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Taxi Driver | Year: 1976 Classification: Drama Actors/Actresses: - Harvey Keitel - Jodie Foster - Martin Scorsese - Steven Spielberg - Robert De Niro - Cybill Shepherd Taxi Driver (1976) Director: Martin Scorsese All of us have known, in some shape or form, how Travis Bickle (played brilliantly by Robert DeNiro) feels. There is a time in every person's life in which he/she feels isolated from the world, perhaps out of place or unjustly a receiver of misfortune. Travis, on the other hand, is consumed by this sense of loneliness and despair, taking it to the brink of pure destruction and maniacal proportions. DeNiro is hauntingly right on as the former Vietnam veteran who decides to get a job as a taxi driver for the streets of New York City. As he cruises the big-city landscape, he realizes all of the hidious crime, starvation, murder, death, and macabre that consumes society. When he is rejected by a love interest (Shepherd) due to his out-of-the-norm behavior, Travis begins a downward spiral: he begins to train as if he were still in the military, buys numerous firearms and weapons, and ultimately plans to stage an assasination attempt on one of the political candidates planning to take over the city. When Travis meets a twelve-year old prostitute (Jodie Foster, in a extremely profound and witty introductory performance), his motivations for violence and release are geared towards the awful individuals who have taken this poor girl into their possession and are encouraging her into a filthy profession. This hatred for filth causes Travis to explode, creating a tormenting, horrific climax that will be remembered as one of the most severe in film history. "Taxi Driver" is certainly an acquired taste and not a film for all adults. It is a strikingly honest tale of how the inner troubles of a man can be extremely exaggerated, to the point that he knows no boundaries. Director Scorsese uses dark camera angles and vivid images to portray his story, incorporating a musical score that embodies the essence of the film: an unoffensive saxaphone that dwindles into a deep, resounding boom. A film that can shock and chill, one that should be celebrated for its original genius, but also a work that is almost too graphic and emotionally-draining to enjoy. Taxi Driver - A disturbing experience After watching the classic 1976 film "Taxi Driver," viewers may be interested in their reaction. It can be depressing. Martin Scorsese directed this open-sore of a film and of his many classic works, this is the one most obsessively analyzed. "Taxi Driver" is such a raw, visceral experience that after viewing its nightmarish terrain one must decompress. Seedy does not begin to describe the horror of "Taxi Driver," which details a world of pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts and a loner psycho brilliantly portrayed by Robert De Niro. This film established some of the great talents in motion picture history including De Niro, Scorsese, Albert Brooks and Jodie Foster. I wonder about disturbing epics like "Taxi Driver," "A Clockwork Orange," "Straw Dogs" and "Natural Born Killers." Whenever I visit the video store, I notice these films are usually checked out, empty boxes leaning against the shelf. Who's watching these films, and why so often? The films share a common thread in that they have likable actors (De Niro, Malcolm McDowell, Dustin Hoffman, Woody Harrelson) playing despicable men prone to violent rages. Alienated one and all, these characters have become anti-heroes for a world severely lacking in heroes. There are so many ways to view this film, with multiple levels serving as proof to its complicated brilliance. Urban alienation, cultural emptiness, veiled racism, Watergate analogy and Oswald repression are just a few of the metaphorical doors one can open in this nightmare. De Niro's Bickle is a Vietnam veteran suffering from insomnia. He takes a job as a cab driver to work nights, driving through the most dangerous New York neighborhoods for fares. He becomes infatuated with a beautiful woman (Cybill Shepherd) who works at the campaign office of Palantine. Bickle takes the woman to a porno theater on their first date, and she dumps him immediately. To no one's surprise, Bickle soon begins to stalk her. He purchases a deadly arsenal of hand guns and intensely works out in preparation for his assassination of Palantine (and most likely the woman too). Along the way, Bickle stumbles across a 12-year old prostitute (Foster) whom he befriends. His attempted assassination fails and he walks over to the prostitute's home and kills her pimp (Harvey Keitel), landlord and an unlucky gangster. "Taxi Driver" unbelievably ends with the prostitute having been returned to her parents and Bickle becoming an inner-city folk hero. Shepherd's character tries to make a date with Bickle, but he's now at peace with the inferno around him and drives on disinterested. This ending has been debated for years. It is so controversial that when the film first ran on television, stations posted warnings stating they did not consider Bickle a hero. They're right. Bickle's a whacked-out cultural icon, granted, but he's no hero. He wants to be a hero, and perhaps the final scene is Bickle at the moment of death dreaming of a happy ending. He's essentially Taxi Driver To start this off, I'll just say this: Do yourself a favor and buy this fantastic film. If for nothing else, buy it for DeNiro's INCREDIBLE performance! I'm a movie buff myself, and I have never seen such amazing acting. It's a crime he didn't win the oscar. Secondly, it's directed by Martin Scorsese, one of the more brilliant filmmakers of our time, and written by Paul Schrader. This is the team that brought you Raging Bull. When these two geniuses get together, they make pure movie magic. And finally, Jodie Foster. She's only fourteen years old, and beautifully brings to life the child prostitute who is secretly hating the horrible city she lives in. One of the most brilliant touches of filmmaking was made here when Scorsese portrays NYC as hell, such as focusing on the smoke spewing out of the sewers, and making Betsy, Travis Bickle's love, seem like an angel among all the demons. The story goes something like this: Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) Is a taxi driver who can't seem to sleep. He works at night, and the city around him fills him with paranoia, for the gangsters and the slime on the streets at night every day seem to be everywhere. Among all of these demons and devils, Travis sees an angel, a gorgeous woman named Betsy. He immediately falls in love with her, but his anti-social tendencies scare her off when he brings her to a pornographic movie on their second date, thinking it was just like all of the other movies. When she leaves him and won't return any of his phone calls, his depression rises until he meets a child prostitue named Iris (Jodie Foster) and her pimp named Sport (Harvey Keitel). Feeling the deepest sympathy for her, he tries to help her leave that terrible lifestyle, not believing her pleas that she loves her being a prostitute and loves her pimp. To sum this whole review up, do yourself a favor and watch this great piece of work. See Scorsese's nightmarish vision of NYC, and Travis Bickle's slow descent into insanity. Buy Taxi Driver at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  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