The Martin Scorsese movie James Gandolfini watched “ten times in a row”
For many fans, the legendary James Gandolfini is undoubtedly one of the most missed actors in the current landscape of cinema. Gandolfini tragically passed away in 2013 due to a heart attack, but his legacy has been immortalised in the hearts and minds of his global following.
While Gandolfini’s filmography contains several fascinating projects, his crowning achievement will always be his complex rendition of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano. Often cited as the greatest character in the history of television, Gandolfini revitalised the genre by delicately exploring the vulnerabilities and the violence present in a psychopath’s mind.
Throughout his career, the revered actor cited many sources of inspiration, but one film that always stayed with him was Martin Scorsese’s 1973 masterpiece Mean Streets. Almost a gritty antithesis to the more glorious depiction of organised crime in Goodfellas, Mean Streets was the first significant contribution Scorsese made to the New Hollywood movement.
During an appearance on Inside the Actors Studio, Gandolfini revealed that his decision to become an actor was deeply influenced by the cinematic experience of Mean Streets. While talking about the impact of the film, the actor admitted: “I saw that ten times in a row.… I just sat there. I thought everything about it was great.”
Although many viewers have seen the film as a chronicle of Scorsese’s own experiences, the director once clarified in an interview with Deadline: “It took me years to realise Mean Streets was more about my father and him than myself and my old friends because my father was constantly making sure he wasn’t going to get killed, or beat up. He seemed to be constantly trying to find him. Then, making sure his wife went up to see him in jail.”
Exploring familiar themes such as religion and the cycle of crime in modern society, Mean Streets is unflinchingly bleak. Scorsese’s cinematic obsession with urban landscapes finds the perfect outlet in the overwhelming darkness of this early gem. In the same interview, the director revealed that he has never properly revisited Mean Streets.
Scorsese said: “I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and watched it from beginning to end again… It is too hard. It’s too close. I like it a lot, but there are so many things I know that I didn’t get. There are so many things that bring back memories of people who are gone and a time in my life… it was a good time in my life, finally getting to make that film.”
