Take the following as truth: Kael called Mean Streets a triumph of personal film-making, and even though it may be the single most imitated movie of the past 30 years--cf The Pope of Greenwich Village, State of Grace, Federal Hill, Boyz N the Hood , etc.--it has lost remarkably little of its freshness and power.
Then the following statement: "Mean Streets was one of the most important films of the century." is true, false, or inconclusive?