Taxi Driver (1976)

Film: Taxi Driver

Director: Martin Scorsese

Country: USA

Released: February 1976

Runtime: 114 minutes

Genre: Film Noir

Studio: Bill-Phillips / Italo-Judeo / Columbia

Influenced: Tarantino, David Fincher, Nicolas Winding Refn, Lynne Ramsay, Todd Phillips

Paul Schrader wrote the script for Taxi Driver in the early 1970s as an act of self-purgatory, afraid that living in New York City might cause him to turn into the film's lead character. Schrader crafted a dark and gritty character study that explores the psychological descent of its protagonist, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro). Michael and Julia Phillips read the script and were great advocates of the film, becoming co-producers, and they were also instrumental in recruiting Martin Scorsese for the project after seeing Mean Streets (1973). That film's magical trio of Scorsese, De Niro and Harvey Keitel was maintained on Taxi Driver, with the addition of a superior script. Though Taxi Driver is tightly scripted, it also contains various elements of improv, most notably from De Niro when playing Travis talking to himself in the mirror ("you talkin' to me?").

Schrader was inspired by European film and literature, notably French existentialist writers such as Camus and Sartre, during the creative process for the script – essentially, the film is a study of a sick man, a bit like Dostoevsky's Underground Man – but his dialogue captures the rhythm and energy of New York speech. The film's central theme is isolation and the struggle some people face to get by in the world. Travis ("God's lonely man"), a Vietnam War veteran suffering from insomnia and a growing sense of alienation, wants what he can't have and doesn't want what he can have. He becomes infatuated with a political campaign volunteer named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), but his attempts at wooing her end in a disastrous movie date.

Travis takes a job as a night shift taxi driver in New York City, driving through the decaying streets of the city's underbelly. As Travis becomes increasingly disillusioned with the corruption and moral decay around him, he descends into madness and develops an obsession with saving a young prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster). Keitel is magnificent in the role of Iris' pimp and apparently did some real-life research on New York pimps for the film. Scorsese himself also appears as a deranged, jealous husband in the "keep the meter running" scene. The film tackles issues of urban decay, political disillusionment and the alienation of individuals in modern society, establishing Travis as a socially isolated and disturbed individual through his encounters with various characters and his inner monologues in the form of diary entries.

One of the film's many strengths is its sound design, with Scorsese using sound to enhance Travis' psychological state, employing a haunting score by Bernard Herrmann (the last he made before his death) and ambient city noises to create an unsettling atmosphere. Producer Michael Phillips said it was almost impossible to wrangle Herrmann over to the States to work on the film, but he eventually agreed, saying he saw the music for Taxi Driver "all in brass". Also of note is the visual style, with Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman employing innovative techniques, such as low-light shooting and dynamic camera movements to capture New York's gritty atmosphere. The film received widespread critical acclaim, earning four Oscar nominations and also winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Taxi Driver's exploration of abiding issues like mental health, social isolation and life in the dark underbelly of the modern city also means the film remains a timeless classic.