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Italian Americans in FilmMean Streets. A Mirror Construction of Reality

Italian Americans in Film: Mean Streets. A Mirror Construction of Reality [This chapter while referring to (and building upon) the most popular and conventional analyses of Mean Streets—which tend to interpret it mostly through ethnic and religious lenses—discusses Scorsese’s movie in light of its symbolic references and its cinematic storytelling strategies. In so doing, this chapter touches upon this film’s mise-en-scène, its metacinematic quotations, and the variety of cinematic tools employed (ranging from voice-overs to the mixing of different media and the occasional transition from the diegetic to the extradiegetic level). Although the Italian American ethnic lens is what gave Scorsese the uniqueness of his gaze, and even though religion is one of the most important keys to reading and understanding most of his movies, this study focuses more on the multiplicity of this director’s generic discourses and his cinematic style. The repeated usage of reflective surfaces such as mirrors (and windows)—arguably one of Mean Streets’ most fascinating symbolic acts—is also discussed at length. Moreover, since the film’s protagonist is the only character going through these ‘reflective’ moments, this chapter also compares him with the mirroring archetype represented by the Narcissus myth.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Italian Americans in FilmMean Streets. A Mirror Construction of Reality

Part of the Italian and Italian American Studies Book Series
Editors: Fioretti, Daniele; Orsitto, Fulvio
Orsitto, Fulvio
Italian Americans in Film — Dec 1, 2022
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26 pages

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Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
ISBN
978-3-031-06464-7
Pages
119 –145
DOI
10.1007/978-3-031-06465-4_7
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[This chapter while referring to (and building upon) the most popular and conventional analyses of Mean Streets—which tend to interpret it mostly through ethnic and religious lenses—discusses Scorsese’s movie in light of its symbolic references and its cinematic storytelling strategies. In so doing, this chapter touches upon this film’s mise-en-scène, its metacinematic quotations, and the variety of cinematic tools employed (ranging from voice-overs to the mixing of different media and the occasional transition from the diegetic to the extradiegetic level). Although the Italian American ethnic lens is what gave Scorsese the uniqueness of his gaze, and even though religion is one of the most important keys to reading and understanding most of his movies, this study focuses more on the multiplicity of this director’s generic discourses and his cinematic style. The repeated usage of reflective surfaces such as mirrors (and windows)—arguably one of Mean Streets’ most fascinating symbolic acts—is also discussed at length. Moreover, since the film’s protagonist is the only character going through these ‘reflective’ moments, this chapter also compares him with the mirroring archetype represented by the Narcissus myth.]

Published: Dec 1, 2022

Keywords: Martin Scorsese; Gangsters; Mirrors; Windows; Metacinema; Narcissus Myth

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