captivating story

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2014)

Taxi Driver is one of those movies that stays with audiences afterwards. It depicts the new Hollywood's ability to really tell a story that seems as if it could be something that really happened. Furthermore, it is significant to the beginning of director Martin Scorsese's career as one of the greatest crime drama directors that will ever live. Taxi Driver reveals for the first time the effect things like returning from war, love obsessions, and living amongst a moral disregarding society can have on someone. Travis works as a moonlighting taxi driver and as a result sees the crime ridden and disgraceful underbelly of NYC. Being subject to this in addition to falling for a women who denies him as a result of his inability to act socially acceptable drives him to act in an irrational state. Among other things Travis begins to acquire several handguns (illegally), murders a grocery store thief with an unregistered weapon, seeks to convert a teenage prostitute into a normal girl, and attempts to assassinate a presidential candidate as well as displaying several disturbing outbursts of anger. All the while he his writing home to his parents conveying to them lies about what he does for work. Travis's transformation from a lonely, confused about life Vietnam veteran into a sort of deranged vigilante indicates he is going to do something drastic. The now psychotic looking Travis (got a mohawk and dressed in military uniform) enters the brothel were the teen prostitute works massacring the pimp, his security guard, and a man who the girl was servicing. Travis is praised for his actions and regarded as hero for putting an end to this unethical activity. But it is not clear his intention was to put an end to this wrongdoing or if this was simply the act of a person who was seriously loosing touch with reality. After coming into contact against with the women he fell for the closing scene shows him looking into his rearview mirror with a once again deranged facial expression. The significance this film has is its illustration of a disturbing reality and the story that occurs within that reality. Such a detailed and realistic portrayal of Travis's life would not have been possible in the classic Hollywood, signifying a new standard of what was to come of crime dramas and films in general.