#WHOS THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR MOVIE#

In a 1975 interview, Scorsese explained that he wasn't satisfied with the film because it took so many years to make: ' was done over such a long period of time that there's no transition between scenes. Shot on black-and-white in both 35mm and 16mm, Who's That Knocking had a final cost of about $35,000. The setting, characters, and theme (Catholic guilt), all of which Scorsese would go on to explore throughout his career, are on display here in his first feature.Īlso on display are filmmaking techniques that would become part of his signature style, such as a fluid, probing camera, excellent use of popular music, scenes of actor improvisation, and powerful integration of slow-motion - all on a small, simple scale, but there nonetheless.

The film, which was also written by Scorsese, is the story of a young, Italian-American New Yorker (Harvey Keitel) who finds himself unable to accept the knowledge that his girlfriend - and intended bride - was previously raped. After some reediting, the final product was released in 1969 as Who's That Knocking At My Door, though a re-release in the early 1970s came under yet another title, J.R. To get commercial distribution, Scorsese then had to add a nude scene, which he did in 1968.

This he expanded into a feature entitled I Call First, which played at the 1967 Chicago International Film Festival. Who's That Knocking sprang from a student film made by Scorsese at New York University in 1965, Bring on the Dancing Girls.

#WHOS THAT KNOCKING AT MY DOOR MOVIE#

Made over a period of four years when Scorsese was in his early twenties, and shown under various titles and in different versions, Scorsese later said the final version is 'still a rough sketch to me.' For audiences, however, the movie stands as an accomplished, micro-budgeted, independent feature and a fascinating first glimpse of what was still to come from this modern master filmmaker. But the present has intruded upon the past and he finds no solace.ĭirector Martin Scorsese has never been especially fond of his feature debut, Who's That Knocking At My Door (1967). flies into a rage and, from years of conditioning, returns to his Church. The girl, however, realizes that J.R.'s forgiveness is proof that he is incapable of accepting her for what she is, and that they could never find happiness together. Awkwardly trying for a reconciliation, he tells her that he is willing to forgive her and that he will try to overlook her loss of virginity. However, a wild party leaves him disgusted with both himself and his world and he returns to the girl in the early morning hours. walks out on the girl and attempts to resume his former life. Following an invigorating day in the country with one of his buddies, J.R.'s high spirits are deflated when the girl tells him that she was once attacked and raped by a former boyfriend. As their relationship deepens, the girl offers herself to J.R. Scott Fitzgerald, lives alone, and doesn't own a television set. Rarely straying beyond the limits of his neighborhood, he spends his time drinking with his buddies, playing cards, and horsin' around with 'broads' until the time when he will marry a 'nice girl.' Then, while riding on the Staten Island ferry, he meets and falls in love with a young girl unlike anyone he has ever known. grew up in New York's 'Little Italy' under the dual influence of a rigid Catholic upbringing and the tough law-of- the-jungle rule of the city streets.

Whos that knocking at my door