Scorsese double: Mean Streets and The Last Waltz

Brisbane’s Tribal Theatre, one of the city’s newest cinemas in one of its oldest venues, has crafted a unique niche in the local screen scene since opening at the old Dendy George Street location back in March. Screening cult favourites (including Casablanca, The Shining, Eraserhead, Pulp Fiction, Spirited Away, Pan’s Labyrinth, and Across The Universe thus far), second-run hits (such as Animal Kingdom, Crazy Heart, Paranormal Activity, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) and first-release independent features (with Exit Through The Gift Shop a breakout smash, and Savages Crossing, The Horseman, The Most Dangerous Man in America and The Human Centipede also showing to date), it has piqued the interest of Brisbane’s avid film buffs, drawing in modest crowds of movie aficionados thanks to a revolving line-up of new and old classics alike. Extending the trend with a Martin Scorsese double featuring 1973’s Mean Streets and 1978’s The Last Waltz, the new Brisbane institution continues to impress, offering fans of the director the rare chance to view two of Scorsese’s masterful early works as they were meant to be seen.

Universally recognised as the film that put Scorsese on the map – as well as the first post-film school production entirely of his own design after playing director for hire on Boxcar Bertha, Mean Streets is a powerhouse breakthrough feature that not only trumpeted the arrival of its helmer and his signature style, but also launched the careers of Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro as well. Following the small-time criminal exploits of fledgling mafioso Charlie (Keitel) and his wildcard childhood friend Johnny Boy (De Niro), it charts the development of two kids from the streets headed in separate directions, but forever linked by their sins despite their own attempts at penance. A gritty, immediate and compelling film that chronicles the New York of Scorsese’s youth, it was praised for being startling original at the time – and still remains a breath of fresh air almost forty years later. Foreshadowing not only the hits of his career to come (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Departed being the obvious standouts) but also a new wave of crime cinema in tandem with Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and The Conversation, Sidney Lumet’s Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, Roman Polanski’s Chinatown and William Friedkin’s The French Connection, Mean Streets is Scorsese in vintage, visceral and vehement form, with the chance to view it on the big screen a bona fide treat.

In contrast, The Last Waltz embraces one of Scorsese’s other obsessions – music. His first forray into the concert film genre but by no means his last (with The Rolling Stones-centred Shine A Light following in 2008, and 2005’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan and the upcoming Living in the Material World: George Harrison also indulging the filmmaker’s love of the medium), it documents the final concert by Canadian icons The Band. Produced by singer, songwriter and founding guitarist Robbie Robertson, and featuring interview clips with him and his band mates throughout, it truly is a celebration of their music rather than an exploration of the history of the group, with guest artists including Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood and Neil Young gracing the stage as The Band bid their farewells to the touring life. Filmed in 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, it earns its place as one of the greatest rock films of all time, with Scorsese’s canny documentary skills (as further demonstrated in his deconstruction of American and Italian cinema in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies and My Voyage to Italy respectively) enticing new and old fans of The Band alike to partake in a poignant and personal opus about an act, a tour, and a gig that captured the spirit of a generation.

Tribal Theatre’s Martin Scorsese double runs until September 8, 2010.

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Tags: concert, crime, documentary, drama, films, movies, music, New York, Scorsese