I Call First (1967)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 90 minuten
Alternative titles: Who's That Knocking at My Door / J.R.
Country:
United States
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Zina Bethune, Harvey Keitel and Lennard Kuras
IMDb score:
6,5 (10.781)
Releasedate: 15 November 1967
I Call First plot
"Mean Streets was just around the corner."
JR is a young man from an Italian neighborhood in New York who passes the time watching movies and hanging out in bars where he and his friends try to pick up girls. During a ferry crossing, JR meets a girl he falls in love with. Because of his strict Catholic faith, he soon struggles with guilt about his sexual desires.
Actors and actresses
Girl
J.R.
Girl in Dream
Joey
Sally Gaga
Harry
Girl in Dream
Girl in Dream
Iggy at Party
Boy in Copake
Reviews & comments
Jessen0wnt
-
- 3199 messages
- 2587 votes
Beautiful.
Nice debut that scores points mainly in the audiovisual field. Beautiful pictures in combination with strong editing (Scorsese's editing always works well for me). The rape scene may have been the highlight, but I actually thought everything was very nicely done. Also nice effects as you see on the poster, create a lot of atmosphere and emotions and the black and white images also convey the contrasts well. I just didn't have the charm of most old films. I experienced it as good, so I definitely don't get any favor points.
The film has a beautiful story, a strong cast and, in addition to the drama, it has something vague about it that makes it stand out from the normal boy-meets-girl stories.
What I also enjoyed experiencing is that this is, as it were, an experiment. Mainly through the camera you see testing out a lot of things, with success. It is absolutely not amateurish, but it does have a beginner level. Perhaps Martin's attitude, that he perhaps wanted to get more out of it. It had shown something ''new'' yet brave.
It is a gem, especially because my expectations were not that high as I have not come across astonishing reviews here and on IMDB. I have now officially been persuaded to look more into this man's work, rather than just stumbling upon him. This deserves attention, I may have another favorite.
Small masterpiece that shines in the audiovisual field. 4.5 stars
Translated from Dutch · View original
Spetie
-
- 38871 messages
- 8247 votes
Beautiful debut film by Scorsese, which is very similar to his later work, but also looks very different. Both have their positives here.
The downside is the incredibly simple story, which sometimes seems to hang together like loose sand. However, all kinds of things are tried with the camera, which gives the whole an incredibly loose and dynamic atmosphere. It helps that there are plenty of moments in between where there is no talking and the camera sometimes beautifully observes the events.
So I could have a good time. The sometimes chaotic atmosphere provided me with a certain peace, which allowed me to almost constantly watch the proceedings with a smile on my face. There are some small mistakes here and there, but otherwise this is a very successful debut by a great director, who had and hopefully still has several masterpieces.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
-
- 11421 messages
- 6719 votes
Interesting debut film with an excellent Harvey Keitel, who already had a good dose of charisma at a young age. The interaction between him and Zina Bethune works well and director Martin Scorsese knows how to shape it in a fascinating way. However, the film does suffer from some structural problems, as a result of which a lot of scenes do not flow well together, are unnecessarily drawn out and cause some confusion. A lot of somewhat dreamy sequences look nice cinematically, but add little to the whole. Still, I appreciate this experimental and energetic approach and it doesn't take longer than necessary.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Corporate & Media
Realtimes Network
Innovatieweg 20C
7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31(315)-764002
