culture, as one of his first critically acclaimed films became popular. His 1973 American crime film, Mean Streets, is known for it’s depiction of the Italian mafia pre The Godfather. It was also one of Robert De Niro’s first films, in which he won an award for best supporting actor in, and he went on to act in many other Italian mafia crime films. The use of religion is really important, due to the fact that catholicism is really present in Italian culture, especially prevalent in American Italian culture. The scene I will be analyzing is the one in which Johnny is explaining to Charlie why he’s so depressed. Depression is an interesting thing to fixate on in religion, because suicide is seen as such a sin, as it means taking God’s gift (being your own life), so what leads up to suicide, is also a sin, which is why depression is so significant. This scene is also important, because throughout the film Charlie is questioning his devout Catholicism and his ambition with the mafia. In addition to this, as the film progresses, Johnny becomes more self destructive, and fails to seek help in the church or redemption, Charlie seeks it on Johnny’s behalf. This scene has a lot of shot / reverse shot actions to convey conversation, and with the really simple camera work, the viewer has time to focus on the conversation and body language with the actors. The lower lighting also helps to focus on the actors faces, especially that of Harvey Keitel, who plays Charlie. In addition to this, there is a light bulb hanging behind Charlie’s head, to show he is enlightened with religion, while Johnny only has wall behind him, showing he doesn’t have religion behind him. The lighting in this scene is also important because of the way their faces are lit with fill light: Charlie’s eyes are completely visible, while Johnny’s eyes are completely hooded and in the dark, the audience cannot see his irises. This shows his less than trustworthy belief in religion, while Charlie is not only praying for himself, but also for Charlie.
Religion and redemption show up often in Scorsese's "Mean Streets". The most obvious of this occurs relatively close to the beginning with Charlie walking up the aisle of a church. Here we are introduced to him for the first time as the camera follows him into his prayer. We then cut to a high angle shot, becoming the holy and judgmental. We move from a high to low angle shot as we hear a voice-over of "I am not worthy to eat your flesh, not worthy to drink your blood." This gives the feeling of Charlie being intimidated by religion. As the scene the camera moves around Charlie as he stands among more statues and candles in the church. He stands surrounded by holy figures and begins to confess he speaks of his work on the streets and of Jonny Boy. In a sense, Charlie believes in making up for his wrong doings he believes in religion condoning physical suffering and by doing so, he is doing what God really desires for him insisting that he never resonated with “all that Hail Mary crap.” Throughout the rest of mean streets however the church stands as a faction in Charlie’s struggle with placing his loyalties. It creates an interesting dichotomy almost instantly the church is elevated above everything else and then throughout the rest of the film it is compared, through Charlie’s loyalties, to Jonny Boy, Michael the loan shark, Charlie’s uncle, and the other factions we see on the mean streets of New York.
Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets is a great film that is a true Scorsese film in that it deals with Italians in New York struggling with religion, family, and each other. Now in Mean Streets, the approach on religion is that of a way to deal with things. Dealing with happiness, pain, or suffering. Another one of Scorsese’s film, The Last Temptation of Christ, also more directly deals with religion as an equalizing force, and a leading force in the lives of its characters. The character in Mean Streets that is most connected and challenging of his Catholic roots is Charlie. Charlie puts himself in the center of much of the trouble in the film, and it is this trouble, this need for help, that has religion showing up. Now I believe that for Charlie, religion and redemption represent two opposing routes in which to approach the pain which he must confront head on. Religion is the more orthodox, peaceful approach to dealing with his issues, and redemption is more dangerous and in line with the lifestyle that causes these problems for him in the first place. The scene that I will be discussing to cover how Charlie approaches problems in Mean Streets deciding between religion and redemption in early on with him praying in the church, directly after Johnny Boy bombs the mailbox. I will analyze the presence of religion and redemption in this scene through both sound and cinematography (framing and lighting). The way Scorsese uses sound in this scene is simple, yet highly effective. The first way he uses sound is that he carries the siren from Johnny Boy’s section of the scene into Charlie’s is great. The siren blares, and in the cut to Charlie’s prayer scene we see the light of what seem to be the sirens at first glance, but are in fact ornaments in the church. Scorsese’s combination of voice over narration (dialogue between Johnny Boy and Charlie) and the prayers Charlie is reciting in the present play hand in hand with this idea of Charlie’s internal struggle being between that of redemption and action and that of religion and contemplation. The framing in this scene suggests how small Charlie feels in religion, and how out of control his situations are when he relies upon religion to deal with them. Extreme long shots and high angles alienate Charlie and make him into a pawn in the church. However, in the bar in the scene directly following the church, Charlie is seeking redemption, and thus his red lighting and tight framing around Charlie’s actions portray that redemption is his preferred method because in a way he is in control of his own destiny, or at least he thinks he is.
A scene that most embodies the religious and moral themes of Martin Scorsese's 1973 American Crime film, Mean Streets, is one where we first meet Havey Keitel's character, Charlie, formally. In this scene Johnny Boy causes a mailbox to explode, Charlie enters to pray in the church, and we end in the ominous red flooded bar. Because this scene is where the audience is first introduced to Charlie we see also the role that religion plays on his life and ultimately it is conceived that the relationship between religion and morality are linked hand in hand due to this establishment of the church.
In this scene we see the introduction of religion on Charlie’s everyday life. Moreover, This establishment of religion foreshadows the moral struggle he will have throughout the film which is shown through the mise-en-scene, specifically lighting and color which established the everlasting fight between Charlie’s gangster ambitious and devotion to catholicism.
The mise-en-scene in this scene, specifically the color of diegetic elements characterize the way the audience perceives things and causes us to question the morality of situations. In the very beginning of this scene we see Johnny Boy put an explosive in a mailbox and cause it to explode. This is an unquestionably immoral act, which then causing the colors of elements associated with the act to become characterized with immorality. Therefore, due to the half blue-half red mailbox exploding we now associate these colors with immorality and the fact that Johnny Boy is wearing a bright red shirt it is further emphasized that the color red has a negative connotation attached to it, and leaves us to believe that the color blue represents a sort of innocence. Moreover, this opening sequence of this scene characterizes the colors of red and blue immorally to then reveal further implied meanings in the church sequence to follow. When Charlie first enters the church the mise-en-scene is scattered with an array of colors while deep dark candles are placed throughout the church, this establishing shot of the church reveals Charlie’s life thus far, he still has the motivation to go to church and pray however the red candles show his immoral tendencies will stay with him. The close up of Jesus on the crucifix with his two disciples below him is important because his two disciples are wearing blue and red. This aspect of mise-en-scene is interesting because it shows that even the most pure people still carry aspects of immorality showing that Charlie can never escape his wrongdoings- and that the church is an ineffective way to escape his past aswell. This shot also compares Charlie and his faith to that of Jesus Christ as even the figurine is thrown into a conflict between the innocence of Catholicism (Blue disciple) and immoral ambitions (Red disciple), here we see that the struggle Charlie faces is not only present in this film but everlasting. In a longshot we see Charlie leaving the church and the entire bottom half of the frame is red due to the church pews, which shows the groundwork of Charlie’s life is his immorality and cutting to the next close up shot of a red rose in a hand shows that Charlie holds his wrongdoings close to him. In the bar everything is red and black it is completely flooded with immorality which foreshadows the sinful acts that will occur throughout the film that are associated with the bar.
Furthermore, the themes of religion and immorality are established throughout this scene mostly with the characterization of red and blue before we enter the beacon of immorality (the bar), without this establishment and connection to religion as a whole these themes are not as strictly or implicitly enforced. The events in this scene shift the audience’s perception of these colors, so when we are brought to future scenes we can immediately recognize ill-intentions and the moral struggle that Charlie undergoes, especially in the final scene where Johnny Boy is killed.
Religion is an important aspect in Martin Scorsese's "Mean Streets", where Charlie takes his troubles and crimes to the confessional. We see this through Charlie, as he see him entering the church to confess his sins and punish himself for his actions. His redemption is seen as the burning sensation of a flame, which he emulates as a reminder as the fires of hell. Although this scene is very significant, he also reflects his beliefs as paralleled with Saint Francis of Assisi on the beach. Charlie is a character who is divided with the fulfillment of religious bonds and the desire as a mafioso while protecting his younger brother, Johnny boy. He takes himself as a Christ figure in the mafia as a redeeming characteristic for his troubles. An hour and fourteen minutes in the movie, we see him enter the bar and conducts some of this dialogue in archaic manner. As he walks up to Carl behind the bar, he states "Hallelujah, I've come to create order". The camera pans down to his shot glass and Charlie recites "God be with you and with his spirit", the Dominus vobiscum in the Catholic church, a blessing used on the communion prior to the celebration. With the red lighting, the culmination of the dialogue, and the liquor as a property, he emulates a communion rite which is to make holy, and reflects Charlie's behavior to desire true reverence in his life while among his problematic friends. The color red may symbolize the religious symbolism of Jesus's blood, it alludes to both passion and violence, both core ideas of Charlie's conflict. Charlie's friend asks "Art thou the King of Jews?" , and the camera cuts to a low angle of Charlie stating "Does thou say this of thyself or have others told thee of me?" (John 18:34), which clearly embodies Charlie as a Christ figure, with the low angle empowering him and the dialogue expressing allusion to the Bible. Later in the scene, we see a constant camera follow on Charlie who is clearly drunk walk through the bar. He is essentially experiencing his own passion as he is greeted by those around him with sprays of alcohol and random people coming up to him and grabbing his face. Charlie wakes up from passing out and discusses Johnny Boy's debt with Flash's associate, Michael. He is able to bring the debt down to $2,000. Michael walks out and Charlie utters "Amen, I say to thee. Thou will not come out from it till thou hast paid the last penny.", a quote of the sermon on the mount where one must make peace with their enemy and pay back their debts. This clearly references Johnny Boy's debt to his loaners and Charlie's debt to his family and his debt to God.
The scene used here is the last five minutes in the movie, where they’re driving to Brooklyn to escape. Throughout the film, Charlie has been covering for his cousin Johnny, who keeps doing stupid, irresponsible things and never has any shred of humility about it. Charlie is shown to be very morally responsible, standing up for family and making sure his people do the right thing. Johnny never does the right thing, and because of this Charlie needs to make things right for him. Johnny has been screwing Michael around over the money he owes him and embarrassing him for the whole movie, and it’s gotten out of hand, hence the shooting. While they’re driving over the bridge, we see him praying to God, “things haven’t gone too well tonight, but I’m tryin’ Lord, I’m tryin’.” Johnny and Teresa laugh at him, but he is sincere in his religious appeal. To make things right for Charlie, Michael (acting as a god) kills Johnny, because while Charlie is always a righteous person, his association with Johnny gets him into trouble. Johnny is given multiple opportunities in the film to redeem himself, but he never takes any of them, instead relying on Charlie and interfering with his life. At the end of the film, the only way Johnny redeems himself is by dying and no longer negatively impacting Charlie’s life. Religion is seen in the final shots of the film, we see a cross made with the water spewing out of the hydrant and the car, we see Charlie kneeling as if in prayer after leaving the car, and we see him praying earlier in the scene. Charlie is shown as being redeemed with Johnny’s death through these visual cues. We also see through the juxtaposition of other characters going about their normal lives in the movie that things will go on as usual, just smoother without the Johnny’s interference. Charlie’s uncle is shown as a very important, almost godlike character, and we see him overlooking the car accident, only through the movie in his apartment. His calm demeanor shows everything is turning out right.
Mean Streets is really representative of the city life that was around in the 70s. It created it owns boundaries and barriers and didn’t exactly play by the cinematic rules itself, just like the main character Johnny. This movie is also known for its phenomenal soundtrack and how the beat breaks the barriers and follows your heartbeat and emotion throughout the movies rollercoaster ride. It is a movie often called the love letter to the streets of Little Italy. He wanted to portray what it felt like to live the life he did in Little Italy, not just one story one time, but a feeling that you felt when walking the streets of Little Italy. I think that this scene is a full image of a situation that might occur in Little Italy on a common day. It shows the theme of the beat and the feeling associated with the neighborhood and the relationships in that neighborhood. One of the scenes that really stuck out to me was the fight scene once they enter the pool hall. This scene is kinda a scene setter for the beat that the rest of the movie runs to. The Lighting is very different from the usual lighting in a fight scene. Nothing really changed to make the scene more dramatic or to low light the subjects. In fact the subjects are amply lighted. You can see more which makes you feel like you are standing with them in that room. The mise en scene is marvelous and everything ties together. The people playing the arcade games in the background the low music and then high music once the fight scene begins. The cops that bust up the fight after it happens. The costume design is iconic and representative of that era. You have the popped collars the dress shirts and tuxedos out on the town. The typical higher waisted pants with wide leg. There is a mediocre feeling to the setting which goes along with Johnny’s character. The lighting is low, but not any lower than the usual scene in this movie. The biggest thing in this scene is the handheld tracking camera. The point of view is almost like a person looking in on the fight and trying to focus on all parts of the action at once but can’t. The way that the camera pushes itself through one action to move closer to the next. The camera movements are a dance around the action and it makes the action have a sort of dance like feeling to it rather than an actual intense feeling. This kinda plays along with the theme that this gangster image is more of a facade. That there really hasn’t been anything coming Johnny’s way for borrowing all this money. The camera in this movie was often strapped to someone’s body as they moved rather than set on a tripod or held still. This is something Scorsese started and it makes Mean Streets extremely unique. Scorsese said that he wanted to create “anxiety and urgency” that is created using “hand-held camera” and “surreptitious camera”. Often times the camera moves until it frames the subject in a more than interesting matter. The camera moves to compose an end shot that portrays meaning. The first shot in the sequence moves until it portrays Johnny’s friend sprawled out on the pool table with the light directly on him.
He imitates the same motions in each shot, but with the music it doesn’t get boring. Music is something that cost this film the most money and it creates the most meaning in the film. Though we may have constantly seen the same action more than once, we also hear the music and the beat and do not get bored with the camera movements. It is a constant push and pull that is emphasized by the music. He uses a low angle to show Johnny in power as he stands on top of the pool table with the pool stick. This is a crazy weird thing to see because throughout most of the movie Johnny is SOL and is seen from the higher angle being looked down on by his friends because he is constantly borrowing money. It represents how this fight makes Johnny feel bigger than life. His final shot looking down on the people beating up Johnny and Johnny shows how he cannot keep living the way that he has been. He needs to clean himself up in order to survive the life in Little Italy. When the cops come in the angle changes and they are all seen on the same level. This represents the life they're living is only put on them by themselves. The problems of Little Italy are only to the people who live in Little Italy. The cops don’t understand the responsibilities of the life they are living. After the cops come the beat of the movie slows down and the image of the tough guys fighting in a pool hall in Little Italy is broken. They are now sitting and drinking like friends. It kinda shows an alliance against the cops to keep their ideals alive inside of the neighborhood. The public took a great liking to the movie because of Scorsese’s innovation in film and the New York Times remarked, “ no matter how bleak the milieu, no matter how heartbreaking the narrative, some films are so thoroughly, beautifully realized they have a kind of tonic effect that has no relation to the subject matter”.
Throughout the film, Charlie tries time and time again to help Johnny Boy, to no avail. In the last five minutes of the movie, Scorcese's Italian perspective and style turn the climax into one steeped in Catholic religious themes. The horrific violence inflicted on the three passengers of the car illustrates the martyrdom of Charlie and the punishment of Johnny. The water gushing from the fire hydrant after the car hits it represents holy water and acts as a purifying entity. Johnny Boy and Charlie are both baptized here, and Johnny's sins are washed away. Yet this baptism is accompanied by a great wrath inflicted on the both of them due to Johnny's unrepentant nature. Although Johnny has been cleansed, he's been horrifically mangled to atone for his sins. The tragedy of Charlie's character shines through in this scene, too: despite spending the whole movie trying to lead Johnny Boy to a more righteous path, the only way he could erase his sins was by sacrificing himself. The gore dripping down Charlie as he stumbles away from the wreck is akin to the wounds inflicted on the Christ to wash away the sins of man.
The themes of redemption and religion appear multiple times throughout Mean Streets, directed by Martin Scorcese in 1973. These overarching themes start to appear as early as the opening scene. The very first line of the film addresses both topics, redemption AND religion. "You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets." is the most famous line from Mean Streets. Charlie, one of the main characters, is also the most religious. He opens up the film with that line and a dark screen. Suddenly, the scene cuts to a shot of Charlie abruptly waking up from a dream. The silver cross hanging around his neck shines in the light. The camera follows Charlie, and as it pans across the room, a large crucifix can be seen hanging on his wall. The room is dark, but Charlie and the crucifix can be seen clearly. This is significant to show Charlie's beliefs. But his first line in the film proves he is nontraditional. Charlie makes up for his sins during his day to day life. While other Christians make up for their sins in church. He redeems himself in the streets. Even if it does involve violence and illegal activity. Redemption and Religion go hand in hand from the start of this film. The opening credits begin to roll and more evidence of redemption/religion begin to show. They start with sirens and flashing lights of police cars. And it cuts to a shot of Charlie's face, as if he committed the crime, or was cause of the police cars. Then Charlie begins doing good deeds. He is shaking hands and hugging people on the street. Essentially, he is redeeming himself of any wrong he has done towards these people. Religious sacraments, such as baptism, are also shown on screen. Charlie is shaking hands with the priest, and a shot of the church ends the credits. This relates to the film as a whole because Charlie consistently breaks religious rules about not stealing and not harming others, and tries to redeem himself through harming himself. He is almost obsessed with redemption in the eyes of God in the film, to the point where he forgets about redemption in the eyes of his friends. The themes of redemption and religion are present all throughout the film, but they are presented strongly within the first few minutes. This sets a tone for the entire rest of the film.
Hailed as one of the most original American films of all time, Martin Scorsese's directing bloomed into pop culture, as one of his first critically acclaimed films became popular. His 1973 American crime film, Mean Streets, is known for it’s depiction of the Italian mafia pre The Godfather. It was also one of Robert De Niro’s first films, in which he won an award for best supporting actor in, and he went on to act in many other Italian mafia crime films. The use of religion is really important, due to the fact that catholicism is really present in Italian culture, especially prevalent in American Italian culture.
ReplyDeleteThe scene I will be analyzing is the one in which Johnny is explaining to Charlie why he’s so depressed. Depression is an interesting thing to fixate on in religion, because suicide is seen as such a sin, as it means taking God’s gift (being your own life), so what leads up to suicide, is also a sin, which is why depression is so significant. This scene is also important, because throughout the film Charlie is questioning his devout Catholicism and his ambition with the mafia. In addition to this, as the film progresses, Johnny becomes more self destructive, and fails to seek help in the church or redemption, Charlie seeks it on Johnny’s behalf. This scene has a lot of shot / reverse shot actions to convey conversation, and with the really simple camera work, the viewer has time to focus on the conversation and body language with the actors. The lower lighting also helps to focus on the actors faces, especially that of Harvey Keitel, who plays Charlie. In addition to this, there is a light bulb hanging behind Charlie’s head, to show he is enlightened with religion, while Johnny only has wall behind him, showing he doesn’t have religion behind him. The lighting in this scene is also important because of the way their faces are lit with fill light: Charlie’s eyes are completely visible, while Johnny’s eyes are completely hooded and in the dark, the audience cannot see his irises. This shows his less than trustworthy belief in religion, while Charlie is not only praying for himself, but also for Charlie.
Religion and redemption show up often in Scorsese's "Mean Streets". The most obvious of this occurs relatively close to the beginning with Charlie walking up the aisle of a church. Here we are introduced to him for the first time as the camera follows him into his prayer. We then cut to a high angle shot, becoming the holy and judgmental. We move from a high to low angle shot as we hear a voice-over of "I am not worthy to eat your flesh, not worthy to drink your blood." This gives the feeling of Charlie being intimidated by religion. As the scene the camera moves around Charlie as he stands among more statues and candles in the church. He stands surrounded by holy figures and begins to confess he speaks of his work on the streets and of Jonny Boy. In a sense, Charlie believes in making up for his wrong doings he believes in religion condoning physical suffering and by doing so, he is doing what God really desires for him insisting that he never resonated with “all that Hail Mary crap.” Throughout the rest of mean streets however the church stands as a faction in Charlie’s struggle with placing his loyalties. It creates an interesting dichotomy almost instantly the church is elevated above everything else and then throughout the rest of the film it is compared, through Charlie’s loyalties, to Jonny Boy, Michael the loan shark, Charlie’s uncle, and the other factions we see on the mean streets of New York.
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ReplyDeleteMartin Scorsese's Mean Streets is a great film that is a true Scorsese film in that it deals with Italians in New York struggling with religion, family, and each other. Now in Mean Streets, the approach on religion is that of a way to deal with things. Dealing with happiness, pain, or suffering. Another one of Scorsese’s film, The Last Temptation of Christ, also more directly deals with religion as an equalizing force, and a leading force in the lives of its characters. The character in Mean Streets that is most connected and challenging of his Catholic roots is Charlie. Charlie puts himself in the center of much of the trouble in the film, and it is this trouble, this need for help, that has religion showing up. Now I believe that for Charlie, religion and redemption represent two opposing routes in which to approach the pain which he must confront head on. Religion is the more orthodox, peaceful approach to dealing with his issues, and redemption is more dangerous and in line with the lifestyle that causes these problems for him in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThe scene that I will be discussing to cover how Charlie approaches problems in Mean Streets deciding between religion and redemption in early on with him praying in the church, directly after Johnny Boy bombs the mailbox. I will analyze the presence of religion and redemption in this scene through both sound and cinematography (framing and lighting). The way Scorsese uses sound in this scene is simple, yet highly effective. The first way he uses sound is that he carries the siren from Johnny Boy’s section of the scene into Charlie’s is great. The siren blares, and in the cut to Charlie’s prayer scene we see the light of what seem to be the sirens at first glance, but are in fact ornaments in the church. Scorsese’s combination of voice over narration (dialogue between Johnny Boy and Charlie) and the prayers Charlie is reciting in the present play hand in hand with this idea of Charlie’s internal struggle being between that of redemption and action and that of religion and contemplation. The framing in this scene suggests how small Charlie feels in religion, and how out of control his situations are when he relies upon religion to deal with them. Extreme long shots and high angles alienate Charlie and make him into a pawn in the church. However, in the bar in the scene directly following the church, Charlie is seeking redemption, and thus his red lighting and tight framing around Charlie’s actions portray that redemption is his preferred method because in a way he is in control of his own destiny, or at least he thinks he is.
A scene that most embodies the religious and moral themes of Martin Scorsese's 1973 American Crime film, Mean Streets, is one where we first meet Havey Keitel's character, Charlie, formally. In this scene Johnny Boy causes a mailbox to explode, Charlie enters to pray in the church, and we end in the ominous red flooded bar. Because this scene is where the audience is first introduced to Charlie we see also the role that religion plays on his life and ultimately it is conceived that the relationship between religion and morality are linked hand in hand due to this establishment of the church.
ReplyDeleteIn this scene we see the introduction of religion on Charlie’s everyday life. Moreover, This establishment of religion foreshadows the moral struggle he will have throughout the film which is shown through the mise-en-scene, specifically lighting and color which established the everlasting fight between Charlie’s gangster ambitious and devotion to catholicism.
The mise-en-scene in this scene, specifically the color of diegetic elements characterize the way the audience perceives things and causes us to question the morality of situations. In the very beginning of this scene we see Johnny Boy put an explosive in a mailbox and cause it to explode. This is an unquestionably immoral act, which then causing the colors of elements associated with the act to become characterized with immorality. Therefore, due to the half blue-half red mailbox exploding we now associate these colors with immorality and the fact that Johnny Boy is wearing a bright red shirt it is further emphasized that the color red has a negative connotation attached to it, and leaves us to believe that the color blue represents a sort of innocence. Moreover, this opening sequence of this scene characterizes the colors of red and blue immorally to then reveal further implied meanings in the church sequence to follow.
When Charlie first enters the church the mise-en-scene is scattered with an array of colors while deep dark candles are placed throughout the church, this establishing shot of the church reveals Charlie’s life thus far, he still has the motivation to go to church and pray however the red candles show his immoral tendencies will stay with him. The close up of Jesus on the crucifix with his two disciples below him is important because his two disciples are wearing blue and red. This aspect of mise-en-scene is interesting because it shows that even the most pure people still carry aspects of immorality showing that Charlie can never escape his wrongdoings- and that the church is an ineffective way to escape his past aswell. This shot also compares Charlie and his faith to that of Jesus Christ as even the figurine is thrown into a conflict between the innocence of Catholicism (Blue disciple) and immoral ambitions (Red disciple), here we see that the struggle Charlie faces is not only present in this film but everlasting. In a longshot we see Charlie leaving the church and the entire bottom half of the frame is red due to the church pews, which shows the groundwork of Charlie’s life is his immorality and cutting to the next close up shot of a red rose in a hand shows that Charlie holds his wrongdoings close to him. In the bar everything is red and black it is completely flooded with immorality which foreshadows the sinful acts that will occur throughout the film that are associated with the bar.
Furthermore, the themes of religion and immorality are established throughout this scene mostly with the characterization of red and blue before we enter the beacon of immorality (the bar), without this establishment and connection to religion as a whole these themes are not as strictly or implicitly enforced. The events in this scene shift the audience’s perception of these colors, so when we are brought to future scenes we can immediately recognize ill-intentions and the moral struggle that Charlie undergoes, especially in the final scene where Johnny Boy is killed.
Religion is an important aspect in Martin Scorsese's "Mean Streets", where Charlie takes his troubles and crimes to the confessional. We see this through Charlie, as he see him entering the church to confess his sins and punish himself for his actions. His redemption is seen as the burning sensation of a flame, which he emulates as a reminder as the fires of hell. Although this scene is very significant, he also reflects his beliefs as paralleled with Saint Francis of Assisi on the beach. Charlie is a character who is divided with the fulfillment of religious bonds and the desire as a mafioso while protecting his younger brother, Johnny boy. He takes himself as a Christ figure in the mafia as a redeeming characteristic for his troubles.
ReplyDeleteAn hour and fourteen minutes in the movie, we see him enter the bar and conducts some of this dialogue in archaic manner. As he walks up to Carl behind the bar, he states "Hallelujah, I've come to create order". The camera pans down to his shot glass and Charlie recites "God be with you and with his spirit", the Dominus vobiscum in the Catholic church, a blessing used on the communion prior to the celebration. With the red lighting, the culmination of the dialogue, and the liquor as a property, he emulates a communion rite which is to make holy, and reflects Charlie's behavior to desire true reverence in his life while among his problematic friends. The color red may symbolize the religious symbolism of Jesus's blood, it alludes to both passion and violence, both core ideas of Charlie's conflict. Charlie's friend asks "Art thou the King of Jews?" , and the camera cuts to a low angle of Charlie stating "Does thou say this of thyself or have others told thee of me?" (John 18:34), which clearly embodies Charlie as a Christ figure, with the low angle empowering him and the dialogue expressing allusion to the Bible.
Later in the scene, we see a constant camera follow on Charlie who is clearly drunk walk through the bar. He is essentially experiencing his own passion as he is greeted by those around him with sprays of alcohol and random people coming up to him and grabbing his face. Charlie wakes up from passing out and discusses Johnny Boy's debt with Flash's associate, Michael. He is able to bring the debt down to $2,000. Michael walks out and Charlie utters "Amen, I say to thee. Thou will not come out from it till thou hast paid the last penny.", a quote of the sermon on the mount where one must make peace with their enemy and pay back their debts. This clearly references Johnny Boy's debt to his loaners and Charlie's debt to his family and his debt to God.
The scene used here is the last five minutes in the movie, where they’re driving to Brooklyn to escape. Throughout the film, Charlie has been covering for his cousin Johnny, who keeps doing stupid, irresponsible things and never has any shred of humility about it. Charlie is shown to be very morally responsible, standing up for family and making sure his people do the right thing. Johnny never does the right thing, and because of this Charlie needs to make things right for him. Johnny has been screwing Michael around over the money he owes him and embarrassing him for the whole movie, and it’s gotten out of hand, hence the shooting. While they’re driving over the bridge, we see him praying to God, “things haven’t gone too well tonight, but I’m tryin’ Lord, I’m tryin’.” Johnny and Teresa laugh at him, but he is sincere in his religious appeal. To make things right for Charlie, Michael (acting as a god) kills Johnny, because while Charlie is always a righteous person, his association with Johnny gets him into trouble. Johnny is given multiple opportunities in the film to redeem himself, but he never takes any of them, instead relying on Charlie and interfering with his life. At the end of the film, the only way Johnny redeems himself is by dying and no longer negatively impacting Charlie’s life.
ReplyDeleteReligion is seen in the final shots of the film, we see a cross made with the water spewing out of the hydrant and the car, we see Charlie kneeling as if in prayer after leaving the car, and we see him praying earlier in the scene. Charlie is shown as being redeemed with Johnny’s death through these visual cues. We also see through the juxtaposition of other characters going about their normal lives in the movie that things will go on as usual, just smoother without the Johnny’s interference. Charlie’s uncle is shown as a very important, almost godlike character, and we see him overlooking the car accident, only through the movie in his apartment. His calm demeanor shows everything is turning out right.
Mean Streets is really representative of the city life that was around in the 70s. It created it owns boundaries and barriers and didn’t exactly play by the cinematic rules itself, just like the main character Johnny. This movie is also known for its phenomenal soundtrack and how the beat breaks the barriers and follows your heartbeat and emotion throughout the movies rollercoaster ride. It is a movie often called the love letter to the streets of Little Italy. He wanted to portray what it felt like to live the life he did in Little Italy, not just one story one time, but a feeling that you felt when walking the streets of Little Italy. I think that this scene is a full image of a situation that might occur in Little Italy on a common day. It shows the theme of the beat and the feeling associated with the neighborhood and the relationships in that neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteOne of the scenes that really stuck out to me was the fight scene once they enter the pool hall. This scene is kinda a scene setter for the beat that the rest of the movie runs to. The Lighting is very different from the usual lighting in a fight scene. Nothing really changed to make the scene more dramatic or to low light the subjects. In fact the subjects are amply lighted. You can see more which makes you feel like you are standing with them in that room. The mise en scene is marvelous and everything ties together. The people playing the arcade games in the background the low music and then high music once the fight scene begins. The cops that bust up the fight after it happens. The costume design is iconic and representative of that era. You have the popped collars the dress shirts and tuxedos out on the town. The typical higher waisted pants with wide leg. There is a mediocre feeling to the setting which goes along with Johnny’s character. The lighting is low, but not any lower than the usual scene in this movie. The biggest thing in this scene is the handheld tracking camera. The point of view is almost like a person looking in on the fight and trying to focus on all parts of the action at once but can’t. The way that the camera pushes itself through one action to move closer to the next. The camera movements are a dance around the action and it makes the action have a sort of dance like feeling to it rather than an actual intense feeling. This kinda plays along with the theme that this gangster image is more of a facade. That there really hasn’t been anything coming Johnny’s way for borrowing all this money. The camera in this movie was often strapped to someone’s body as they moved rather than set on a tripod or held still. This is something Scorsese started and it makes Mean Streets extremely unique. Scorsese said that he wanted to create “anxiety and urgency” that is created using “hand-held camera” and “surreptitious camera”. Often times the camera moves until it frames the subject in a more than interesting matter. The camera moves to compose an end shot that portrays meaning. The first shot in the sequence moves until it portrays Johnny’s friend sprawled out on the pool table with the light directly on him.
Carson Bloomingdale P1
He imitates the same motions in each shot, but with the music it doesn’t get boring. Music is something that cost this film the most money and it creates the most meaning in the film. Though we may have constantly seen the same action more than once, we also hear the music and the beat and do not get bored with the camera movements. It is a constant push and pull that is emphasized by the music. He uses a low angle to show Johnny in power as he stands on top of the pool table with the pool stick. This is a crazy weird thing to see because throughout most of the movie Johnny is SOL and is seen from the higher angle being looked down on by his friends because he is constantly borrowing money. It represents how this fight makes Johnny feel bigger than life. His final shot looking down on the people beating up Johnny and Johnny shows how he cannot keep living the way that he has been. He needs to clean himself up in order to survive the life in Little Italy. When the cops come in the angle changes and they are all seen on the same level. This represents the life they're living is only put on them by themselves. The problems of Little Italy are only to the people who live in Little Italy. The cops don’t understand the responsibilities of the life they are living. After the cops come the beat of the movie slows down and the image of the tough guys fighting in a pool hall in Little Italy is broken. They are now sitting and drinking like friends. It kinda shows an alliance against the cops to keep their ideals alive inside of the neighborhood. The public took a great liking to the movie because of Scorsese’s innovation in film and the New York Times remarked, “ no matter how bleak the milieu, no matter how heartbreaking the narrative, some films are so thoroughly, beautifully realized they have a kind of tonic effect that has no relation to the subject matter”.
DeleteCarson Bloomingdale P2
Throughout the film, Charlie tries time and time again to help Johnny Boy, to no avail. In the last five minutes of the movie, Scorcese's Italian perspective and style turn the climax into one steeped in Catholic religious themes. The horrific violence inflicted on the three passengers of the car illustrates the martyrdom of Charlie and the punishment of Johnny. The water gushing from the fire hydrant after the car hits it represents holy water and acts as a purifying entity. Johnny Boy and Charlie are both baptized here, and Johnny's sins are washed away. Yet this baptism is accompanied by a great wrath inflicted on the both of them due to Johnny's unrepentant nature. Although Johnny has been cleansed, he's been horrifically mangled to atone for his sins. The tragedy of Charlie's character shines through in this scene, too: despite spending the whole movie trying to lead Johnny Boy to a more righteous path, the only way he could erase his sins was by sacrificing himself. The gore dripping down Charlie as he stumbles away from the wreck is akin to the wounds inflicted on the Christ to wash away the sins of man.
ReplyDeleteThe themes of redemption and religion appear multiple times throughout Mean Streets, directed by Martin Scorcese in 1973. These overarching themes start to appear as early as the opening scene. The very first line of the film addresses both topics, redemption AND religion. "You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets." is the most famous line from Mean Streets. Charlie, one of the main characters, is also the most religious. He opens up the film with that line and a dark screen. Suddenly, the scene cuts to a shot of Charlie abruptly waking up from a dream. The silver cross hanging around his neck shines in the light. The camera follows Charlie, and as it pans across the room, a large crucifix can be seen hanging on his wall. The room is dark, but Charlie and the crucifix can be seen clearly. This is significant to show Charlie's beliefs. But his first line in the film proves he is nontraditional. Charlie makes up for his sins during his day to day life. While other Christians make up for their sins in church. He redeems himself in the streets. Even if it does involve violence and illegal activity. Redemption and Religion go hand in hand from the start of this film. The opening credits begin to roll and more evidence of redemption/religion begin to show. They start with sirens and flashing lights of police cars. And it cuts to a shot of Charlie's face, as if he committed the crime, or was cause of the police cars. Then Charlie begins doing good deeds. He is shaking hands and hugging people on the street. Essentially, he is redeeming himself of any wrong he has done towards these people. Religious sacraments, such as baptism, are also shown on screen. Charlie is shaking hands with the priest, and a shot of the church ends the credits. This relates to the film as a whole because Charlie consistently breaks religious rules about not stealing and not harming others, and tries to redeem himself through harming himself. He is almost obsessed with redemption in the eyes of God in the film, to the point where he forgets about redemption in the eyes of his friends. The themes of redemption and religion are present all throughout the film, but they are presented strongly within the first few minutes. This sets a tone for the entire rest of the film.
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