Mean Streets

Synopsis: The future is set for Tony and Michael - owning a neighbourhood bar and making deals in the mean streets of New York city's Little Italy. For Charlie, the future is less clearly defined. A small-time hood, he works for his uncle, making collections and reclaiming bad debts. He's probably too nice to succeed. In love with a woman his uncle disapproves of (because of her epilepsy) and a friend of her cousin, Johnny Boy, a near psychotic whose trouble-making threatens them all - he can't reconcile opposing values. A failed attempt to escape (to Brooklyn) moves them all a step closer to a bitter, almost preordained future.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director(s): Martin Scorsese
Production: Warner Bros.
  5 wins & 5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
96%
R
Year:
1973
112 min
2,076 Views


1

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.

What the hell is this?

Not in my f***in' place!

Keep out of my place! I know your face!

And you, scumbag!

I told ya about passin'

that sh*t in my place.

I didn't do nothin'!

You're supposed to be the bouncer.

-I didn't do nothin'.

-That's it. Ya didn't do nothin'.

Come on, hurry up with that sh*t, huh?

What's this, more sh*t?

No, that ain't sh*t. That's a German lens.

I've got two shipments of those.

That's good stuff.

Can't use it.

What do ya mean ya can't use it?

That's a telescopic one.

That's the best one they make.

It's not German, it's Jap.

This is an adaptor, it's not a lens.

You bought two shipments

of Jap adaptors, not lenses.

Jap adaptors.

Lord, I'm not worthy to eat your flesh.

Not worthy to drink your blood.

Not worthy to drink your blood.

Okay, I just come out of confession, right?

Right.

And the priest gives me the usual penance:

Ten ''Hail Marys'', ten ''Our Fathers'',

ten whatever.

Next week, I'll come back and he'll give me

another ten ''Hail Marys'' and...

... another ten ''Our Fathers'' and....

I mean, you know how I feel

about that sh*t.

Those things, they don't mean anything

to me. They're just words.

Now, that may be okay for the others,

but it just doesn't work for me.

I mean, if I do somethin' wrong,

I just want to pay for it my way.

So, I do my own penance for my own sins.

What do ya say, huh?

It's all bullshit except the pain, right?

The pain of hell.

The burn from a lighted match

increased a million times.

In finite.

Ya don't f*** around with the in finite.

There's no way you do that.

The pain in hell has two sides:

The kind you can touch with your hand.

The kind you can feel in your heart.

Your soul, the spiritual side.

And ya know...

...the worst of the two...

...is the spiritual.

Hey, Charlie, you're crazy.

The priest taught me this.

Terrific. You know any other tricks?

Yeah, but I'll show 'em to ya

when I learn this one.

You know somethin'?

She is really good-lookin'.

I gotta say that again.

She is really good-lookin'!

But she's black.

You can see that real plain, right?

Look, there's not much

of a difference anyway, is there?

Well, is there?

Oh, great.

Hey, Marlboro.

For these prices, Charlie,

you shouldn't complain.

But it's the best I could do.

Maybe next week I can do better.

If ya can't smoke 'em,

maybe ya can sell 'em.

No, I'll be okay for a week.

Bless you.

Seen Johnny Boy?

No.

He's supposed to be here.

But who knows what goes on

in that kid's head, right?

I'd like to know, Charlie.

I think the kid's trying to duck me.

Don't you think you oughta care more

about Johnny's payments to me?

I think you should. You know that.

Michael...nobody's out to screw you.

I guarantee that.

Well, you're not lookin' at it from my side.

You vouched for the kid.

What happens if he doesn't pay?

I gotta collect from you?

-I don't want to do that.

-You're right.

I made a deal with him, not you, right?

You're right. I'm not gonna pay his debts,

believe me.

I'll talk to him. I'll straighten him out.

Straighten him out?

The bum owes money left and right.

Don't worry, Michael--

Hey! Hey, come on!

Get out of here!

-Come on, sit down.

-Take it easy.

-Hey, what's the matter with you?

-Everybody's friends here, right?

Come on, sit down.

Dammit, Charlie, I don't understand you.

I don't understand why you hang around

with a punk kid.

I mean, he's the biggest jerk off around.

Don't say that. Don't quarrel man, will ya?

What's the matter?

Family things, a few things.

I can't explain it, all right?

He really is a good kid.

All right, sure. I'll see you.

Right, later. Be well.

Come on, girls. Give her your coats.

Give her your coats.

If you don't mind, young lady,

I would like to check these.

But I'm keeping my skin pants.

Hey, here he is!

Are those the shorts

with the hearts on 'em?

Girls, after you.

All right, okay. Thanks a lot, Lord.

Thanks a lot for opening my eyes.

You talk about penance

and you send this through the door.

Well, we play by your rules, don't we?

Well, don't we?

-How are ya?

-All right. How are you?

I want you to meet

two beautiful young ladies here.

This is my good friend, Charlie.

This is my good friend, Tony,

who owns the joint.

This is, what's your name, darling?

-Sarah.

-Sarah, Sarah Kline, right?

Sarah Kline, this is Tony.

This is...what's your name?

Heather, Heather Weintraub, right?

I met them in the Village.

Bohemian.

Yeah, over at the Cafe Bizarre.

-What do ya want to drink, huh?

-Tequila.

-You got tequila?

-No.

Never mind. Listen....

I'll order somethin'

that's good for the both of ya.

Go on, give yourself a drink.

Give me and Charlie a J& B, will ya, please?

-What's this?

-What's what?

-This.

-What?

-That. What does this look like? Huh?

-What?

Where did you get this?

-What?

-Where did you get this?

-This.

-What?

-This?

-Yeah. In the back, come on.

You're makin' me look bad, Charlie.

In front of the girls here.

Oh, excuse me.

I didn't mean to be rude, girls.

Mr. Civello, I'd like your presence

in the back room, if you got a moment.

Well, you mean you request my presence

for a moment or two in the back room?

I most certainly do.

Well, after you.

-Nah, after you.

-No, after you.

-Mr. Civello, after you.

-No, after you.

In the back!

Tony, give them whatever they want.

Hey, girls, excuse me.

Tony, keep an eye on these nice girls here.

Don't let none of the vultures look, okay?

What are ya doin'?

What do ya mean?

What are ya doin' to me, huh?

What do ya mean?

Michael's been on my back all night.

He's botherin' me.

Why didn't ya make your payment

last Tuesday?

I made my payment last Tuesday.

What are you talkin' about?

-You paid him last week?

-Yeah, I paid him last week.

What did he say, I didn't pay him?

He's a f***in' liar. Where is he?

-You paid him?

-Yeah, I paid him.

-Last week?

-Yeah!

-Last Tuesday?

-Yeah.

-Charlie, you don't know....

-He's here.

-Where?

-Out front.

-He's here?

-Yeah.

So, what do I care?

Let me go get him.

We'll straighten this thing out, all right?

Hey, wait a minute, Charlie.

-What?

-Well, you're right.

I'm right?

Yeah, was it last Tuesday?

It's the Tuesday that was last week,

that's before the one about to come up.

My mistake, I'm sorry. It was last week,

the week before, that I was thinking of.

-Oh, yeah. It was, huh?

-That's right.

What's the matter with you?

You can't bullshit people that way.

You give your word, you gotta keep it.

You know what happened?

I'm so depressed about other things.

I can't worry about payments,

you know what I mean?

I come home last Tuesday.

I have my money in cash.

Comin' home, I ran into Jimmy Sparks.

I owe him $700, like for four months.

I gotta pay the guy.

He lives in my buildin', hangs out

across the street. I gotta pay him.

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Martin Scorsese

Martin Charles Scorsese (; born November 17, 1942) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, actor and film historian, whose career spans more than 50 years. Scorsese's body of work addresses such themes as Sicilian-American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, faith, machismo, modern crime, and gang conflict. Many of his films are also known for their depiction of violence and liberal use of profanity. Part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential filmmakers in cinematic history. In 1990, he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation. He is a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema, and has won an Academy Award, a Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award, Silver Lion, Grammy Award, Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and DGA Awards. He has directed works such as the crime film Mean Streets (1973), the vigilante-thriller Taxi Driver (1976), the biographical sports drama Raging Bull (1980), the black comedies The King of Comedy (1983), and After Hours (1985), the religious epic drama The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), the crime film Goodfellas (1990), the psychological thriller Cape Fear (1991) and the crime film Casino (1995), some of which he collaborated on with actor and close friend Robert De Niro. Scorsese has also been noted for his successful collaborations with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, having directed him in five films, beginning with Gangs of New York (2002) and most recently The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Their third film together, The Departed (2006), won Scorsese the Academy Award for Best Director in addition to the film winning the award for Best Picture. Their collaborations have resulted in numerous Academy Award nominations for both as well as them winning several other prestigious awards. Scorsese's other film work includes the biographical drama The Aviator (2004), the psychological thriller Shutter Island (2010), the historical adventure drama Hugo (2011) and the religious epic Silence (2016). His work in television includes the pilot episodes of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl, the latter of which he also co-created. With eight Best Director nominations, he is the most nominated living director and is tied with Billy Wilder for the second-most nominations overall. As a fan of rock music, he has directed several documentaries on the subject, including The Last Waltz (1978), No Direction Home (2005), Shine a Light (2008), and George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011). more…

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    "Mean Streets" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/mean_streets_13561>.

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