MEANWHILE, ACROSS THE POND... : "MEAN STREETS"

Now we skip a few years. And an ocean – but I digress. What I like about Mean Steets – in conjunction to this weeks’ entries that is, I like a lot of things about the film but more of that in a sec – is that it is actually almost contemporary with Call the Midwife. At a push they are just about 10 years apart. But they both are, basically, a slice of life from impoverished, dangerous areas in two countries literally across the pond from each other. If you think about it, Johnny Boy or Charlie (ok, perhaps not Johnny Boy, but definitely Charlie) could well be one of the husbands of Jenny Lee’s patients. What we have here, you might say, is a simple reversal of perspective. Here however, there is no benign convent and nuns watching over people. Here, it’s a dog eat dog world and it’s really and truly every man for himself…

Charlie (Harvey Keitel) only knows this too well. Of course this is America, you can always build and live your dream, but in Little Italy, it can be a bit harder to do that than your average neighbourhood. Luckily Charlie knows how to use his head. And he has the right connections in the shape of his uncle Giovanni, an influential man in the neighbourhood, a businessman and unofficial moneylender. Giovanni likes Charlie a lot and is even considering making him manager of one of his restaurants, a job that Charlie dreams of and that would secure him for life. However, Charlie is a man torn between his head and his heart. Although his head shows him clearly what path to follow to become a “big man” of the neighbourhood like Giovanni, Charlie’s heart leads him directly to his distant cousin Teresa of whom Giovanni does not approve (on the grounds that she is “sick in the head” i.e. has epilepsy). That could be sidestepped, albeit with difficulty, if they manage to keep the relationship under the radar, which Charlie is doing despite loud protests from Teresa. But then there’s Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro). Charlie’s young, irresponsible and slightly mad cousin is nothing but trouble. Johnny Boy owes money to the entire neighbourhood and has neither a glimmer of hope of paying it back nor an ounce of respect for anyone. He is, as you can imagine, constantly in and out of trouble and heading straight for a very sticky end.  If he wants to achieve his own dreams Charlie may well have to stop bailing him out and concentrate on his own life. But that’s the problem with these head – heart conflicts you see…

This film is, of course, one of Martin Scorsese’s first films. But even so early on we can see the themes the cast and the style that will preoccupy Martin Scorsese for most of his career. This particular film is not for the most part quite as “hard hitting” as his later films. But in a funny kind of way, I like that. Yes, there is a very clear storyline, but the style of the film is a clever mix; that of a fly on the wall documentary mixed with a commercial film. So events unfurl a lot more slowly and less predictably then they would in your “average” Hollywood flic. This also matches Johnny Boy’s character very well, I guess the character in his early twenties (De Niro is 30 at the time but as you know that means very little in the world of film) and in any case Johnny Boy has the level of responsibility of a particularly air-headed 12 year old. He lives with utter disregard for the consequences of his actions and that means things can “erupt” at pretty much any moment. In short, be prepared for surprises.

This is, in fact, the classic story of a main character caught between his heart and his logic. Here the pull of the heart is twofold, because not only does Charlie desperately want to help Johnny Boy out, there is the matter of the woman he loves, Teresa. The dynamic there is also interesting because all Teresa wants is to get out of Little Italy, get a nice little flat and have a quiet life. Charlie however, is determined he will become a man of the neighbourhood. And leaving Little Italy is categorically out of the question. So already we see the strong feel of “neighbourhood” present in a lot of Scorsese films. Here, perversely it almost acts as the ultimate curse that brings Charlie down. To be fair, he would have had a calmer life if he had gone along with Teresa’s plan. Ah, but would their story then be worth making a film about? That, my dears, is a totally different story all together…

ESSIE'S GUSHING CONTINUES - ONE OF THE BEST ENTRANCES EVER : "RESERVOIR DOGS"

I have a sneaking suspicion that over the course of the next couple of weeks, Quentin Tarantino’s entire filmography may well creep its way into the blog. Yes there is a “because I say so” element to this creeping.  What can I tell you. I love the guy. I gush and gush about his films.  People who know me in offline life have learnt to deal with it. I’m sure you will too. Why only the other day a colleague at work was saying how Quentin Tarantino was “this weird guy who never even finished school”. I spent the next fifteen minutes verbally crushing her about that statement. Yes, he never went to film school. Despite this fact, his first feature film? RESERVOIR DOGS. Beat that as far as entrances go, I mean seriously. I do agree that the most important thing is watching movies as opposed to film school. If you love it enough, it will creep into your bones. If you have sh.tloads of talent to go with it, you’ll make a film like Reservoir Dogs.  I can report (with some pride) that other colleagues present ended up agreeing with me and the colleague who initially made the observation was silent and then changed the topic (although that may have been due to the sentences pouring out of me ever louder and quicker, accompanied by sweeping gestures with hands and arms). Now, being an Aries, I am at the very least amused by fighting off such objections with posture and tone of voice alone (admit it you guys – we are a zodiac sign that is especially partial to grandeur). But you know, there is logic behind this argument. Queue, this post.  Let’s talk about Quentin Tarantino and Reservoir Dogs. Not like it’s one of my favourite movies by my favourite director or anything…

The story itself is easily told and is, in truth, as old as the hills. It is a gangster movie. A heist movie to be exact. A major crime boss of the area, Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney), puts together a group of criminals he trusts (to varying degrees, it should be said, but it is pretty clear they are all “cool”) to pull off a jewellery heist. It seems like a very basic, easy job for a group of seasoned criminals such as we have here, however things do not go according to plan. The whole affair is carnage from beginning to end. As the survivors make their way back to the rendezvous point, one thing is clear: there is a rat in their midst.  How else would the police have appeared on the scene so quickly and so well prepared? Thing is, the criminals don’t know anything about each other, for security reasons they are not even allowed to exchange first names. Thus begin the mind games. Who is the rat, how to find him and how to deal with him when they do? And oh by the way, where have the diamonds they managed to grab got to? 

Ok, right off the bat, this is vintage Tarantino. This is another reason I respect the guy so much, like a lot of great directors, he had a style from the word go, and although it has been “added to” as years went by, the basic tenets have never changed. Here we have a heist / gangster movie – a favourite genre of the director as we know rather well – with a vintage soundtrack  and a storyline which is both simple and at the same time fuller of surprises than you could possibly imagine. Stylistically, Tarantino starts on something he will elaborate on further later on with Pulp Fiction – non-linear narration. And while in Pulp Fiction, the narration tends to go in larger chunks – that is to say the “morsels” of story we see out of order are larger / longer, here that length is a great deal shorter. This is mainly due to the fact that there is only one story line here.  So as you watch, a bit like the characters, you are piecing the story together, trying to figure out what the heck happened. As the film progresses – and we are, as viewers, blessed with multiple points of view, and hence info the characters don’t all possess, the suspense grows. Because, in a bizarre kind of way, the more we know, the less sure we are how the whole thing is going to end. Expect plot twists. Like, a barrel load or two. This film includes one of my favourite “raaaah” moments in a film. I would call this moment the precise incarnation of why I like Tarantino’s films so much. I’m obviously not going to describe it here but ask me in real life and I’ll be happy to tell you.

And if nothing else, people, here is a thriller that actually needs you to use your noggin as you watch. A rarer and rarer breed of movies these days  as I am sure you have observed. Oh and the cast : Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsden and Steve Buscemi to name but a few. Come on. Admit it. You’re tempted…