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Taxi Driver

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Taxi Driver (1976 film)
File:Taxi Driver poster.JPG
Directed byMartin Scorsese
Written byPaul Schrader
Produced byJulia Phillips & Michael Phillips
StarringRobert De Niro
Jodie Foster
Harvey Keitel
Cybill Shepherd
Peter Boyle
Albert Brooks
Leonard Harris
CinematographyMichael Chapman
Edited byTom Rolf
Melvin Shapiro
Music byBernard Herrmann
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
United States February 8, 1976
Australia 10 June, 1976
Running time
113 min.
CountryU.S.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.3 Million (estimated)[1]
For other uses, see the 1976 American film.

Taxi Driver is a 1976 film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The movie is set in early post-Vietnam Era New York City and stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, a lonely, isolated taxi driver, Cybill Shepherd as the woman he attempts to pursue romantically, Jodie Foster as the 12-year-old prostitute he saves from the underworld, and Harvey Keitel as Sport, a pimp. The story was inspired by the 1972 assassination attempt on George Wallace by Arthur Bremer, on whom the protagonist Bickle is based.

The film is widely considered a masterpiece, and many regard it as Scorsese’s best film, as well as De Niro’s.

Synopsis

Travis Bickle (De Niro), who claims to be an honorably discharged Marine and Vietnam War veteran, is a lonely and depressed young man of 26. He settles in Manhattan where he becomes a nighttime taxi driver due to chronic insomnia.[2] Bickle spends his restless days in seedy porn theaters and works 12 or 14 hour shifts during the evening and nighttime hours carrying passengers between all five boroughs of New York City.

Bickle becomes interested in Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a campaign volunteer for New York Senator Charles Palantine, who is running for the presidential nomination and is promising dramatic social change. She is initially intrigued by Bickle and agrees to a date with him after he flirts with her over coffee and sympathizes with her own apparent loneliness. On the date, however, Bickle is clueless about how to treat a woman and thinks it would be a good idea to take her to a Swedish sex education film (Language of Love). Offended, she leaves him and takes a taxi home alone. The next day he tries to reconcile with Betsy, phoning her and sending her flowers, but all of his attempts are in vain.[2]

File:Taxi Driver still 5.jpg
Alone in his apartment, Bickle postures and practises his moves in front of the mirror.

Rejected and depressed, Bickle's thoughts begin to turn violent. Disgusted by the petty street crime (especially prostitution) that he witnesses while driving through the city, he now finds a focus for his frustration and begins a program of intense physical training as if preparing for a contest - or a war. He buys a number of pistols from an illegal dealer and practices a menacing speech in the mirror, while pulling out a pistol that he attached to a home-made sliding action holster on his left arm ("You talkin' to me?"). He develops an ominously intense interest in Senator Palantine's public appearances and it seems that he somehow blames the presidential hopeful for his own failure at wooing Betsy and maybe hopes to include her boss in his growing list of targets.

Bickle is revolted by what he considers the moral decay around him. One night while on shift, Iris (Jodie Foster), a 12 year-old child prostitute, gets in his cab, attempting to escape her pimp.[2] Shocked by the occurrence Bickle fails to drive off and the pimp, "Sport" (Harvey Keitel), reaches the cab. Sport gives Bickle a crumpled twenty dollar bill, which haunts Travis with the memory of his failure to help. Later seeing Iris on the street he pays for her time, although he does not have sex with her and instead tries to convince her to leave this way of life behind. The next day, they meet for breakfast and Bickle becomes obsessed with saving this naive child-woman who thinks hanging out with hookers, pimps and drug dealers is more "hip" than dating young boys and going to school.

File:Taxi Driver still 1.jpg
Bickle and Betsy.

Any lingering doubt in the viewer's mind about Bickle's insanity is obliterated when he is suddenly and shockingly shown to be sporting a crude Mohawk haircut at a public rally in which he actually attempts to assassinate Senator Palantine. He is spotted by Secret Service men and flees.[2] Bickle returns to his apartment, then drives to Alphabet City where he shoots Sport, before storming into the brothel and killing the bouncer, wounded Sport (who has followed Bickle), and Iris's mafioso customer. He then calmly tries repeatedly to fire a bullet into his own brain but all the weapons are empty so he resigns himself to resting on a convenient sofa until police arrive on the scene of mayhem and carnage. Bickle survives this "heroic" mission in spite of himself and there is much more black irony to follow.

A brief epilogue shows Bickle recuperating from the incident. He has received a handwritten letter from Iris's parents who thank him for saving their daughter, and the media hails him as an hero for saving her as well.[2] Bickle blithely returns to his job, where one night one of his fares happens to be Betsy. She comments about his saving of Iris and Bickle's own media fame, yet Bickle denies being any sort of hero. He drops her off without charging her as a nod to her attempt to rekindle their all-too-brief relationship. Travis in this scene looks once in to the rear-view mirror and looks away and in the very last shot of the film after dropping off Betsy looks again at the mirror only to turn the mirror sideways in a sudden movement as the credits roll over scenes of city life.[2]

Production

In the original draft of the screenplay, writer Paul Schrader had written the role of Sport as a black man. There were also additions of other negative black roles. Scorsese believed that this would give the film an overly racist subtext so they were changed to white roles,[3] although the film implies that Travis himself is a racist. Schrader's original screenplay also set the action in Los Angeles; it was moved to New York City because taxis were much more prevalent there than L.A. during the 1970's.

When Bickle 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."[3]

Film critic Stephen Hunter's review of the film suggests that one universal assumption in the film, that Travis Bickle is a veteran of the Vietnam War, may not be accurate. Hunter points out how the Bickle character's military clothing and reaction to being around firearms seem incongruous for a combat veteran. Hunter's alternate theory is that Bickle may have been a loner who took up the veteran persona as part of his legion of personal/psychological problems.

While preparing for his role as Travis Bickle, Robert De Niro was filming Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900. According to Peter Boyle, he would "finish shooting on a Friday in Rome...get on a plane from Italy, fly to New York", whereupon he got himself a cab driver's license. He would then go to a garage, pick up a real cab and drive around New York, returning it before he had to depart for Rome again.[3] Robert De Niro also acknowledged that while working on Travis' accent, on his days off from shooting 1900, he would go to an army base in Northern Italy and tape-record the accents of some of the locals there as he felt they would be good for Travis' character.[3]

The actress who played Iris's friend in the film was a working prostitute studied by Jodie Foster to help create her role.[3]

Cast

Controversies

File:Taxi Driver still 2.jpg
Jodie Foster as "Iris"

The climactic shoot-out was intensely graphic.[4] To attain an "R" rating, Scorsese desaturated the colors, making the brightly-colored blood less prominent.[5] 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. However, in the special edition DVD, Michael Chapman, the film's cinematographer, regrets the decision and the fact that no print with the unmuted colors exists anymore. One irony of the MPAA's insistence on changes of the shootout sequence--which originally received the X rating for violence--was that they made the scene even more shocking than Scorsese had originally intended.

Some critics expressed concern over young Jodie Foster's presence during the climactic shoot-out. However, 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.[3] In addition, before being given the part, Foster was subjected to psychological testing to ensure that she would not be emotionally scarred by her role, in accordance with California Labor Board requirements.[6]

Interpretations of the ending

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."[7]

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 Bickle into an hero, when, had he been a little quicker drawing his gun against Senator Palantine, he would have been revealed 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."[8]

On the Laserdisc audio commentary, Scorsese acknowledged several critics' interpretation on the film's ending being Bickle's dying dream. However, he admitted that the last scene of Bickle glancing at an unseen object implies that he might fall into rage and recklessness in the future, and he is like "a ticking time bomb." [9] Writer Paul Schrader confirms this in his commentary on the 30th anniversary DVD, stating that Travis "is not cured by the movie's end," and that "he's not going to be a hero next time."[10]

Critical response

Taxi Driver was a financial success and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture (but lost to Rocky) and received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.[11] In later years, the film was ranked #52 on the American Film Institute's list of "100 Years, 100 Movies",[12] and #22 on its "100 Years, 100 Thrills".[13] Bickle was also named as #30 on their villains list.[14] It has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.[15] Roger Ebert added Taxi Driver to his list of "Great Movies,"[16] alongside other Scorsese films also on the list such as Raging Bull, GoodFellas, Mean Streets and The Age of Innocence. The film earned $28,262,574 in the United States.[17]

The film was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best films of all time.[18]

Awards

Wins

Nominations

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 Studio.[19] In January 2006 the game was canceled due to financial problems.[20]

On the April 22, 2008 episode of The Howard Stern Show, in-studio guest Colin Quinn expressed the desire to direct a remake of Taxi Driver for Howard TV and cast Eric the Midget as Travis Bickle.[21]. The Stern show cast loved the idea and, after some initial hesitation, Eric agreed to star in the film. Eric, however, claimed on the 22nd of May that he would no longer be participating in the film, giving the unusual excuse of his annoyance at Stern Fans' asking him about it. His announcement was met with relative indifference by the Stern Show staff, as he has rarely followed through with commitments made to the show. Stern also noted that he had hired lawyers to determine the legality of the production (it had to be a "parody," not a "remake") and there was a possibility that it wouldn't be produced for those reasons anyhow.

John Hinckley, Jr.

Taxi Driver was reportedly part of a delusional fantasy on the part of John Hinckley, Jr.[22][23] which triggered his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, an act for which he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.[24][25] His stated reason was that the act was an attempt to impress Jodie Foster by mimicking Travis' mohawked appearance at the Palantine rally. The movie was so influential that his attorney concluded his defense by playing the movie.

References

  1. ^ IMDb Taxi Driver: Business http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/business
  2. ^ a b c d e f Taxi Driver 1976. Columbia Pictures
  3. ^ a b c d e f Making "Taxi Driver" DVD Documentary [1]
  4. ^ "a stupid orgy of violence".David Robinson (Aug 20 1976). "Down these mean streets". The Arts. The Times. No. 59787. London. col C, p. 7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
  5. ^ Taxi Driver at AllMovie Accessed 2007-09-16.
  6. ^ Foster interview by Boze Hadleigh (March/June 1992)
  7. ^ Ebert's Review of Taxi Driver Rogerebert.com 1 January 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
  8. ^ http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/t/taxi.html
  9. ^ Taxi Driver Laserdisc Commentary
  10. ^ Taxi Driver Audio Commentary with Paul Schrader
  11. ^ Canes Film Festival Retrieved 10 March 2007.
  12. ^ AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Retrieved 10 March 2007.
  13. ^ AFI's 100 Years... 100 Trills Retrieved 10 March 2007.
  14. ^ AFI 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains Accessed 14 March 2007.
  15. ^ Films Selected to The National Film Registry, Library of Congress, 1989-2005 Retrieved 10 March 2007.
  16. ^ Roger Ebert's List of Great Movies Rogerebert.com Added to the list 1 January 2004. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
  17. ^ Box Office Mojo - Taxi Driver Retrieved 31 March 2007.
  18. ^ The Complete List - ALL-TIME 100 Movies - TIME Magazine
  19. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/11/news_6124186.html
  20. ^ Majesco cans two games, shifts to budget/handheld News // None /// Eurogamer
  21. ^ Say it ain’t so joe - The Howard Stern Show
  22. ^ Taxi Driver: Its Influence on John Hinckley, Jr.
  23. ^ Taxi Driver by Denise Noe
  24. ^ The John Hinckley Trial & Its Effect on the Insanity Defense by Kimberly Collins, Gabe Hinkebein, and Staci Schorgl
  25. ^ Verdict and Uproar by Denise Noe

See also

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Taxi Driver.
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Preceded by Palme d'Or
1976 		Succeeded by
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