As a tale of modern alienation, Taxi Driver was something of a sordid masterpiece of its time. Scorsese captures the after-hours neon underworld of New York streets with a lush, sleazy poetry and turns the sewer into Art. A generation later, the film is dominated by its iconography: De Niro and the mirror, Jodie Foster, precocious in hot pants, and the yellow cab, gliding through steamy night streets to the soulful wailing of a sax.
Travis Bickle (De Niro) is a 20-something Vietnam vet, and a loner with chronic insomnia, with which he deals by working long hours as a New York taxi driver. Unfortun... more >
Travis Bickle (De Niro) is a 20-something Vietnam vet, and a loner with chronic insomnia, with which he deals by working long hours as a New York taxi driver. Unfortunately, all this succeeds in doing is to forcibly confirm to Travis what he already believes to be true: that the city's streets are littered with scum and lowlife. Being forced to fraternise on a daily and nightly basis with the people he despises so much exacerbates a torturous descent towards psychosis, illustrated in particularly uncomfortable fashion by several scenes in which we see and hear Travis talking to himself, such as the legendary scene where he is seen acting threateningly into a mirror ("You talkin' to me?").
Travis can find no happiness or pleasure in a world devoid of such things and so, ultimately, the only way in which he feels he can convey his disgust of the society around him is through violence. Although this violence is mostly hinted at, when it does occur it is in a suitably crazed, blood-soaked manner. There is a certain inevitablity to Travis' actions, yet their repercussions provide an unexpected twist in the tale.
Travis does not interact easily with others, particularly on a social basis, and key to the film are his relationships with two members of the opposite sex. Betsy (Shepherd) works as a volunteer for a Presidential candidate, Senator Charles Palantine, and Travis falls for her the moment he lays eyes on her. If nothing else, Betsy is fascinated by Travis; unfortunately, he blows it on their first proper 'date' by taking her to see a porn movie, and thereafter she will have nothing to do with him. Travis' violent intent towards the Senator later in the film is arguably triggered in part by this rejection; Betsy clearly takes her job very seriously and is more devoted (in this sense) to Palantine than she could ever be to Travis.
By contrast, Iris (Foster) is a twelve-year-old prostitute whom Travis befriends and whom he is adamant should be living a 'normal' life at home with her parents and with children her own age. The scenes the two share together bring out a caring side to Travis' character hitherto unseen; yet, of course, he is fighting a losing battle in trying to talk her out of living a life of vice, and so ends up letting actions do what his words alone cannot.
Brilliantly acted and directed, and with a haunting, melancholy score that perfectly counterbalances the mood of the movie, Taxi Driver was one of the seminal films of the 1970s, and still seems relevant today in its depiction of hopeless alienation engendered by a decaying society. < less
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