{"product_id":"mean-streets-9781839022951","title":"Mean Streets","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMean Streets\u003c\/i\u003e was Martin Scorsese's third feature film, and the one that confirmed him as a major new talent. On its premiere at the New York Film Festival in 1973, the critic Pauline Kael hailed the film as 'a true original of our period, a triumph of personal film-making'. The tale of combative friends and small-time crooks is set amid the bars, pool halls, tenements and streets of Manhattan's Little Italy. Scorsese has said of his childhood neighbourhood, 'its very texture was interwoven with organised crime', and this quality would dramatically inform the tone and restless energy of his seminal film. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDemetrios Matheou's insightful study considers \u003ci\u003eMean Streets\u003c\/i\u003e' production history in the context of the New Hollywood period of American cinema, noting also the key roles played by John Cassavetes and Roger Corman. He analyses the importance of Scorsese's background to the film's characters and themes, including preoccupations with guilt, redemption and criminal subcultures; the development of the director's film-making process and signature style; the way in which he both drew upon and invigorated the crime genre; his relationship with emerging stars Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, and the film's reception and legacy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Matheou argues that while \u003ci\u003eTaxi Driver\u003c\/i\u003e (1976) and \u003ci\u003eRaging Bull\u003c\/i\u003e (1980) are regarded as Scorsese's greatest films of the period, \u003ci\u003e Mean Streets \u003c\/i\u003eis the more influential achievement. With it, Scorsese not only paved the way for a new kind of crime movie, not least his own \u003ci\u003eGoodFellas\u003c\/i\u003e (1990), but also inspired generations of independently-minded film-makers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDemetrios Matheou\u003c\/b\u003e is a London-based journalist and critic. His film writing has appeared in numerous publications, including \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSight and Sound\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eScreen International\u003c\/i\u003e. He was the\u003ci\u003e Sunday Herald\u003c\/i\u003e film critic from 2004-18 and is a regular contributor to \u003ci\u003eThe Arts Desk \u003c\/i\u003ewebsite\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eHe is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Faber Book of New South American Cinema\u003c\/i\u003e (2010).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"British Film Institute","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50661587222802,"sku":"9781839022951","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_47a0981c-bda0-4615-a8a2-8a4c3ec64445.jpg?v=1733501561","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/mean-streets-9781839022951","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}