Taxi Driver Review- By Michael Carlisle

 Title: Taxi Driver
Director: Martin Scorsese
Year: 1976
Country: US
Language: English

Taxi Driver was my introduction to the films of the great Martin Scorcese and boy was I surprise. It was like a hit to the gut, this introduction to a grimy imperfect New York City where creeps lurk and danger is around every corner. Never before have I seen such a well made, cold existential film about a loner and his obsession with being loved. This film was at the center of controversy when a man named John Hinkley Jr., a man who had watched Taxi Driver 15 times in a continuous loop, planned to mimic a scene from the film. This scene contained disturbed Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) planning to kill a presidential candidate. Hinkley's motive was obsession. He had become obsessed with the young Jodi Foster, stalking her and trying to get her attention. He felt the best way to get her attention was to shoot Ronald Reagan, and so he did. Fortunately Reagan survived the attack and Hinkley is no longer allowed near Foster.

The film is a series of failed communications and attempts to belong, if Woody Allen had directed this film it would likely be one of his usual comedies, however Scorsese is at the helm and makes this very dark. "Are you talkin to me? Well I'm the only one here" this line haunts the drifter known as Travis Bickle as he searches for social interaction. His attempts at making friends are futile, when he actually gets a date he takes her to a porno theatre. When he makes friends with a child prostitute, she is scared off. We sympathize with this man, because we know what it feels like to be lonely.

Bickle is far from the heroes of previous films. Can we even call him a hero? I prefer not to. He is the exact opposite of what you would expect a good guy to be. It's different and I admire Scorsese for trying. Unlike most heroic fables, there is no damsel in distress. Bickle think there is, he sees a young prostitute (Jodie Foster) and he desperately wants to help. Why? Likely because he knows what the streets are like, he knows how alienated and lonely the prostitute will be if she continues her lifestyle. I think all of us have that "hero" instinct, we see something that might me a problem and we attempt to help people regardless of if they want our help or not.

Through Bickle's cab discussion we can see that there is something quite wrong with Bickle, and other people can see it too. He hates his city as much as he hates himselves. Through slow motion technique we can see the prostitutes and pimps that fill the streets as he drives by them. A Taxi Driver with insomnia, even when he speaks you can feel his disgust for the world around him. The people that enter his cab are just as shady, men who contemplate killing their wives. Men who have sex with diseased prostitutes in the back of his cab. Bickle's world is sad and unfortunately a mirror for many who view their world as dark and cruel. There are plenty of Travis Bickle's out there, misunderstood and waiting for the opportunity to connect and feel loved.

In conclusion, while Taxi Driver may be one of the darkest films I have seen, it serves for a great psychology lesson. It is about the nature of loneliness and alienation, what can happen to the soul and mind when one can't find a way to belong  There are likely a lot of themes I have missed in this review, but there are only a certain amount of times one can watch this film. Would I recommend it? Yes. But be sure to have some Ice cream and Chaplin films ready when you're done. Praise it! 4/5