Raw, vibrant, and deeply personal, Mean Streets marked the consolidation of Martin Scorsese as one of the great voices of American cinema. Set in New York’s Little Italy, the film follows a young man caught between loyalty to his friends, the pressure of the criminal underworld, and his own moral convictions. With overflowing visual energy and a young Robert De Niro in one of his career-defining roles, Mean Streets captures the pulse of a city, a generation, and a way of understanding cinema like few other films. An essential work for understanding Scorsese’s universe.