The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF), in association with Guild Hall in East Hampton, will present a screening of Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets” on Saturday, February 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the John Drew Theater. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Alec Baldwin and HIFF Programming Director David Nugent.
“With the release of Scorsese’s recent film, ‘Shutter Island,’ Alec and I thought it’d be great to go back to the film that really established Martin’s name,” Mr. Nugent said in a statement. “So many of the trademarks of his brand of cinema are there in ‘Mean Streets,’ from the casting of two of his favorite actors in Keitel and De Niro, to the New York setting, the dynamic sound track and the conflicted loner torn between religion, ideas of selfhood, cultural assumptions and his own desire for identity.
“Scorsese is one of the all-time greats in American cinema, and Alec and I are looking forward to talking about ‘Mean Streets’ and its influence.”
The film, a 1973 drama, was based on actual events Mr. Scorsese observed while growing up in Little Italy. Along with fellow writer Mardik Martin, Mr. Scorsese wrote the entire script while driving around Little Italy in Mr. Martin’s car. They would find a spot in the neighborhood, park and begin writing, all the while immersed in the sights and sounds of what would eventually appear on-screen.
Mr. Scorsese cast Harvey Keitel in the pivotal role of Charlie, an Italian-American trying to move up inside the local mafia. Charlie struggles with his feeling of responsibility toward his immature and destructive friend Johnny Boy, played by Robert De Niro.
The film has been hailed as one of the most original American films of all time. Mr. De Niro won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1997, “Mean Streets” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Tickets, at $15, or $13 for Guild Hall members, will be available two hours prior to curtain at the Guild Hall box office, 158 Main Street, East Hampton, or 24 hours a day at guildhall.org, Theatermania.com, or by calling 1-866-811-4111.
on Feb 23, 2010