Taxi Driver (2007, DVD)

In 1976, Martin Scorsese released one of the most important films of the decade, Taxi Driver. One of the most acclaimed films ever made, the movie announced the arrival of Martin Scorsese, placing him at the forefront of the so-called film school generation. The film is a magnificent accomplishment, an extraordinary combination of talent coming together all at once to create a true work of art that, perhaps better than any film before or since, is able to capture the loneliness and isolation of life. Working from a script by Paul Schrader (Raging Bull, Last Temptation of Christ, Rolling Thunder, Affliction), Scorsese struggled to make such a seemingly seedy, dark picture through the studio system. While the filming took much out of Scorsese, it ultimately won him his first Oscar nomination, along with nominations for Deniro and Jodie Foster, and demonstrated to critics and audiences alike that the gritty glory and promise of Mean Streets was no accident.

Taxi Driver tells the story of one of the great anti-heroes of modern cinema, Travis Bickle. As played by Deniro, Bickle becomes the isolated everyman, the Vietnam vet who still can't sleep at night, and seeks refuge in driving a taxi cab all through the night. He is a once normal man, whose life now revolves around pornography, sleaze, and loneliness. In the midst of his loneliness, a young woman catches his eye. Betsy, played with perfect naivity by a young Cybil Shepard, is a volunteer for a presidential candidate, Charles Palantine, and Travis initially tries to get to know her by offering his services to the campaign. Of course, both Betsy and her co-worker Tom (Albert Brooks) realize that there is something a little strange about Travis, but Betsy agrees to go out on a date with him nonetheless. The scene that follows is one of the more brilliant in the film, as we are shown, for the first time, how truly awkward and offsetting Travis is with women. He embodies the term "creepy", and Deniro is able to portray this to a tee. It is truly a wonder to behold as Deniro becomes Bickle, and we watch as he falls further and further out of touch with reality.

Another crucial moment in the film comes when he meets Iris, a 13 year old prostitute played by Jodie Foster. He is appalled by her lifestyle, ashamed for a society in which a girl so young has been forced to turn to a life so awful, angry and confused at the pimp (Harvey Keitel) who his both her lover and her boss. He has finally found a cause, and sets about befriending her and trying to "save" her from herself and her lifestyle. At the same time, he has also become literally obsessed with the filth he sees all around him. He wants to clean the streets, to rid New York of the sleaze he sees everywhere he seems to look. He begins to work out, write in journals, and acquire guns. Scorsese shows us his journey into depravity, and we are amazed. Of course, everyone knows where all this is leading. It is leading to the scene where Bickle shows up, with a freshly shaved mohawk, armed with weapons, and attempts to assassinate the political candidate, Charles Palantine. He feels this is his mission, his point in life, though seemingly not understanding fully why. The attempt goes awry, and he is forced to amend his plans, driving down to the hotel where Iris works, and literally shooting anything that moves. This is all handled remarkably well by Scorsese (and Schrader's script), in a powerful scene that works even better with the forced color saturation (the studio refused to give it an "R" unless it made the blood less real). By the end of the film, as the camera slowly tracks out of the room and slowly out of the apartment complex to the outside streets, the viewer is left both stunned, and oddly vilified.

Taxi Driver is truly an emotional, disturbing film that well deserves all the praise it has received. It is a tour-de-force that has been engrained into the very fabric of our culture ("You talkin' to me?") and well never be forgotten.