Who's that Knocking at my Door
1967
J.R. is a typical Italian-American on the streets of New York. When he gets involved with a local girl, he decides to get married and settle down, but when he learns that she was once raped, he cannot handle it. Read more
| Starring | Harvey Keitel, Zina Bethune, Anne Collette, Lennard Kuras |
|---|---|
| Director | Martin Scorsese |
| Genres | Drama |
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Who's that Knocking at my Door
J.R. is a typical Italian-American on the streets of New York. When he gets involved with a local girl, he decides to get married and settle down, but when he learns that she was once raped, he cannot handle it.
| Starring | Harvey Keitel, Zina Bethune, Anne Collette, Lennard Kuras, Michael Scala |
|---|---|
| Director | Martin Scorsese |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 26 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 13 Mar 2005 Production year: 1967 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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The first film not just for director Martin Scorsese, but also actor Harvey Keitel (if you overlook his uncredited appearance in Reflections in a Golden Eye the previous year). Displaying early indications of all Scorsese's trademark concerns, this autobiographical film is crude but compelling, with Keitel as a strict but streetwise Catholic taking a guilt trip through his relationship with a free-thinking young woman (Zina Bethune). Shot in black and white, it's essential viewing as an early example of two masters learning their respective crafts.
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Scorsese's first and an intriguing film, a groping towards the subject-matter that found assured expression in Mean Streets.
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Most helpful member's review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Amateurish early Scorsese offering that bores rather than thrills
This is something of a made-in-my-garage early effort from Scorsese and accordingly has plenty of rough edges and little in the way of charm or transcendence. I would only recommend this movie to Scorses obsessives and in particular aficionados of Mean Streets. As Mean Streets is my favorite film, I felt it a duty to watch Knocking which has often been described as a dry run for Streets. Although it has many of the elements that would later blossom into the classic Scorsese style, it doesn't quite come together here. In fact, strip out the curiosity factor and Keitel's maverick performance and it's a thoroughly tedious and self-indulgent affair. But then everyone has to start somewhere and if for nothing else, at least Knocking made me wish I was an Italian living in Lower Manhattan circa 1960. I'd advise anyone reading this to proceed directly to Mean Streets, a film of kinetic energy, loud neon and operatic brashness that Knocking only hints at.
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Most recent members' review
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Interesting curiousity piece
An interesting curiousity piece from Mr Scorsese. It's worth watching not just as an insight into Scorsese's much-celebrated film-making techniques (his dynamic use of rock/pop music, expressive camerawork and editing). But it also feels like one of Scorsese's most personal and autobiographical films - certainly one in which his complex relationship with Catholicism is most painstakingly documented. An insightful movie albeit a bit crude in its execution.
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Who's that Knocking at my Door
J.R. is a typical Italian-American on the streets of New York. When he gets involved with a local girl, he decides to get married and settle down, but when he learns that she was once raped, he cannot handle it....
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