Taxi Driver (1978)
Having been influenced by French New Wave Cinema, American film Noir and the brutal images of the war in Vietnam, Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver draws on the events of the 60s and 70s to reflect the world in which it was released. However, the film has become iconic; we can still relate to it 41 years later but why is this? Critical analysis of the ____ of Taxi Driver lead us to believe that Scorsese and Schrader collectively………FINISH THIS
When looking at why Taxi Driver is still relevant to a modern audience, analysis of the characters is paramount to our understanding. Travis Bickle, an honourably discharged marine who fought in Vietnam, is a character that was crafted so that people would see themselves in him. Scorsese, Schrader, and De Niro, all related to Bickle; able to see something of themselves in his character, and this is why it has become one of the greatest film; Shone (2014) . By narrating the film through Bickle’s first person narrative, an audience perceive the world as Travis does, and a connection with Bickle is established. This connection is significant as we begin empathising with Bickle, a character that would usually be despised due to his narcissism and disregard for society. Fundamentally what drives this connection is our lack of knowledge on Travis’ life. Schrader wrote the script so that we never know where Bickle comes from or what he did between Vietnam and getting his job in the Taxi Company. Consequently, we begin to generalise our problems, making them Bickle’s problems until we see Bickle as a projection of ourselves. By allowing us to humanize him in this way audiences, both of the time and current, relate to Bickle on a personal level. Furthermore, Pramaggiore and Wallis (2005) Bickle’s voice-overs place the audience more firmly with his subjectivity. Through voice-overs from Bickle’s diary, such as: “All the animals come out at night. Whores, scum, pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies. Sick. Venal. Someday a real rain’ll come and wash all the scum off the streets.” we are exposed to Travis’ innermost thoughts. As a result, we feel like we know Bickle. The voice-over’s, conventional of the Film Noir genre, also add more dimension to Bickle who, to look at, is a veteran struggling to re-assimilate. However, they show the hypocrisy in Bickle’s character; Bickle becomes a more intriguing character when he acts opposite to the way he talks. For example, after he has bought the 44 Magnum he strives go get fit and healthy: “I gotta get in shape now. Too much sitting has ruined my body, too much abuse has gone on for too long…”. In this scene, we see Travis working out, yet we also see the junk food he surrounds himself with. We hear him talk about how unsavoury taking drugs is yet we see him consume a handful of pills. Through this scene we become aware of the Bickle’s hypocrisy. Which has created an extremely intriguing character whom audiences both relate to and want to challenge. It is by evoking these two contradicting emotions Taxi Driver has become an iconic piece of cinema as although it takes you a long time to work out whose head you’ve been in, Bickle is such a captivating character that his psychosis is something still relevant today.
At the time of its release Taxi Driver saw one of the most fragmented audiences in history. The 60s and 70s saw a shift in the primary demographic of cinema-goers due to the fact that 40% of the American population was now under 20; this was the biggest generational group experiencing the same events at the same time. A plethora of monumental historic events happened in the 60s and 70s, including the advancement of feminism. Mortimer (2005) states that “Taxi Driver is a complex, anxiety-ridden response to the fact that women have abandoned their cultural post…” however, I would argue that her use of the word “abandoned” is unjustified in the case of Taxi Driver. The word propagates the idea that the women in the film desert their “duty” to the house-hold when essentially, what we see are women who are self-sufficient and independent. Using Betsy as a case study, we are presented with a woman who is able to advance in the world on her own. She has, what we can assume is, a well-paying job in politics and is extremely well put together. Additionally, her place within the narrative does not see her seeking out a partner, it is in fact the converse. To a modern audience the new wave of female character that is explored through Betsy is something that has become essential to our enjoyment of film.