How did Martin Scorsese use rock music and camera movement in Mean Streets?

In his boundary-breaking 1973 film Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese utilized both music and camera technique to establish a distinct, naturalistic style that defined his early career.

• Rock Music: Rather than employing a traditional dramatic score, Scorsese used a pastiche of rock music to set the tone and atmosphere of the film. This blaring soundtrack helped ground the movie in the gritty, realistic environment of Little Italy.21
• Camera Movement: The film is noted for its "showy" camera technique. Scorsese is widely recognized for his innovative use of the subjective camera to immerse the audience in the protagonist's point of view. This approach often includes subtle, disconcerting movements—such as camera pans that move contrary to normal eye movement—to suggest a subjectively distorted world and reflect the characters' internal states.12

Together, these elements helped ignite the low-budget masterpiece, complementing the naturalistic performances of Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro.1