Martin Scorsese’s film, Mean Streets (1973), is an excellent illustration how sound enhances action. Around the late sixties, early seventies, film underwent a drastic change. The idea of independently funding, shooting and distributing a film became suddenly more capable for filmmakers. It was Martin Scorsese who, instead of glamorously shooting in a gigantic studio with boundless options, took to the very place where brilliant stories are formulated – the streets. Recreating scenes from his adolescence and filming in the same streets in which those experiences occurred, Scorsese found himself in a realistic film that exemplifies true heart. Mean Streets is about 1970’s contemporary view of gangsters surviving in New York City. The story deals with two longtime friends Charlie and Johnny Boy. Charlie is mature and has life figured out, but Johnny Boy is immature and is clueless about life. One of the themes in the film is showing the essence of how it feels to be young: with the foolish juvenile antics by all characters, but also marking the first commercial film by an adolescent Scorsese. With such a wide range of songs, Scorsese uses music to serve a purpose besides clouding out silence. In particular, Martin Scorsese uses sound to establish location, strengthen realism and to break modes.
In the very first scene of the film, a narrator’s voice delivers a short monologue, and then Charlie (obviously the narrator) wakes up from a deep sleep. Not only does the short monologue open with important information pertaining to the plot, but also just hearing the voice with no picture gives the feeling of actually being asleep in his mind. By using the hard cut of him waking, we’re suddenly in tuned with reality. With the prior shot, the voiceover was the only sound present, compared to the scene with him awake when various sounds are present including car horns and the sound of air being picked up by the microphone. The car horns act as a sound effect, giving the identity of the location (the city). The sound of air being picked up by the microphone gives a realistic mood to the scene, because there is complete silence and then there is muted silence. Complete silence is the absence of sound, however somehow the ears take in air, creating a kind of hissing noise. Muted silence is the artificial act of taking all sounds out completely. The beginning narration given in the black frame includes a muted silence with no other sound but the narration heard, but the waking shot includes complete silence with the noise of air. Charlie pushes the covers up as he stands. The sound of the covers being pushed back is loud and crisp-like. He walks over to a mirror and we hear the sound of an ambulance, giving additional information about the location. As he walks back to his bed, the sound of his feet scraping the carpet is also loud and clear. All of these elements create more of a realistic experience for the audience. The sound of the ambulance rambles on as he gets back in bed. He reclines his head back and just as it comes in contact with the pillow, loud drums are heard, leading into The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” The song dominates the scene, leading into the title credits, which are shown on a vintage projection screen, where 8mm film footage is projected. The music is clearly non-diegetic, because no source is visually or orally shown. The projector shows reels of 8mm candid footage of life in the city for the main characters. The combination of the music, which is upbeat and poppy, and the video-within-a-video gives a peaceful feeling. For the very reason used, the “happy” music establishes the feeling of a happy movie, which is later denounced by further scenes with heavy mature content. This idea of manipulating the mode of music existing merely to establish the mood is the signature of the film.
The second scene takes place with all the major characters in a poolhall bar talking with a rival gang. Johnny Boy makes reference to the jukebox being too loud, which establishes a source making the music being played, diegetic. Once the characters begin arguing, “Please Mr. Postman” by The Marvelettes is selected and plays over the yelling voices. The music is turned up louder as the intensity of the feud grows to the point where a fight breaks out. One question purposed is the validity of arguing for the music being diegetic, because the volume increases once the fight breaks out – something that cannot be achieved with a jukebox. However, the source is recognized by a character, signifying the fact they are capable of hearing the music as well, making it diegetic. The sound of punches being thrown to the body is heard as loud “poofs” and the impact of fists to faces are heard as “percks!” One character is chased by two others, as he runs around a pool table knocking various things over. The sound of a stool and poolsticks hitting the ground are also heard loud and clear. There is not a second in the scene where the sound of a punch being thrown is not heard. Johnny Boy is chased to one side, where he picks up a poolstick and breaks it against the wall. The sound of the crack is heard loud and clear. He jumps on the table and swings the sharp poolstick at the gang. The sound of the poolstick being swung is heard loud and clear. The sound literally frightens the audience in fear of being hit. Once the gang has a firm hold on him, Johnny Boy consistently throws punch after punch with the sound becoming louder with the harder he punches. One important fact to recognize is that without the sound effects, there is no possible way for the scene to accomplish what it has with sound. Scorsese mixes the Doo Wop song with violence for a reason. It is ironic for the connotation of the music to signify something, however when you combine the music with something far from that very connotation, a mode is broken. In a way, the use of music shakes up the essence of equilibrium. This technique, which began in films by Kenneth Anger, is mimicked all the time now by filmmakers wanting to use it merely as an effect, without the reasoning behind the action. This technique put Scorsese on the map, and to this day, he still uses it in his films.
Both scenes emphasize the power of sound. The film takes place in the city, which anyone who has ever been to a city knows, has one of the loudest environments in the world. Scorsese takes advantage of this and takes it further adding sound to the smallest of details, making the image more of an experience. When one watches Mean Streets, one is literally in the city with the characters. In Scorsese’s films, sound is a major element. Specifically, the music stands out as a component on its own. Practically every scene includes some form of music being played. The soundtrack has evolved into a tool.
Martin Scorsese’s film, Mean Streets (1973), is an excellent illustration how sound enhances action. Around the late sixties, early seventies, film underwent a drastic change. The idea of independently funding, shooting and distributing a film became suddenly more capable for filmmakers. It was Martin Scorsese who, instead of glamorously shooting in a gigantic studio with boundless options, took to the very place where brilliant stories are formulated – the streets. Recreating scenes from his adolescence and filming in the same streets in which those experiences occurred, Scorsese found himself in a realistic film that exemplifies true heart. Mean Streets is about 1970’s contemporary view of gangsters surviving in New York City. The story deals with two longtime friends Charlie and Johnny Boy. Charlie is mature and has life figured out, but Johnny Boy is immature and is clueless about life. One of the themes in the film is showing the essence of how it feels to be young: with the foolish juvenile antics by all characters, but also marking the first commercial film by an adolescent Scorsese. With such a wide range of songs, Scorsese uses music to serve a purpose besides clouding out silence. In particular, Martin Scorsese uses sound to establish location, strengthen realism and to break modes.