What Makes "Taxi Driver" Great.

Scorsese and De Niro, one of the greatest partnerships to ever grace the silver screen is on full display in one of their absolute best. Taxi Driver is as fascinating and hard-hitting now as it was in 1976. Its reputation as one of the best and most influential films of the 70s is well earned.

Travis Bickle is a lonely, depressed NYC Cab Driver and Vietnam veteran suffering from insomnia. He works long hours and is often driving on poor slums where crime and violence are common which Travis is disgusted by. During his off-hours, he frequents porn theaters and keeps a diary writing down his feelings of anger about the things he sees throughout the slums. The corruption around him and Travis's own failure to form any real human connections begins to take it's a toll on his sanity, leading Travis down a violent path.

Taxi Driver's pacing is nothing sort of brilliant, the film is built around the time bomb that is Travis Bickle. Screen Write Paul Schrader wrote the screenplay for Taxi Driver based on his own experience with Insomnia, a time that saw him break up with his girlfriend and living in his car. These experiences Shrader went help to successfully transport us to Travis's psyche. Travis is lonely and decaying, desperately trying to find something beautiful in this bleak world he lives in. He tries to confront he's problems through more ideal means but fails. He tries to form a relationship with campaign volunteer Betsy (Cybil Shepard), but that ends poorly thanks to Travis's lack of people skills that lead him to take her to a pornographic film that offends her. He also tries to find that hidden gem in trying to help an underage prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster) to leave her life of debauchery but failing to convince her through ideal means. Ultimately Travis confronts these problems the only way he knows how, through violence, leading to the explosion of the previously mentioned time bomb. Travis's violent acts of vigilantism are never glorified however and Travis is never made out to be a hero who is cleaning up the city. What Travis does is horrific and that is showcased in the film's climactic shoot out which for a 1976 audience was as brutal as it gets. Scorsese and his home town of New York City go together almost as well as Scorsese and De Niro go together, and it shows hear in quite possibly the best showing the city has had in the form of cinema. The shooting of Taxi Driver took place during a time when the city of New York was on the edge of bankruptcy. They say the city shines brightest at night, but it does work both ways. Scorsese definitely shows those bright lights that make New York famous, but those bright colors are mixed with the harsh realities of many parts of the city. Scorsese's portrayal of New York from Mean Streets to Goodfellas is known for being very grey and dirty, and it'd definitely the case here as well. Another Scorsese aspect worth noting is the fact that he encourages improvisation on set. This leads to the famous "You Talkin to Me" scene which was brilliantly brought to life by De Niro from a script that simply said, "Travis speaking to himself in a mirror". The late great Bernard Herman's score is also brilliantly encompassed in the story and themes of the film. Though he never lived to see the film's release, he's score hear is still one of his very best, and with a resume that includes Psycho and Citizen Kane, that means something. The jazzy soundtrack is both beautiful and haunting. It transports you to another world in a way that few films can.

This film is also De Niro at one of his most complex and best outings. He's as fascinating as he is disturbed brilliantly showing Travis's decaying state through little dialogue. Some of De Niro's best scenes come where he is only given facial expressions to work with and De Niro nails that aspect of the character. There is one scene in particular where Travis picks up a very disturbed passenger (played by Scorsese himself) who gives a chilling monologue about how he is going to kill he's cheating wife and the fact that Travis says nothing and we are just given his reactions through expressions adds to the scene. The way Travis approaches various situations is also interesting. One of my favorite scenes at the beginning is one Travis finally asks Betsy out on a date after staring at her from his cab for so long. He's awkward in the way he approaches her but there is a certain charm that De Niro adds that really makes it work, it's a genuine scene that showcases Travis's more human side, and I can see how that unique demeanor would aspire Betsy to take up Travis on he's offer. Travis's inner monologues and narration are also effective in engrossing us in the world of Taxi Driver, a troupe that would continue to serve Scorsese well in the future. Another highlight that must be mentioned is Jodie Foster's brilliant and controversial portrayal of Iris. The controversy comes in the age of Jodie Foster at the time of her casting in relation to the subject of the film, but getting past that, Foster certainly holds her own with De Niro. Iris is a tragic figure as she is an unfortunate victim of the corruption and ugliness that Travis sees every day through his cab. Travis first meets her when she enters his cab in order to get away from her pimp Sport (Harvey Keitel), but Sport catches her and gives Travis money which haunts Travis throughout the film and inspires him to seek her out later on. The dynamic between Travis and Iris is very strong and De Niro's and Foster's chemistry is amazing in the two scenes they share.

Taxi Driver is one of the best examples of character-driven storytelling, thanks in large part to one of cinema's most iconic characters in Travis Bickle. It strengthens the connection that Scorsese and De Niro established with Mean Streets and lead way to many great things to come.