Yet as a plot driven film it leaves much to be desired. Instead the film is a series of really well directed and conceived scenes; many of which were shot over a couple years and conceived as separate films. It also has - at times - the feel of a series of film exercises with a few tricks thrown in for good measure.

The film is primarily about J.R. (Harvey Keitel) a young unemployed man living in New York's lower East side, hanging out with his friends and trying to deal with his new found relationship with a woman simple called 'The Girl' (Zina Bethune) in the film's credits. Besides this J.R. is driven by his Catholic upbringing as well as his love of movies – particularly John Wayne movies.

The film has a good many stylistic flourishes including the opening sequence, the title sequence, a dream / fantasy sequence with nudity, a long slow motion scene with the guys fooling around and a scene in a church at the end.

Many of these scenes work as pure cinema even though they don't necessarily move the story forward. They instead serve an impressionistic tone showing us what J.R. deals with on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. These are mostly trivial things that go on in his life serving that fill in the gaps of loneliness, boredom and guilt.

Scorsese grew up with these guys and in some ways J.R. is his alter ego. Scorsese knows his own personal limitations and contradictions and he wears them on his sleeve. That is what makes him a great artist. It is also what makes the film a personal expression which Scorsese feels a bit embarrassed abou today.

Scorsese shows us that J.R. is in a love/hate relationship with his buddies but he understands them. And just as surely he is tied closely with his religion because it gives him meaning and existence. More importantly J.R. will most likely never leave New York. And maybe it is this provencialism that Scorsese feels uncomfortable about. However it is what makes the film interesting.

Who's That Knocking at My Door has influences including Fellini's I Vitelloni, which too involves a group of young men hanging out together doing nothing particularly interesting with their lives. The difference is that in I Vitelloni the young man at the center of the film gets up and leaves his town and his buddies. In this film J.R. is defined by his surroundings to the point that he probably won't ever leave.

Video?
The DVD is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it looks good. Much of the film was shot in 35mm and it has a very grainy dark look. The contrasts are often very good even though there is a certain soft look to the film. Sometimes the image looks bad but considering that Scorsese shot the film over a couple years as a student project it looks good.

Audio:
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital mono and sounds okay. Much of the dialogue sounds muffled and distant with an echo, which is part is due to this being a student film. Yet some scenes like when the Girl and JR meet for the first time sound good enough and at least don't have a dubbed look. The soundtrack sounds pretty good although it is far from exceptional.

Extras:
First up is an audio commentary track with Martin Scorsese and Mardik Martin which is about 45 minutes long. The commentary is somewhat of a disappoiointment if you're expecting Scorsese to elaborate on the actual film as it plays. Instead it seems he and Mardik were interviewed and the commentary is merely a summation of their interview. However Scorsese talks fast and always has something interesting to say. If anything we get treated to Scorsese's biography of his early years in New York and in film school straight from the horses' mouth. Also the commentary is never dull. Rather than run it concurrent with the movie it is a seperate extra that features scenese from the movie that sometimes are pertinant to what Scorsese and Mardik are talking about. Next is a 12 minute interview with Mardik Martin with clips from the film. This is informative although it doesn't add much that is not in the audio commentary track.

Overall:
Who's That Knocking at My Door is Martin Scorsese's first full length feature film and while it is not in the league with his later films it is still an admirable and enjoyable film which features many stylistic flourishes and good acting. Scorsese himself on the commentary track claims to not particularly like the film but he also notes that it is like opening a high school year book - meaning it is too personal. This is a good film and whatever limitations it has ambition is not one of them. The DVD has two good extras and the film itself is a must for anyone interested in Martin Scorsese.