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Keyser Corleone's Martin Scorsese Week, Review 4
Taxi Driver (1976) - Directed by Martin Scorsese
"You talkin' to me?"
There has been a lot of discussion about which Scorsese movie is his masterpiece, and the results are varying. Most may steer closer to one of his gangster movies, while others might go for a change of pace like Raging Bull or his earliest huge hit, Taxi Driver. Taxi Driver is one of the biggest movies of the 70's, but I wouldn't say it's Scorsese's best. It's close, but not his best.
Taxi Driver is a haunting story of an insomniac named Travis Bickle who decides to spend his sleepless nights driving a taxi. But the more he looks at the scum-ridden streets of New York City, the more he ends up disgusted with it. When the one person he decided to trust coldly rejects him before he witnesses a young girl trying to run away from a pimp, he decides he'll clean up New York City himself if no one else will, even if he has to kill a few saps dead.
Taxi Driver doesn't really feel like the essential Scorsese flick, but it does feel like the practice Scorsese had acquired from directing Mean Streets and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore was coming into bloom. Scorsese creates a haunting atmosphere with blurry shots of the darkened New York City nights, further produced through a chilling jazz score by Bernard Herrmann. This aura lets you know that the scum in NYC is as heavy as a fog. So to see Robert De Niro's character go from your average insomniac to a vigilante with a dangerous agenda almost feels relatable. The way events play let you know that the scum is serious business, and so is Travis Bickle. His performance as this average joe-turned-wacko is one for the ages and one of his most naturally flowing performances. The morale ambiguity of the film helps. You're not sure whether or not Travis is a hero or a villain, but you can take what you want from it. And the ending scene left me wanting a Part II, Godfather style because there are so many ways Travis's vigilante behavior can take him.
There are two problems I have with the movie, but they're pretty minor. The first one is minor because the film acts as a character study similarly to The Conversation: the characters are poorly handled. They're mostly very easy to get invested in and like, but they're not on screen long enough to love. I wanted to see more Albert Brooks, despite being aware the decision to abandon several plot points from the first act is relevant to the second and third ones. And like in Goodfellas, a couple of scenes drag on a little, like the climax's ending.
Taxi Driver is a very chilling and surprisingly real movie. It has a lot to say, and yet it still remains ambiguous with the morals. Robert De Niro is phenomenal in this, and it's a definite recommend for adults. This makes my top five Scorsese movies for now, but it's not his best. I'd still give it five stars.
Taxi Driver (1976) - Directed by Martin Scorsese
"You talkin' to me?"
There has been a lot of discussion about which Scorsese movie is his masterpiece, and the results are varying. Most may steer closer to one of his gangster movies, while others might go for a change of pace like Raging Bull or his earliest huge hit, Taxi Driver. Taxi Driver is one of the biggest movies of the 70's, but I wouldn't say it's Scorsese's best. It's close, but not his best.
Taxi Driver is a haunting story of an insomniac named Travis Bickle who decides to spend his sleepless nights driving a taxi. But the more he looks at the scum-ridden streets of New York City, the more he ends up disgusted with it. When the one person he decided to trust coldly rejects him before he witnesses a young girl trying to run away from a pimp, he decides he'll clean up New York City himself if no one else will, even if he has to kill a few saps dead.
Taxi Driver doesn't really feel like the essential Scorsese flick, but it does feel like the practice Scorsese had acquired from directing Mean Streets and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore was coming into bloom. Scorsese creates a haunting atmosphere with blurry shots of the darkened New York City nights, further produced through a chilling jazz score by Bernard Herrmann. This aura lets you know that the scum in NYC is as heavy as a fog. So to see Robert De Niro's character go from your average insomniac to a vigilante with a dangerous agenda almost feels relatable. The way events play let you know that the scum is serious business, and so is Travis Bickle. His performance as this average joe-turned-wacko is one for the ages and one of his most naturally flowing performances. The morale ambiguity of the film helps. You're not sure whether or not Travis is a hero or a villain, but you can take what you want from it. And the ending scene left me wanting a Part II, Godfather style because there are so many ways Travis's vigilante behavior can take him.
There are two problems I have with the movie, but they're pretty minor. The first one is minor because the film acts as a character study similarly to The Conversation: the characters are poorly handled. They're mostly very easy to get invested in and like, but they're not on screen long enough to love. I wanted to see more Albert Brooks, despite being aware the decision to abandon several plot points from the first act is relevant to the second and third ones. And like in Goodfellas, a couple of scenes drag on a little, like the climax's ending.
Taxi Driver is a very chilling and surprisingly real movie. It has a lot to say, and yet it still remains ambiguous with the morals. Robert De Niro is phenomenal in this, and it's a definite recommend for adults. This makes my top five Scorsese movies for now, but it's not his best. I'd still give it five stars.