TAXI DRIVER
A film review by Zak Forsman
Copyright 1996 Zak Forsman
"Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars and cars, sidewalks, stores--everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man." We listen to Travis Bickle, played by Robert DeNiro, as he watches the night people on 42nd avenue from inside his taxi. "All the animals come out at night," he says. It is at this particular moment when we realize that Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER is not a film about a psychotic, it is not a film about a pervert, but a film about a lonely man in a city full of people.
Over twenty years ago screenwriter, Paul Schrader, was in a terrible state. He'd divorced his wife, left the American Film Institute and his career as a film critic was waning. Schrader found himself living out of his car and going to pornography theaters daily. Suffering from extreme pain in his abdomen he went to an emergency room. It was there that Schrader realized that he hadn't spoken to another person in three weeks. He began to see his car as a kind of steel coffin and recognized that a taxi driver shares a similar situation. Schrader quickly settled on his main character and wrote the first and second drafts of the screenplay in ten days as a personal catharsis, borrowing heavily from his own experiences.
What fascinates me about TAXI DRIVER is the complexity of character that arises from a fairly simple story. Travis is obsessed with two women. Betsy (Cybil Shepherd) is the woman he desires but cannot have. And twelve-year-old Iris (Jodie Foster) is the prostitute he can have, but does not desire. In his frustration over the men who seemingly control and can have these women, Travis attempts to kill the Senator/father-figure of one, fails and kills the pimp/father-figure of the other. And because he is lucky, Travis is regarded a hero. Along the way we see the plan growing in his head within scenes that keep that fact in the background--almost like an undercurrent. One of the more memorable scenes has director Martin Scorsese as one of Travis' passengers who lays out his plan to murder his adulterous wife with a .44 Magnum. It is here that the idea of violent action is planted in Travis' head and until the film's climax we watch it grow. "I've got a lot of bad ideas in my head," he admits with a nervous smile. Again, what has truly happened in this scene is not spoon-fed to us which in result engages our minds. This is the difference between great cinema and the standard Hollywood fare. This film respects its audience.
As does Robert DeNiro of his character. DeNiro is so far into Travis Bickle we stop seeing him as DeNiro. We forget he's acting. He's one of few actors that can convincingly disappear inside their character. Travis is obsessed and DeNiro knows this. Travis has trouble relating to women and DeNiro knows this. Travis can sometimes be unaware that he's in his own world. DeNiro knows this. In one scene some other cabbies are talking and one asks Travis how he's doing. Travis slowly replies, "What's that?" Then he goes on to tell a story about another taxi driver that was cut up by a knife-wielding madman. What's important here is the look on DeNiro's face when he first replies. Travis wasn't daydreaming and he isn't slow. He's been floating around the city in his "steel coffin" all the while living in his own moral universe. That's where Travis is coming from and as I said, Robert DeNiro knows this. A great performance like this comes down to trust in character. And honesty.
The best way to describe director Martin Scorsese's ability is with a scene in TAXI DRIVER when Travis is standing in a hallway and talking to Betsy on a pay-phone. He is apologizing to her for bringing her to an X-rated movie on their date the night before. When he asks if she received the flowers he sent, she tells him she didn't. The director's camera tracks to the right and stops on a shot of an empty hallway. Scorsese has said that he did this because it is as though Travis' rejection is too painful to watch. It moves away. Apparently even harder to watch than the violence at the film's climax. I must admit I find this motivation for camera movement fascinating and it is for reasons like this that I feel Martin Scorsese is our greatest director. He has an obvious and important signature, most Hollywood directors don't.
TAXI DRIVER is a film about character. Schrader's dialogue for, DeNiro's understanding of and Scorsese's attention to this character come together brilliantly. Twenty years ago this film was up for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and it won the International Grand Prize at the Cannes film festival. And I'm sure you've realized by now that I highly recommend you see TAXI DRIVER.
Writing **** Directing **** Acting ****
Ratings are based on the four-star system
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