Taxi Driver (1976)

Directed by: Martin Scorsese | 113 minutes | drama, thriller, crime | Actors: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Cybill Sheperd, Albert Brooks, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, Diahanne Abbott, Frank Adu, Gino Ardito, Victor Argo, Garth Avery, Harry Cohn, Copper Cunningham, Brenda Dickson-Weinberg

‘Taxi Driver’ is a dark glimpse into New York and the brain of Travis Bickle who is slowly but surely alienating from society through chronic insomnia, the filth of the city and all the violence around him. Because he can’t sleep anyway and wants to kill time, he registers as a taxi driver. An additional advantage is that he is not afraid of the lesser, violent neighborhoods. He can get started right away. His peace of mind does not improve as he moves more and more between the rigs of the ledge. Meanwhile, he pens down all his findings in his diary. He tries to distract himself with a beautiful woman who is involved in a political campaign. When he loses it after a failed date (he takes her to a porn cinema, that’s asking for trouble) and at night also sees an underage hooker fleeing from her pimp, that’s enough. Something has to happen. He buys weapons and prepares…

It is very clever how this film shows how lonely a man can become in the busiest city, how he can become completely alienated from the world around him. And, more importantly, you as a viewer cultivate some kind of understanding while you watch. Martin Scorsese of ‘Raging Bull’ (1980), ‘Goodfellas’ (1990), ‘Cape Fear’ (1991), ‘Casino’ (1995), ‘Gangs of New York’ (2002) leads us perfectly through a by his in-house screenwriter Paul Schrader created world. After seeing ‘Mean Streets’ (1973), director Scorsese (instead of Brian DePalma) and lead actor De Niro were given the green light for this project and so free at the start of their careers they deliver a real masterpiece. Today, the impact of ‘Taxi Driver’ is great, even if the filmmakers had to tone down a few things. For example, they originally wanted the racism story to play a larger role, now we see Bickle occasionally throwing dirty looks at the colored fellow man, but he holds back.

Robert De Niro was already in good shape back then, he really takes on the role of Bickle, as befits a real method actor. He even drove a taxi through New York for several weeks to master the gestures, statements and the feeling. He is terrifying when at one point he transforms his hairstyle into a ‘mohawk’ and walks the street armed to the bone or practices in front of the mirror, with the legendary words: “Are you talking to me?” Opposite this are the moments when he has a warm heart for Cybill Sheperd and Jodie Foster. Then suddenly Bickle isn’t a tough guy.

Jodie Foster also scores high in a very daring role as a teenage prostitute. As if she has done nothing but acting in her short life, she holds up well next to acting guns De Niro and Keitel. We see Harvey Keitel in an almost laughable role as the pimp Sporty, complete with a wig and cocaine nail on his finger. It is distressing to see that he loves the young whore dearly, while he sells her body to Jan and everyone. Cybill Sheperd actually does little more than be beautiful and Albert Brooks provides the little comic relief, but their performances are completely overshadowed by the three aforementioned actors.

‘Taxi Driver’ has completely innovative camera work for the time (camera swivels away from the protagonist to meet him again at the end of the shot, during a telephone conversation the camera leaves De Niro and allows the viewer a view into an empty hallway) and startling edit. It is a style exercise from which many directors have drawn their inspiration. Besides the acting and the disturbing story, Bernhard Herrmann’s bizarre music will stay with you. He mixes urban, jazzy night music with total madness and perfectly captures the alienating feeling of New York.

The beautiful ‘shootout’ at the end of the film raises quite a few questions. Does Bickle now belong to the FBI and is he a hero or is he just thinking this (as he also thinks he has a girlfriend) and getting caught and put behind bars? Left with questions at the end of a movie, great! It expands the myth surrounding the story and makes Taxi Driver a movie you’ll want to watch again and again to discover new things (such as hidden hints and mythical references).

And then… the makers had to turn the colors away because the whole thing (certainly at the end) got too bloody. Foster’s mother was on set to keep an eye out and Foster was taken to a restaurant by De Niro weeks before shooting to get used to each other. All these funny facts are nicely collected in a beautiful documentary on the DVD of ‘Taxi Driver’ that is also full of trailers and other info. You can browse the original script yourself and jump to a scene from there. It has become a loving collection that fits perfectly with the masterpiece that is ‘Taxi Driver’.