I decided to catch up with some films by Martin Scorsese that I had not recently viewed in their entirety.
Casino: Very similar in structure to GoodFellas, Casino remains an excellent work. The similarities are evident: Robert DeNiro playing a leading role supported by Joe Pesci, a true organized crime story written by Nicholas Pileggi, and a detailed soundtrack which brings the film to life.
Brutal violence illustrates how seriously casino boss Sam “Ace” Rothstein and his backers from the Chicago Outfit take the business of running the Tangiers Hotel and Casino in the 1970s. Although Rothstein seemed to have it all: wealth, power, a beautiful wife, and the support of his friends, he throws it all away because he cannot stick to his principles. Gradually, as the city of Las Vegas transforms itself into a tourist destination, the old way of doing things falls by the wayside. Everyone becomes a little greedier and the scheme collapses into bloodshed, similar to what happens in GoodFellas.
DeNiro really makes Rothstein come alive, permitting the audience to see his perspective and how it becomes corrupted. Scorsese was always able to coax superb performances out of the actor. The supporting cast has worked together before and delivers again. It may be less significant because it had been done before in 1990 (Casino also broke GoodFellas record for profanity on film) but it is still worth a trip to the cinema. ***½
Gangs of New York: Oddly, Scorsese took a very interesting story – the honest history of New York City and the Draft Riots during the American Civil War which led to the U.S. Army firing on its own citizens – and made it dull and boring. Aside from the visualization and execution of a spectacular concept and a captivating performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, there is not much to recommend the work.
Character development falls short. The protagonist Amsterdam Vallon, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, returns to New York City seeking to avenge his father by killing local crime lord William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting. Vallon’s motives are not portrayed in detail and from the few minutes that Priest Vallon was shown on-screen, it is uncertain whether this revenge is justified. Vallon earns Cutting’s trust and seems to fill the role of the son that Cutting never had. The final confrontation seems rushed and muddled, due to a smoky scene and jumbled editing.
Gangs of New York includes many trademark Scorsese tricks, such as jump cuts which highlight Cutting’s proclivity for torturing his victims with various knives and long trailing shots that show the characters in detail. Unfortunately, there is very little depth. **½
Mean Streets: Mean Streets is one of Scorsese’s first films and although it is not perfect, it displays many of the elements that he would use often in his later works. The ensemble cast creates memorable characters and Scorsese creates a gritty setting in New York City which is meant to show a more accurate side for the city. A theme throughout all of the director’s works is how the gangster film is simply a late twentieth century version of the western, which is perfectly highlighted when a brawl breaks out in a pool hall with a piano soundtrack and when the characters visit the theatre in order to watch the Wild West on the silver screen.
Charlie, played by Harvey Keital, must balance his career as a wise guy, his girlfriend, and a childhood friend (Robert DeNiro) who has run afoul of the mob. This interpretation – like how the Corleone family mixed family and business – portrays the mobster as a human being struggling to meet different obligations. ***