Taxi Driver

This film kicked me in my teeth. It's one of the only films I've seen where a on the edge psychopath is the hero and is actually awarded for it. First of all, the whole film is simply psychotic. Even with the cameo of director Martin Scorsese following his wife to her lovers home and talking to Robert De Niro about putting a gun in her pussy and pulling the trigger. It was a gritty film with a lot of recognition. The whole story, all the characters seem as if they came from rust on the bottom of a toilet. I first saw this film back in high school and again it's one of those that you have to get around seeing before you get out of high school and afterwards it becomes the one that you want to get around seeing again but, never can find the time. I'm glad that this film was made and in a way saddened that this film didn't get an Oscar just more proud that it was recognized at all. This film has the a extraordinary story and it's seems like something you'd see in an old grindhouse type of feature show. And a lot of those types of films a gems in the film world but, go unrecognised, so it's good to see something so brutal and dark get a thumbs up from a lot of people.

Robert De Niro plays a mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran named, Travis Bickle, who was discharged from the service honorably. Travis drives a taxi cab during the night, due to insomnia, in the mean streets of New York City's five boroughs and is a frequent regular at porn theatres in his off time. One day, Travis notices a campaign volunteer named Betsy (Cybill Shepard) and asks her out on a date even though he has never really been on one before. Not knowing what to do he takes her to a Swedish porn in one of his regular theatre picks and Betsy becomes disgusted and walks out. Betsy avoids contact with Travis at all costs and due to all his attempts at redemption he starts to become angry and frustrated. He starts to becomes sickened by all the decaying crime that constantly swarms around him and decides to try and take matter into his own hands. He buys a few guns from an illegal arms dealer and practices threatening gestures in front of his mirror at home and later starts sporting a new Mohawk hair-do. One day a 12 year old prostitute named, Iris (Jodie Foster), jumps into Travis' cab in order to escape her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel). Travis fails to drive away and Sport reaches into the cab and grabs Iris out and gives Travis a 20 dollar bill for his troubles. Travis is shocked at his failure to drive away and feels obligated to help her at any costs once he sees her again.

The preparation that De Niro went through to do this role was simply God-like. Studying mental-illness and above all driving a cab in 12 hour shifts around New York so he could get more of that cab driver feel. De Niro has always taken a large preperation in his roles, most notably Raging Bull another Scorsese film. The film in short was a monster to me it was powerful in the form of being set in such a jungle that New York City was portrayed as in the 70s. We learned that the .44 magnum could strike fear into the deepest, darkest, depths of men as the cannon stared it's victim in the face being wielded by a crazed man who has nothing to live for other than to blow the streets filth to smithereens. It was controversial and offensive as many of the films by Scorsese are. Scorsese is not one of my favortie directors but, he has always had the balls do such films as these and that to me is being a renegade when he's able to take a story filled with so much turmoil and turn it into film and send it all the way up to Academy recognition. He isn't afraid to raise the bar at all. To you Scorsese if I wore a hat, I'd tip it to you.

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