R. P. McMurphy
11-12-2000, 05:42 AM
"You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it." - Charlie (Harvey Keitel)
That quote pretty summed up what the whole film is about. A Man looking for redemption from his life, and the only way to get it is on the mean streets of Little Italy.
Charlie works for his uncle. They run a small hood and Charlie collects debts and whatnot. He doesn't really like his job, but its his job. Its business. He is in love (?) with this girl, Teresa (Amy Robinson), but his uncle dissaproves of the whole thing because of her epilepsy. With all this burden on his shoulder, he has another problem. Johnny Boy (DeNiro), a young street thug who is always in trouble is Charlie's key to redemption. He tries to help him out whenever he can, thinking that will be his way out of the torture of his guilt. Johnny Boy owes money to a fellow partner to Charlie's, and Charlie has to think of a way out of it.
The film is at a good pace, with brilliant acting by DeNiro and Keitel and a very convincing portrayal of a woman torn by two sides of her life done by Robinson. This film also made peoples heads turn to Scorsese. His directing shines in this film, even has his trademark song/fight scene done very well in this film. "Pleas Mr. Postman" is played during a bar fight scene, and while this particular way is done in most films today, Scorsese was one of the first to use modern rock in the backround.
By the end of the film, you feel exhausted. You have a man fighting his inner demons and his conscience, and a careless youth going through his life in vain. It all leads up to a suprising end.
Maybe we all are looking for redemption. Maybe we work at redemption every day, by doing things that are clockwork to us, and thinking we have resolved our problems. But maybe it stays there. Maybe it burns our heart and soul until you want to do anything to get rid of it. Maybe Scorsese's favorite character to portray is a man looking for some sort of redemption. And this film is one of his best portrayals of just that.
[This message has been edited by R. P. McMurphy (edited 11-12-2000).]
That quote pretty summed up what the whole film is about. A Man looking for redemption from his life, and the only way to get it is on the mean streets of Little Italy.
Charlie works for his uncle. They run a small hood and Charlie collects debts and whatnot. He doesn't really like his job, but its his job. Its business. He is in love (?) with this girl, Teresa (Amy Robinson), but his uncle dissaproves of the whole thing because of her epilepsy. With all this burden on his shoulder, he has another problem. Johnny Boy (DeNiro), a young street thug who is always in trouble is Charlie's key to redemption. He tries to help him out whenever he can, thinking that will be his way out of the torture of his guilt. Johnny Boy owes money to a fellow partner to Charlie's, and Charlie has to think of a way out of it.
The film is at a good pace, with brilliant acting by DeNiro and Keitel and a very convincing portrayal of a woman torn by two sides of her life done by Robinson. This film also made peoples heads turn to Scorsese. His directing shines in this film, even has his trademark song/fight scene done very well in this film. "Pleas Mr. Postman" is played during a bar fight scene, and while this particular way is done in most films today, Scorsese was one of the first to use modern rock in the backround.
By the end of the film, you feel exhausted. You have a man fighting his inner demons and his conscience, and a careless youth going through his life in vain. It all leads up to a suprising end.
Maybe we all are looking for redemption. Maybe we work at redemption every day, by doing things that are clockwork to us, and thinking we have resolved our problems. But maybe it stays there. Maybe it burns our heart and soul until you want to do anything to get rid of it. Maybe Scorsese's favorite character to portray is a man looking for some sort of redemption. And this film is one of his best portrayals of just that.
[This message has been edited by R. P. McMurphy (edited 11-12-2000).]