Redemption and religion are very evident and important themes in Mean Streets by Martin Scorsese. These themes are portrayed cinematically, particularly through the use of camera placement and shot composition and costumes and props. Redemption comes through condemnation. The use of camera placement and shot composition convey the themes of redemption and religion. One shot that makes this clear is the shot of Charlie putting his hand in the fire when he enters a kitchen. It is a low angled shot with him in the background and the fire in the foreground. This represents how he feels better about himself when he punishes himself; it also represents the power of condemnation (the fire). Charlie is very religious, but also does many bad things, like sleeping with his friend’s (Johnny Boy) sister (Teresa). Religion is very condemning, so he feels he must punish himself. One of the last shots in the film, with Charlie on his knees holding his hurt arm, is shot handheld which makes it very unstable. This represents how shaken up Charlie is after being shot at, and him being on his knees looks like a surrender God. He wanted to redeem himself by taking things into his own hands, but cannot. This seems to imply that one cannot escape condemnation in religion, nor can one redeem oneself on his own. The fire itself represents pain and suffering. Fire is in Hell, which is what Charlie is afraid, being a religious Catholic. Charlie knows that there are consequences of sin, but he does make his own punishments, by burning himself. He does this not only with fire, but with his association Johnny Boy. He has been told by multiple people like his uncle and Michael, not to associate himself with him, because he’s a ‘little punk’, he’s no good and is only negatively impacting Charlie. Charlie sticks with Johnny Boy, because he suffers when around him. Charlie gets into a lot of trouble because Johnny Boy won’t pay his debts back. There is a major cinematic contrast between Charlie and Johnny. Charlie wears a suit, fixed up hair, a tie, etc. Johnny Boy dresses in somewhat nice clothes, but he looks messier, with an un-tucked shirt, his hat not perfectly straight, the way he walks and presents himself, etc. Johnny is a kid who doesn’t care about anything but him and thinks that he’s invincible. By the end of the movie, Johnny is killed and Charlie is hurt, and most likely with a hurt reputation.
From the first words of the opening monologue, Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets is a religious picture. "You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets," Charlie says to himself. This utterance summarizes the main themes of the movie as well as Charlie's state of mind throughout the film. While Charlie is an imperfect character - he drinks to excess, he lies, and he carries on a thing with his best friend's sister without his knowing - Charlie repeatedly attempts to redeem himself "in the streets." Establishing himself as a morally-flawed Jesus of the gangsters, Charlie repeatedly forces himself to undergo punishment in an attempt to redeem himself. When we see him stick his hand into the flickering flame of a candle, the candlelight is foremost in the frame. In the shot and film, the candle acts as a makeshift act of penance which Charlie must answer to by burning his hand. The fire becomes exaggerated in the frame, a pocket-sized Hell which Charlie answers to repeatedly when feeling bad for his transgressions.
Nowhere is Charlie's self-imposed redemption streak more evident than in the ending scene of the film, in which Charlie's attempt to save ne'er-do-well Johnny Boy from wannabe crimeboss Mikey ends with a horrific crash that leaves Charlie bleeding on the ground, Johnny Boy ridden with bullets, and Charlie's girlfriend through the windshield. Charlie's attempts to be good has resulted in suffering for everyone. Echoing his earlier sentiments of making up for sins "in the streets," Charlie raises his hands in a plea for forgiveness, bloodied and brought to his knees. Charlie's troubled life on the mean streets has brought him to a place where religious conviction gets in the way of success, and Charlie is forced to face reckoning in the face of tragedy. The last shot of Charlie, on his knees begging for forgiveness, depicts a man trying to remain moral in an immoral world. Battling temptation, violence, and evil, Charlie redeems himself by sacrificing himself to religion.
Charlie causes himself physical pain by burning his hand in fire because for him it serves as a method of redemption. He understands that what he does will have repercussions and his self-punishment is an attempt to purge himself of the guilt he feels for his lifestyle of engaging in hedonism and illegal activities. Additionally, since Johnny-Boy takes no responsibility for his own actions, Charlie burns his hand to take on Johnny’s guilt. Charlie is also attracted to self-punishment because it offers control - he fears the unknown wrath of spiritual punishment while physical punishment is immediate and something he can mete out to himself. In the final scene, Charlie, Johnny, and Teresa are driving away to escape Tony when he pulls up alongside them and has a man shoot each of them. The frenetic non-diegetic guitar playing before the shooting continues and grows louder irreverently as the car spins out of control and quick cuts of a freely moving camera show a bleeding Johnny hanging out of the car window. Essentially, this scene is demonstrating the characters’ fast, sybaritic lives finally “spin out of control.” The music increases in intensity until the car stops at a wall, and, abruptly, so does the music. The characters past lives, literally or metaphorically, have come to an end. A light but seemingly mournful Italian song begins to play as Charlie crawls out of the car and piously falls to his knees. Johnny, however, always acting out of self-interest, absconds and walks through an alley with heavy shadows suggesting that he is irreverent to the last. The shots here appear sped up, as if to mock Charlie and Johnny’s loss of control over a fast lifestyle of drinking, clubs, and gambling.
Redemption and religion are very evident and important themes in Mean Streets by Martin Scorsese. These themes are portrayed cinematically, particularly through the use of camera placement and shot composition and costumes and props. Redemption comes through condemnation.
ReplyDeleteThe use of camera placement and shot composition convey the themes of redemption and religion. One shot that makes this clear is the shot of Charlie putting his hand in the fire when he enters a kitchen. It is a low angled shot with him in the background and the fire in the foreground. This represents how he feels better about himself when he punishes himself; it also represents the power of condemnation (the fire). Charlie is very religious, but also does many bad things, like sleeping with his friend’s (Johnny Boy) sister (Teresa). Religion is very condemning, so he feels he must punish himself. One of the last shots in the film, with Charlie on his knees holding his hurt arm, is shot handheld which makes it very unstable. This represents how shaken up Charlie is after being shot at, and him being on his knees looks like a surrender God. He wanted to redeem himself by taking things into his own hands, but cannot. This seems to imply that one cannot escape condemnation in religion, nor can one redeem oneself on his own.
The fire itself represents pain and suffering. Fire is in Hell, which is what Charlie is afraid, being a religious Catholic. Charlie knows that there are consequences of sin, but he does make his own punishments, by burning himself. He does this not only with fire, but with his association Johnny Boy. He has been told by multiple people like his uncle and Michael, not to associate himself with him, because he’s a ‘little punk’, he’s no good and is only negatively impacting Charlie. Charlie sticks with Johnny Boy, because he suffers when around him. Charlie gets into a lot of trouble because Johnny Boy won’t pay his debts back. There is a major cinematic contrast between Charlie and Johnny. Charlie wears a suit, fixed up hair, a tie, etc. Johnny Boy dresses in somewhat nice clothes, but he looks messier, with an un-tucked shirt, his hat not perfectly straight, the way he walks and presents himself, etc. Johnny is a kid who doesn’t care about anything but him and thinks that he’s invincible. By the end of the movie, Johnny is killed and Charlie is hurt, and most likely with a hurt reputation.
From the first words of the opening monologue, Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets is a religious picture. "You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets," Charlie says to himself. This utterance summarizes the main themes of the movie as well as Charlie's state of mind throughout the film. While Charlie is an imperfect character - he drinks to excess, he lies, and he carries on a thing with his best friend's sister without his knowing - Charlie repeatedly attempts to redeem himself "in the streets." Establishing himself as a morally-flawed Jesus of the gangsters, Charlie repeatedly forces himself to undergo punishment in an attempt to redeem himself. When we see him stick his hand into the flickering flame of a candle, the candlelight is foremost in the frame. In the shot and film, the candle acts as a makeshift act of penance which Charlie must answer to by burning his hand. The fire becomes exaggerated in the frame, a pocket-sized Hell which Charlie answers to repeatedly when feeling bad for his transgressions.
ReplyDeleteNowhere is Charlie's self-imposed redemption streak more evident than in the ending scene of the film, in which Charlie's attempt to save ne'er-do-well Johnny Boy from wannabe crimeboss Mikey ends with a horrific crash that leaves Charlie bleeding on the ground, Johnny Boy ridden with bullets, and Charlie's girlfriend through the windshield. Charlie's attempts to be good has resulted in suffering for everyone. Echoing his earlier sentiments of making up for sins "in the streets," Charlie raises his hands in a plea for forgiveness, bloodied and brought to his knees. Charlie's troubled life on the mean streets has brought him to a place where religious conviction gets in the way of success, and Charlie is forced to face reckoning in the face of tragedy. The last shot of Charlie, on his knees begging for forgiveness, depicts a man trying to remain moral in an immoral world. Battling temptation, violence, and evil, Charlie redeems himself by sacrificing himself to religion.
Charlie causes himself physical pain by burning his hand in fire because for him it serves as a method of redemption. He understands that what he does will have repercussions and his self-punishment is an attempt to purge himself of the guilt he feels for his lifestyle of engaging in hedonism and illegal activities. Additionally, since Johnny-Boy takes no responsibility for his own actions, Charlie burns his hand to take on Johnny’s guilt. Charlie is also attracted to self-punishment because it offers control - he fears the unknown wrath of spiritual punishment while physical punishment is immediate and something he can mete out to himself.
ReplyDeleteIn the final scene, Charlie, Johnny, and Teresa are driving away to escape Tony when he pulls up alongside them and has a man shoot each of them. The frenetic non-diegetic guitar playing before the shooting continues and grows louder irreverently as the car spins out of control and quick cuts of a freely moving camera show a bleeding Johnny hanging out of the car window. Essentially, this scene is demonstrating the characters’ fast, sybaritic lives finally “spin out of control.” The music increases in intensity until the car stops at a wall, and, abruptly, so does the music. The characters past lives, literally or metaphorically, have come to an end. A light but seemingly mournful Italian song begins to play as Charlie crawls out of the car and piously falls to his knees. Johnny, however, always acting out of self-interest, absconds and walks through an alley with heavy shadows suggesting that he is irreverent to the last. The shots here appear sped up, as if to mock Charlie and Johnny’s loss of control over a fast lifestyle of drinking, clubs, and gambling.