Directed by Martin Scorsese. Released 1969.
Starring: Harvey Keitel, in his first leading role, as J.R. and Zina Bethune as his unnamed girlfriend.
SYNOPSIS: J.R. is just a paesan from the block. He meets a sweet, intellectual girl on the Staten Island Ferry and they fall in love. But J.R. is a very strict Catholic and he loses his grip when he discovers the reality of his girlfriend's past.
Review by CINEMAGIRL:
Welcome to the Old School Catholic meathead attitude of 1969. The rest of the youth across the country are listening to psychedelic rock and experimenting with drugs but J.R. is hanging out with his goombas, listening to earlier '60s soul music, wearing polished black shoes and going to church.
The film begins by immediately introducing us to a time and a place and a mindset. We see an older Italian woman hand-rolling dough, making a stromboli, and then serving it to a table full of children in a crowded New York apartment.
This film was released in 1969 when many films were being made in color, yet Marty shot this one in black and white. Maybe it was a budgetary decision for the young director, or an intentionally motivated creative decision, but either way, the B&W worked well. It transports the viewer to another, more old-fashioned time, which, despite it being the progressive sixties, is the kind of time that Italian Catholic J.R. is living in.
J.R. says there's a difference between girls and broads. Girls, you marry, but broads, you fool around with. Any girl worth marrying is not a broad. J.R. believes and even practices this double-standard. There is a great flashback sequence between J.R. and some naked bohemian chicks in an old factory building, featuring the song "The End" by The Doors. The scene abruptly ends with a jarring cut from the mystical, psychedelic sounds of Jim Morrison and company to the safe, clean, teeny-bopper soul music of the earlier 1960's, accompanied by footage of J.R. and his Girl walking down the street, dressed respectably.
J.R. loves his girlfriend and will not sleep with her because they aren't married. But his old-fashioned sexism places him in a Catch-22 when his Girl confesses that she was raped by a former boyfriend. Actually, she doesn't really confess it, in the sense that these words are never spoken. Instead, Scorsese cuts away from the Girl and J.R. having a serious chat in the kitchen to a shot of a big car turning off onto a dark, snowy country road in the woods. The entire scene takes place with only music as sound. There is no noise as she tries to run away or as the boyfriend smacks her around, until one final pealing scream. The scene cuts and takes us back to the Girl and J.R. in the kitchen. Still images from the haunting attack are used later on in different scenes as J.R. quietly recalls the story to himself.
J.R.'s reaction to learning that his girlfriend in "unpure" is a further part of the drama that I will not spoil for you.
The film ends with an incredible scene of religious zeal. Gyrating sixties soul music blares over the footage of dramatic crucifixes and Mary statues, adding a creepy, almost sexual fervor to J.R.'s obsession and passion with his religion.
This film definitely shows that Marty Scorsese developed his style early. The emotionally-driven usage of popular music along with slow-motion, dreamy dolly shots of characters engaging in real action are Marty-movie staples. The film also evokes the French New Wave films of the 1960's - from the black and white footage to the handheld camera movement, the flashbacks, plus the quiet reflection and deep and moody looks from the actors.
I highly recommend renting this virtually unknown film. The story was well-crafted, acted, directed and edited. Harvey Keitel plays a convincing lughead Italian chap, but this is probably one of his least creepy roles of all time.
STORY: 8.5
ACTING: 9
LOOK: 8
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