Who's That Knocking at My Door

This is a hard movie to review because it's essentially an amalgam of several different shorter student films, and some work better than others.

That said, at the crux of "Who's That Knocking at My Door" (the final mass-released version) is a complex character-study laden with Catholic guilt and burdened by all the inherent stigmas and traditions of growing up Italian-American.

Obviously Scorsece knew his source material very well. More than half of the players and virtually all the locations come straight from his own life. What's really cool about the film, though, is how honestly he portrays these sociological nuances. He doesn't tell you Keitel's character's views and attitudes are good or bad, they just "are" --- and it's obvious how the character developed them from a peek into his everyday world.

This bracing honesty is the most appealing thing about the film, along with some drop-dead gorgeous camera work and editing featured here. The first scene where Keitel meets Bethune on the ferry has got to be one of the most imaginatively-shot and enthrallingly staged boy-meets-girl moments on celluloid. Throughout the film, Scorcese overlays soundless scenes from the past and future, creating interesting juxtapositions, always engaging and challenging your perceptions.

With a lot of debuts there are missteps. I don't think that fairly characterizes this movie however. There are definitely parts that drag and don't work well but seen in the context of a shorter film, they would have been more effective. As they're all blended together here, the pacing sometimes suffers.

It's hard to imagine any of the fans of Scorsece's later works, which rely so heavily on hyper-real camera-work and tightly-structured story lines, to have the patience for "Who's That Knocking." But for those who really enjoy the thoughtfulness, subversiveness, and subtext of Scorcese's films, it's a treat to see their origins so prominently displayed.

A well-dressed but feckless young man (Harvey Keitel, in his acting debut) on the streets of New York meets a lovely single girl reading a foreign magazine and strikes up a conversation about movies; soon after, they begin dating, however she volunteers more about her past than he is able to handle. Striking if aimless debut from writer-director Martin Scorsese, alternately titled "I Call First", began life as a short feature from the young film student. His sexual montage, featuring Keitel and his 'broads' (and set to "The End" by the Doors), is a fabulous example of cinematic sound and fury: the perfect marriage between silvery black-and-white cinematography, kinetic editing, great music and lusty bodies. Unfortunately, Scorsese as a writer had not developed a true ear for canny dialogue, and the characters fail to emerge as a result. Still, an almost-dynamic first try, and a must-see for film historians. Keitel, marvelously youthful and muscular, is more callow than expressive, though he gives the picture its pulse; the cinematography from Richard Coll and Michael Wadley is a major asset as well. **1/2 from ****

"Who's that knocking at my door" is along with "Boxcar Bertha" the most unknown picture of the Italian-American genius Scorsese. Make no mistakes: it's nothing like a masterpiece and it's no surprise that almost no one know about this movie, but here we got some of the constants in Marty's cinema: the street talking, the violence, the outsiders... Those things that "mean streets" dealt about... This was Martin Scorsese's debut and so it was for his friend Harvey Keytel who plays a chauvinist-bad tempered young man.

So, this is a movie that I recommend to those who really love Scorsese's work and wanna know about his origins.

*My rate: 6/10

WHO'S THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR? (3+ outta 5 stars)

Early feature film by the now-legendary Martin Scorsese... it sort of sprawls all over the place... melding all kinds of weird artsy gimmicks and camera styles... but the central relationship between Harvey Keitel and the pretty blonde girl he meets and falls in love with on the Staten Island Ferry (Zina Bethune) keeps the movie's momentum going, even when it veers off into interesting but sometimes pointless tangents. If you thought Quentin Tarantino invented the character of the movie geek who seeks to impress the woman of his dreams by rambling on with movie trivia... well, this movie will set you straight. You will also see hints of Scorsese's later masterpieces ("Mean Streets", "Goodfellas") in embryonic form. I hadn't seen this movie in years... but just saw the new DVD version and was amazed at how good it was.

Filmed over years apparently, this early M. Scorsese New York tale involving young dudes being typically out of it is interesting in the scenes with Keitel and the girl (Z. Bethune), but the buddy scenes tend to drag on and semi-bore. A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Zena Bethune.

Harvey Keitel has always been interesting and believable and it's great to see him in a lead (pre-MEAN STREETS) and Ms. Bethune is very touching and human. All Scorsese fans should track this down even though it's not that great. The DVD has a semi-commentary from Marty which is unusual! It comes in the recent DVD set of Martin Scorsese and worth a look! Harry Northrup has a small role (MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER).