Taxi Driver
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- For other uses, see Taxi Driver (disambiguation).
| Taxi Driver | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Martin Scorsese |
| Produced by | Julia Phillips & Michael Phillips |
| Written by | Paul Schrader |
| Starring | Robert De Niro Jodie Foster Harvey Keitel Cybill Shepherd Peter Boyle Albert Brooks Leonard Harris |
| Music by | Bernard Herrmann |
| Cinematography | Michael Chapman |
| Editing by | Tom Rolf Melvin Shapiro |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  February 8, 1976 10 June 1976 |
| Running time | 113 min. |
| Language | English, Swedish |
| IMDb profile | |
Taxi Driver is a 1976 American film drama directed by Martin Scorsese. It is widely considered one of the greatest, but also one of the most controversial films in the history of American cinema and is frequently praised for its strong performances and gritty realism. The film is also notable for making stars out of both its leading actors, Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster; the latter was only thirteen years old when the movie was released. It was also the last film on which the legendary composer Bernard Herrmann (famed for his work with Alfred Hitchcock, especially Psycho) worked, and Taxi Driver is dedicated to his memory.
Taglines:
- On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.
- He's a lonely forgotten man desperate to prove that he's alive.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Travis Bickle (De Niro) is an alienated, isolated, depressed and sexually frustrated young man of 26 from the Midwest, who says he was a Marine in the Vietnam War. He suffers from chronic insomnia and consequently takes a job as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City. Travis spends his spare time watching pornography in seedy porn theaters and driving around aimlessly through the shadiest neighborhoods of Manhattan.
Travis is horrified by what he considers the moral decay around him, and when Iris (Foster), a 12½ year-old child prostitute, gets in his cab one night to escape her pimp, Travis becomes obsessed with saving her despite her complete lack of interest in the idea, explaining that she was "stoned" when she tried to escape, and that her pimp, Matthew a.k.a "Sport" (Keitel), appears to be a kind and caring person. Travis then tries to convince her to return home to her parents and go back to school, but his efforts to "save her" are futile.
He is also obsessed with Betsy (Shepherd), an aide for New York Senator Charles Palantine, who is running for the presidential nomination and is promising dramatic social change. She is initially intrigued by Travis and agrees to a date with him after he flirts with her and sympathizes with her own apparent loneliness. On the date, however, Travis takes her to a pornographic film, and she leaves him, disturbed, which is a crucial moment in the film as it gets Travis completly down and is the announcement of violence.
Taxi Driver has a number of other disturbing scenes reflecting both Travis' worsening mental condition and the seedier side of New York City. Travis purchases four handguns from an energetic black market "travelling salesman" named Easy Andy. Another scene features an insanely heart-broken businessman in the back of Travis' cab (played by Scorsese in a last-minute substitution) explaining to Travis how he wishes to kill his wife, who is playing around with a paramour. Travis happens across a robbery at a convenience store where he is a regular customer, then shoots the would-be robber. The store clerk then proceeds to beat the robber's dead (or dying) body in full view of any passersby. Travis writes a letter to his parents, claiming to be involved in "sensitive" government work; he also reports to them that he is dating Betsy. Obviously desperate, Travis tries to express his frustration to Wizard (Boyle), an older more experienced cabbie, telling Wizard, "I got some bad ideas in my head," and that he feels like "doing something big"; not comprehending, Wizard tries to relate from his experience, but can ultimately only suggest that Travis should "get laid, get drunk" and not "worry so much."
Travis then plans to assassinate Senator Palantine at a public rally. When he is spotted by Secret Servicemen and flees, Travis desperately drives to Alphabet City and shoots Iris's pimp Sport (Keitel), before storming into the brothel and brutally killing the bouncer, the wounded Sport (who has followed Bickle), and Iris's customer.
Travis appears to be dying from a bullet wound to the neck in Iris' room, suffered in the fight, but then attempts suicide with his handgun. When this fails (the weapon is empty) and, once the police enter, Travis raises a bloody index finger to his head and pretends to shoot himself. A slow-motion overhead tracking shot moves out of the room and examines his path of violence, moving over blood stains, his dropped guns, and the dead bodies, down the steps and outside to the crowd of police and curiosity seekers swarming outside.
A brief epilogue of sorts ends the film and shows Travis recuperating from the incident. He receives a letter from Iris' parents who thank him for saving their daughter, and the media hails him a hero for saving her and ending the drug dealing in Manhattan. Betsy climbs into Travis' cab, and comments on his "saving" of Iris and Travis's own media fame, yet Travis denies being any sort of hero. This curious ending has inspired some debate as to its meaning and interpretation; see below.
[edit] Principal cast
- Robert De Niro: Travis Bickle
- Jodie Foster: "Easy" Iris
- Harvey Keitel: "Sport" Matthew
- Cybill Shepherd: Betsy
- Peter Boyle: "Wizard"
- Albert Brooks: Tom
- Leonard Harris: Sen. Charles Palantine
[edit] Style and influences
The original source of inspiration for Bickle as a Midwestern loner in a large city, was an early chapter of screenwriter Paul Schrader's own life. After Schrader's divorce and the breakup of a subsequent relationship, he spent some time as a drifter; he was a failed film critic with few friends who did little more than frequent Los Angeles' pornographic cinemas. It has also been suggested that part of the motivation for the screenplay was garnered from the urban decay in Schrader's hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan in the late 60's and early 70's.
Schrader has said that his main literary influence for Taxi Driver was the diary of would-be George Wallace assassin Arthur Bremer. Bremer's writings, published under the title An Assassin's Diary, fascinated Schrader during his period as a drifter. Another influence Schrader acknowledges is the film The Searchers starring John Wayne. In it, a war veteran comes home to find that his young niece has been kidnapped by a band of Comanche Indians. Ethan (John Wayne) embarks on an obsessive quest to bring her back, completely ignoring her own feelings on the matter. This influence is directly evident in the latter part of the film when Travis attempts to rescue Iris from Sport. Coincidentally, Sport at one point calls Travis a "cowboy" and during their final confrontation Sport's attire resembles that of a stereotyped Native American. Schrader has also cited French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre's novel Nasusea as an influence.
Scorsese asked Schrader to work on a adaptation of the Fyodor Dostoevsky novel The Gambler, but Schrader declined, as he was already swamped with other projects. Schrader instead offered Scorsese the script that would eventually become Taxi Driver, which shared many existentialist themes with the Dostoevsky novel.
Scorsese also demonstrates an appreciation for the French New Wave through use of cinematic devices such as the jump cut.
The film is told almost entirely in first person narration - that is, the events are seen exclusively from Travis' perspective, because the viewer is always either listening to Travis speak, or hearing his thoughts, or hearing what he hears. The only scene that does not feature Travis is one between Sport and Iris talking in her room. This was added late into production.
Greil Marcus, in an interview in The Believer (June/July 2006, p. 78), said that Martin Scorsese told him that the first half of Taxi Driver was based on Van Morrison's album Astral Weeks.
Travis's haircut is a subtle reference to US military operations in Vietnam. When Travis determines to assassinate Senator Palantine, he cuts his hair into a mohawk. This detail was suggested by actor Victor Magnotta, a friend of Scorsese's who had a small role as a Secret Service agent, and who had served in Vietnam. Scorsese later noted, "Magnotta had talked about certain types of soldiers going into the jungle. They cut their hair in a certain way; looked like a mohawk ... and you knew that was a special situation, a commando kind of situation, and people gave them wide berths ... we thought it was a good idea."
[edit] Production
In the original draft of the screenplay, Sport was black, as were other minor characters. However, Scorsese thought that this would make the film racist, so they were changed to white roles. There is still a strong undercurrent of racial tension, however: black characters are referred to as "spooks," "jungle bunnies," "niggers," and by other racial pejoratives throughout the film, a mostly black neighborhood is called "Mau Mau land"; and Travis exchanges hostile stares with black men.
The actress who played Iris's friend in the film was a real prostitute whom Jodie Foster studied to pick up on the character.
The scene in which Travis is talking to himself in the mirror was completely ad-libbed by Robert De Niro; the screenplay simply reads, "Travis looks in the mirror." The reason De Niro repeats himself so many times is because Scorsese was listening to the takes on a pair of headphones, and with all of the background noise, he did not know if De Niro could be heard. He simply signalled for De Niro to keep going to be sure they would get it right. The line itself derives from the classic 1953 western Shane: Shane (Alan Ladd) confronts Chris Calloway (played by Ben Johnson) with the words "You speaking to me?", and Chris replies "I don't see nobody else standing there."
The sex film Travis takes Betsy to see is Kärlekens Språk ("Language of Love") (1969), a Swedish sexploitation film posing as a scientific or educational documentary.
Actress Diahnne Abbott played the concession stand attendant who rebuffs Travis' advances. In real life, she later married (and then divorced) De Niro, and had a son, Raphael, with him.
This was the last film to use the classic Columbia Pictures logo.
[edit] Controversies
The climactic shoot-out was, for its era, intensely graphic. To attain an "R" rating, Scorsese desaturated the colors, making the brightly-colored blood less prominent. In later interviews, Scorsese commented that he was actually pleased by the color change and he considered it an improvement over the originally filmed scene, which has been lost.[citation needed] However, in the special edition DVD, Michael Chapman, the film's cinematographer, regrets the decision and the fact that no print with the unmuted colours exists anymore.
Some critics expressed concern over young Jodie Foster's presence during the climactic shoot-out. However, in the documentary Making Taxi Driver (included in the DVD release of the film), Foster stated that she was present during the setup and staging of the special effects used during the scene; the entire process was explained and demonstrated for her, step by step. Rather than being upset or traumatized, Foster said, she was fascinated and entertained by the behind-the-scenes preparation that went into the scene. In addition, before being given the part, Foster was subjected to a long session of psychological testing to ensure that she would not be emotionally scarred by her role.[citation needed]
[edit] Interpretations of the ending
Some have seen the epilogue, in which Travis is hailed as a hero, as Travis' dying fantasy, while others see it as a real resolution of his acts.
At the very end, as Betsy departs his cab, Travis drives away, and a curious ring sounds as Travis quickly adjusts his mirror, before the credits roll on the background of the bright and distorted city lights seen from the cab's perspective. Director Scorsese comments on this final moment in his DVD commentary, mentioning that the "mirror glance" could be a symbol that Travis might fall into depression and violent rage once again in the future. However, it is still open to interpretation like the ending of The Wizard of Oz. It has been compared to Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange,[citation needed] in which Malcolm McDowell's Alex DeLarge seems to revert to his old, sociopathic self at the end: "I was cured, all right."
Roger Ebert has written of the film's ending,
"There has been much discussion about the ending, in which we see newspaper clippings about Travis's 'heroism' of saving Iris, and then Betsy gets into his cab and seems to give him admiration instead of her earlier disgust. Is this a fantasy scene? Did Travis survive the shoot-out? Are we experiencing his dying thoughts? Can the sequence be accepted as literally true? ... I am not sure there can be an answer to these questions. The end sequence plays like music, not drama: It completes the story on an emotional, not a literal, level. We end not on carnage but on redemption, which is the goal of so many of Scorsese's characters."
However, James Berardinelli, in his review of the film, argues against the dream or fantasy interpretation, stating "Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader append the perfect conclusion to Taxi Driver. Steeped in irony, the five-minute epilogue underscores the vagaries of fate. The media builds Travis into a hero, when, had he been a little quicker drawing his gun against Senator Palantine, he would have been reviled as an assassin. As the film closes, the misanthrope has been embraced as the model citizen -- someone who takes on pimps, drug dealers, and mobsters to save one little girl."[1]
[edit] Critical response
Taxi Driver was a financial success and was nominated for several Academy Awards and received the top honor at the Cannes Film Festival. In later years, the film was ranked #47 on the American Film Institute's list of "100 Years, 100 Movies", and #22 on its "100 Years, 100 Thrills". It is consistently in the top 50 on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 films, and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Roger Ebert has added Taxi Driver to his list of "Great Movies."
[edit] Diagnosing Travis
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Taxi Driver is the first film to address the impact of the Vietnam War on soldiers who fought in the conflict. It is possible that Travis is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,[2] a condition that was brought to major attention by the condition of some veterans of that conflict and later included in the DSM-III. More subtly, Travis' spartan lifestyle and choice of poorly-paid, dead-end employment is evocative of the experiences of many war veterans suffering from this condition and the perception that veterans who have a mental or physical disability are disowned and inadequately compensated by society or the government. Another interpretation would point to the repercussions of severe solitude and alienation, which is indicative of Schizoid Personality Disorder, coupled with the propensity to blame one's inner demons on the more visible representation of what one may think is wrong with society, and the paths that may lead to the eventually homicidal actions of a person.
[edit] Awards
[edit] Wins
- Cannes Film Festival – Palme d'Or
- New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor – (Robert De Niro)
- BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – (Jodie Foster)
- BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer – (Jodie Foster)
- BAFTA Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – (Bernard Herrmann)
[edit] Nominations
- Academy Award for Best Picture
- BAFTA Award for Best Film
- BAFTA Award for Direction – (Martin Scorsese)
- DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures – (Martin Scorsese)
- Academy Award for Best Actor – (Robert De Niro)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama - (Robert De Niro)
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – (Jodie Foster)
- Academy Award for Original Music Score – (Bernard Herrmann)
- Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture – (Bernard Herrmann)
- BAFTA Award for Best Editing – (Marcia Lucas, Tom Rolf, Melvin Shapiro)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture – (Paul Schrader)
- WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen – (Paul Schrader)
[edit] Proposed sequels and spin-offs
In an interview on Inside the Actor's Studio in 1999, Robert De Niro stated that he and Martin Scorsese had discussed the possibility of making a sequel to this film. According to De Niro, the two agreed that it would be interesting to see where Travis Bickle ended up 30 years later. But during Scorsese's interview on the show in 2002, the director stated that he would never make a sequel to any of his films.
In May 2005 Majesco announced that it was going to publish a video game sequel to Taxi Driver, developed by Papaya Studios. [3] In January 2006 the game was canceled due to financial problems. [4]
[edit] Influence
[edit] John Hinckley, Jr.
Taxi Driver was reportedly part of a delusional fantasy on the part of John Hinckley, Jr. which triggered his attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981, an act for which he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. His stated reason was that the act was an attempt to impress Jodie Foster by mimicking Travis' mohawked appearance at the Palantine rally.
[edit] Music
Travis Bickle is referenced in various songs, including ReDimoni's song "Terminating Rain", The Clash's song "Red Angel Dragnet", Lou Reed's "Doin’ The Thing That We Want To" (as part of a broader series of references to Scorsese films), and Rancid's "Travis Bickle." Rancid also showed scenes of the film in performances on their 2006 tour. Audio from the film is sampled in West-Coast rapper Xzibit's "At the Speed of Life," Tub Ring's "Alexander in Charge," Benefit's "My Story," Poison Idea's "The Badge," and Earth Crisis' "Firestorm."
The film has strong ties with traditional punk culture [citation needed], in particular the DIY ethic present in much of the film [citation needed]. To build on this, the mohawk that Travis wore has left its mark amongst punk rockers from the '70s onwards [citation needed].
The "Cursed Female" video for the band Porno For Pyros makes reference to Taxi Driver.
Apollo 440's song "Krupa" samples the street drummer's patter as he plays - "Now back to Gene Krupa's syncopated style" - the reference is to jazz drummer Gene Krupa.
Hardcore band, Earth Crisis, sampled the quote, "All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets." as the intro to their song "Firestorm."
[edit] Film and TV
The second season of the Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex features an episode that closely mirrors Taxi Driver, detailing the delusions of a professional helicopter pilot who obsesses about a cyborg prostitute and entertains ideas about killing the Prime Minister of Japan along with other "scum."
[edit] Quotes
- "Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man."
- "Some day a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."
- "I first saw her at Palantine Campaign headquarters at 63rd and Broadway. She was wearing a white dress. She appeared like an angel. Out of this filthy mess, she is alone.
They...cannot...touch...her."
- "June twenty-ninth. I gotta get in shape now. Too much sitting has ruined my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on it'll be fifty pushups each morning. Fifty pull-ups. There will be no more pills, no more bad food... no more destroyers of my body. From now on it'll be total organization. Every muscle must be tight."
- (Travis stares into a mirror). "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin'-- You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"
- "Listen, you fuckers, you screw-heads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up. Here is."
- "I had black coffee and apple pie with a slice of melted yellow cheese. I think that was a good selection."
[edit] References
- Making "Taxi Driver" (documentary) [5]
[edit] External links
- Taxi Driver at the Internet Movie Database
- Taxi Driver review by Roger Ebert
- Taxi Driver at Filmsite.org
- Taxi Driver, critiqued by a former taxi driver.
- Taxi Driver, Collection of Essays & Articles.
| Preceded by Chronicle of the Years of Fire |
Palme d'Or 1976 |
Succeeded by Padre Padrone |
Categories: Articles lacking sources from December 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements | Articles which may contain original research | 1976 films | Best Picture Academy Award nominees | Cult films | Drama films | Films directed by Martin Scorsese | Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award nominated performance | Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominated performance | Neo-noir | New York City in fiction | Palme d'Or winners | United States National Film Registry | Films with a pedophile theme | Existentialist works
