"Here is a man who would not take it anymore".

Rating: 9/10 (16 April 2011)

In a calculated exercise, I watched "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver" back to back today. Two classics, and two films generally recognized by critics and fans to be among the best of all time. Personally, I think Bull was the better showcase for both De Niro and director Scorsese as the four years between films allowed both to improve on their respective crafts. In terms of favorites, that might be a moot point, as both are darkly disturbing and violent films, with main characters that aren't particularly honorable, much less likable.
Indeed, both characters, the fictional Travis Bickle and the real life Jake La Motta were haunted by personal demons that manifested as forms of mental illness. La Motta's brand of violence was legal inside the ring, what he carried into his personal life resulted in a lifetime of unintended consequences. The outcomes of fictional characters can be manipulated to suit the priority of the writer or director, so in the case of "Taxi Driver", the protagonist winds up as sort of a hero, at least to the parents of twelve year old hooker Iris. I'm not sure if the point of the film had anything to do with showing how one's life can turn on a second's notice or not. However when Bickle's assassination attempt on Palantine (Leonard Harris) was foiled, the succeeding events could have led to his own demise. Instead he's reborn, sort of. One could sequel the story after Betsy (Cybil Shepherd) gets a cab ride from Travis at the end of the picture, but it's probably better left to the viewer's imagination.
A tiny detail caught my eye in both pictures today which I'm sure I would never have considered had I seen them days or weeks apart. In the carnage of the shootout scene, when the cops make their presence in the doorway of the rented room, Bickle puts a bloody finger to his head simulating a gunshot, and two drops of blood drip from his finger. Scorsese used the same device again in "Raging Bull", when Jake La Motta is badly bloodied in his final fight against Sugar Ray Robinson. As the boxer sags against the ring ropes, the camera focuses on the top rope a few inches away from La Motta's outstretched arm. Two drops of blood fall from the rope to the canvas to further intensify La Motta's defeat. At the time, I couldn't say why I found that to be so fascinating, but now I do.