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Film Review #5
Taxi Driver (1976)
“Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets”
Taxi Driver, in not only my opinion, is one of the best films ever made. A masterpiece in directing from Martin Scorsese and memorable acting including a fantastic performance from Robert De Niro make Taxi Driver a great film and Travis Bickle one of the greatest characters in film history.
Despite the films popularity and largely positive reviews I have heard many criticise the film, in fact whilst watching it with my younger brother, he himself felt disappointed at what he saw. Whilst not agreeing with him and others, I can understand why people may see the film in that light. Unlike a lot of films Taxi Driver isn’t your usual violent filled action/thriller, instead Taxi Driver is a more drawn-out, psychological study of a man the majority of people can connect with in some way or another, a story of rage building up inside a man.
Travis Bickle is a war veteran and suffers from insomnia, this leads him to taking a job as a taxi driver to keep him occupied at night. Whilst watching my brother commented that the scenes were ‘boring and long, with nothing of interest happening, that the storytelling provided little entertainment or excitement, with no significant or exciting twists’, but this should not be viewed as a negative, instead the film is showing us an accurate portrayal how the empty and lonely Travis feels, a nobody who wants to be somebody, who is fed up and wants to take action against ‘the scum of the streets’.
This film may not appeal to some people who view Bickle’s life and behaviour as unacceptable and disturbing but although you may not be able to reason with his actions, you can definitely understand why he chooses them. The dark atmosphere, complimented by a deep and chilling score by Bernard Herrmann that only further adds to what is a living hell for Travis as we view his is spiral in to madness.
I think everyone has a bit of Travis Bickle inside them to some degree, rage against things we see as unacceptable in modern society which makes the film so brilliant, resulting in it having such a deep impact on the viewer. But it’s not just Robert De Niro who performs so brilliantly in the leading role, with the young Jodie Foster giving a performance well beyond her age as a young prostitute named Iris. The film also sees the now more well-known young duo of Albert Brooks and Harvey Keitel as well as a delightful cameo by the director himself, a young Martin Scorsese.
Cybill Shepherd plays Betsy, a key figure in the life of Travis, a young woman whom Travis is in attracted to. His awkward social skills are shown with the way he acts around woman, part of his lonely and isolated life. In one of the film's scenes of the film he takes Betsy to a porn cinema, unaware that this may be viewed as an unusual thing for a woman. Travis’ ignorance is also shown through his lack of knowledge for politics and it is this ignorance that leaves him later angered and confused, left unable to comprehend why he has faced rejection from Betsy who is so willing to show loyalty to Palantine, a local senator. There appears to be a general anger towards women from Travis who is unable to understand why they are willing to remain loyal to others, this is also shown later in an equally great scene in a café with Iris where she chooses to stay loyal to her pimp Sport despite clearly being angered by her lifestyle as a prostitute.
*Spoilers in the next three paragraphs, skip if not seen film*
This personal anger leads Travis to self-destruct, taking action in to his own hands, creating one of the greatest film endings as he goes on a violent rampage. It’s the final scene’s irony and message that are left long-lasting in the minds of the viewer. Seemingly seconds away from killing the senator Palantine (likely due to Betsy’s rejection of him), Travis gets a ‘lucky’ escape before going on to kill ‘the scum’ including Sport, before saving Iris, completing an ironic turnaround.
Scorsese has said that the Mohawk hair style that Travis appears with in the final scenes is a sign used by soldiers who knew they were going in to certain death. But things do not turned out as planned by Travis who comes out of the killing spree as a hero after returning Iris to her parents. From possibly assassinating a senator and being known as a psychopathic murderer, Travis is now a hero of society, hailed for his actions of saving Iris.
This ending is followed by a scene where Travis gives Betsy a lift in his taxi, a woman he had formerly loved before being rejected, this time he rejects her. This seems to complete Travis' turnaround showing that the events may have had a positive affect on Travis who is now respected and not seen as a disturbed psychopath. However this feeling is short-lived in the final moments and one of the best in the film as Travis looks at ‘his own eyeballs in the mirror’ before being disgusted by what he can see in himself, suggesting that Travis is indeed not a changed man and this glory and respect he has achieved was purely through luck and is not deserving, these actions were not those of a hero doing the right thing, but a very dangerous psychopath, reminding us that the events could have lead to a completely different fate for the taxi driver and that Travis may attempt such dangerous actions again in the future where he may not turn out so lucky.
A combination of a brilliantly directed story, fantastic acting in which a variety of psychologically interesting characters are portrayed, mixed with a brilliantly chilling soundtrack makes Taxi Driver one of the most deeply affecting and emotionally thrilling films of all time. A masterpiece from Scorsese that is still seen as relevant and as breathtaking many years after its creation.
RATING:
Taxi Driver (1976)
“Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets”
Taxi Driver, in not only my opinion, is one of the best films ever made. A masterpiece in directing from Martin Scorsese and memorable acting including a fantastic performance from Robert De Niro make Taxi Driver a great film and Travis Bickle one of the greatest characters in film history.
Despite the films popularity and largely positive reviews I have heard many criticise the film, in fact whilst watching it with my younger brother, he himself felt disappointed at what he saw. Whilst not agreeing with him and others, I can understand why people may see the film in that light. Unlike a lot of films Taxi Driver isn’t your usual violent filled action/thriller, instead Taxi Driver is a more drawn-out, psychological study of a man the majority of people can connect with in some way or another, a story of rage building up inside a man.
Travis Bickle is a war veteran and suffers from insomnia, this leads him to taking a job as a taxi driver to keep him occupied at night. Whilst watching my brother commented that the scenes were ‘boring and long, with nothing of interest happening, that the storytelling provided little entertainment or excitement, with no significant or exciting twists’, but this should not be viewed as a negative, instead the film is showing us an accurate portrayal how the empty and lonely Travis feels, a nobody who wants to be somebody, who is fed up and wants to take action against ‘the scum of the streets’.
This film may not appeal to some people who view Bickle’s life and behaviour as unacceptable and disturbing but although you may not be able to reason with his actions, you can definitely understand why he chooses them. The dark atmosphere, complimented by a deep and chilling score by Bernard Herrmann that only further adds to what is a living hell for Travis as we view his is spiral in to madness.
I think everyone has a bit of Travis Bickle inside them to some degree, rage against things we see as unacceptable in modern society which makes the film so brilliant, resulting in it having such a deep impact on the viewer. But it’s not just Robert De Niro who performs so brilliantly in the leading role, with the young Jodie Foster giving a performance well beyond her age as a young prostitute named Iris. The film also sees the now more well-known young duo of Albert Brooks and Harvey Keitel as well as a delightful cameo by the director himself, a young Martin Scorsese.
Cybill Shepherd plays Betsy, a key figure in the life of Travis, a young woman whom Travis is in attracted to. His awkward social skills are shown with the way he acts around woman, part of his lonely and isolated life. In one of the film's scenes of the film he takes Betsy to a porn cinema, unaware that this may be viewed as an unusual thing for a woman. Travis’ ignorance is also shown through his lack of knowledge for politics and it is this ignorance that leaves him later angered and confused, left unable to comprehend why he has faced rejection from Betsy who is so willing to show loyalty to Palantine, a local senator. There appears to be a general anger towards women from Travis who is unable to understand why they are willing to remain loyal to others, this is also shown later in an equally great scene in a café with Iris where she chooses to stay loyal to her pimp Sport despite clearly being angered by her lifestyle as a prostitute.
*Spoilers in the next three paragraphs, skip if not seen film*
This personal anger leads Travis to self-destruct, taking action in to his own hands, creating one of the greatest film endings as he goes on a violent rampage. It’s the final scene’s irony and message that are left long-lasting in the minds of the viewer. Seemingly seconds away from killing the senator Palantine (likely due to Betsy’s rejection of him), Travis gets a ‘lucky’ escape before going on to kill ‘the scum’ including Sport, before saving Iris, completing an ironic turnaround.
Scorsese has said that the Mohawk hair style that Travis appears with in the final scenes is a sign used by soldiers who knew they were going in to certain death. But things do not turned out as planned by Travis who comes out of the killing spree as a hero after returning Iris to her parents. From possibly assassinating a senator and being known as a psychopathic murderer, Travis is now a hero of society, hailed for his actions of saving Iris.
This ending is followed by a scene where Travis gives Betsy a lift in his taxi, a woman he had formerly loved before being rejected, this time he rejects her. This seems to complete Travis' turnaround showing that the events may have had a positive affect on Travis who is now respected and not seen as a disturbed psychopath. However this feeling is short-lived in the final moments and one of the best in the film as Travis looks at ‘his own eyeballs in the mirror’ before being disgusted by what he can see in himself, suggesting that Travis is indeed not a changed man and this glory and respect he has achieved was purely through luck and is not deserving, these actions were not those of a hero doing the right thing, but a very dangerous psychopath, reminding us that the events could have lead to a completely different fate for the taxi driver and that Travis may attempt such dangerous actions again in the future where he may not turn out so lucky.
A combination of a brilliantly directed story, fantastic acting in which a variety of psychologically interesting characters are portrayed, mixed with a brilliantly chilling soundtrack makes Taxi Driver one of the most deeply affecting and emotionally thrilling films of all time. A masterpiece from Scorsese that is still seen as relevant and as breathtaking many years after its creation.
RATING: