Who's That Knocking at My Door1968

They say to write what you know. So for his first full-length film, Martin Scorsese, an Italian-American youth in the 1960s, wrote a movie about Italian American youths in the 1960s. And I’m surprised how self-aware and critical it is of its subject.  Like you can’t really blame Harvey Keitel for not understanding when his girlfriend tells him she was sexually assaulted before. You see, you’ve got to be carefully taught. And if you’re taught that all victims were actually asking for it, how are you supposed to think any differently? Even when his heart wins out, his upbringing won’t let him actually love her, and his apology for how he reacted is “well, I’ll marry you even though you’re a whore.” Nice. And then we get the moment that made the movie and showed just quite how self-aware the whole film is.  A montage of Catholic imagery with doo-wop playing over it and intercutting the scene of the girl’s assault and then cutting to Keitel wishing his friend good night. And the movie ends. It is incredible. Absolutely making the film.  I am so curious what people thought who got the chance to see this in 1967. Because to me in 2026, this movie still feels refreshing and necessary. Which is troubling.  The longer the movie went on, the more I liked it and the more I was surprised by it. It takes these issues of misogyny and the like and rightfully criticizes it while also giving subtle depth and nuance. Maybe others will think this all so obvious and too on the nose, but I was definitely impressed.  Now will I watch this again? Maybe not. But I won’t say never. It’s definitely slow, but there is enough effort here to keep you entertained. A lot of technical stuff I really liked. Watching this made me think of other directors like lynch and Tarantino. But I don’t know if they were influenced by this or just influenced by the things that influenced Scorsese.  So I’ll just say most people could skip this one, but it’s a must-watch for film nerds. The Scorses-a-thon