A modern French new-wave

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2009)

This film is a truly modern reworking of classic cinematography. Yes - I know it's over 30 years old, but the shot of the soluble aspirin, the montage and overhead pan of the final crime scene - very new-wave and very well presented. The characters are perfectly researched and very well performed, the soundtrack is perfect.
The only criticism I have is that Bickle's character isn't properly developed at the start of the film. He's this ex-marine with a rough streak - but this is barely touched upon, instead the film presents him as some literary recluse - writing elegiac passages about his life in a diary by lamplight to a jazz soundtrack - and his character isn't like that - he rants about scum on the streets to Palantine - he takes a chick to a porn movie...
But that's all - I thought it was terrific.