We're All Lonely

Rating: Null/10 (9 December 2013)

Watching Taxi Driver made me realize everything I thought I knew about movies was wrong and I had much to learn about film. The truth of my initial viewing is Martin Scorsese's direction dropped me so far into Travis' mind and I never understood any of his actions as wrong. I didn't see him as a vigilante or even insane, I felt his struggles, loneliness, and desire to cure the world of uncivilized people. It was not until I read up on the film after the fact that it hit me, Taxi Driver is a diary of a mad man, not a "hero's tale." This led to a magical rush of cinematic brilliance inside me, lined in a sour sorrow that maybe I was crazy because I've been extremely lonely. Maybe everyone's crazy. Are we crazy because we're lonely?
We've all felt like that dead animal Travis focuses on as he watches TV, while everyone on the screen dances around the fallen soul. What Scorsese makes of Taxi Driver is not soley educating us about the loneliness we may feel, but presents us with a theory on why we are so lonely: we make ourselves lonely when the lines between what we want and what we can have do not overlap. We try to reach out, but the people we want, do not want us back. There are people that accept us into their lives, even if we surround ourselves with them, we will still feel unfulfilled by the absence of the people we want. This makes us feel unworthy on top of the loneliness.
Betsy represents who Travis wants unmutually and Iris is the woman he can literally have, but has no interest in possessing. Using his masculinity, Travis can't extract revenge on Betsy by killing the man she looks up to (the presidential candidate), so he kills the man of Iris he is able to murder (the pimp).
Taxi Driver show's Travis' loneliness in two specific acts in the finale: 1) the need to change the world's problems (with the shootout) and 2) wanting to end his miserable life by killing himself. After Travis kills everyone he desired to in the finale to save Iris, he puts the gun to his head and pulls the trigger. The light sound effect of an empty gun brought the biggest gasp from me embedded in intense sorrow and the slight disappoint Travis feels. Loneliness pushes us to extremes that with a fulfilled life we would think we would have to not sink to.
Not only is it my opinion that I think this is Scorsese's best film, but I would guess this is one that's most personal to him. In particular with the placement of his cameos 1) by gazing at Betsy, he's acts as Travis 2.0, showing his fascination and love/lust for her. 2) the man in the back of the taxi cab who literally directs Travis on screen to a method of expressing his loneliness through violence. The framing of Scorsese to DeNiro make the director like the "devil" on the side of Travis' shoulder, telling him to feed into his dark side.
Scorsese is aided by Robert DeNiro's portrayal, there's no adjective to describe the superb acting he performs as Travis Bickle. One of the finest performances in cinema, he's a factor that made my first reaction so personal. DeNiro's finest scene is talking to The Wizard outside the coffeeshop. We understand Travis, we've been in his mind, we know what he wants to say, but he struggles to communicate when he tries.
The point of view of Taxi Driver is crucial to the brilliance of Scorsese's work. He puts us in Travis' mind and his feelings. To realize Travis's violent, criminal actions fed me food for thought: how do we know if we are like Travis? Inside our own minds, we are the heroes and everyone else is a possible villain. We have a magnificent image of ourselves in our minds, even in Travis' head, we feel victimized by Betsy. However, if we look at the story from Betsy's point of view: Travis is a creepy guy that took her to a porno movie theater and stalks her every move. Can we *really* blame her? Perspective is key here and thinking of this fact may help broaden our minds to accept other people's perspectives, not only our own in everyday situations in real life.
During my most recent viewing, I took particular interest in focusing on the heavy use of taxi cabs as symbolism for loneliness. The taxi itself boxes Travis in from everyone him, he's enclosed from the world only able to see what and who is around him never reaching true intimacy. Taxi cabs are yellow, yellow is a color usually associated with being a optimistic, which gives Travis pain as a taxi driver all the more sick. Travis sees New York as a filthy space with evil people. Scorsese makes us feel Travis is driving through Hell, with the company of the vast smoke surrounding the taxi cab. The first shot after the taxi cab entering though the smoke is that of Travis' eyes, full of confusion and fear of the unknown. The symbolism is taken advantage of by the director and cinematography, as well as creating new inspired camera shots.
"We are the people," is the slogan of Charles Palantine, it also becomes the tagline of the film. "We are the people" unites us all in the universal hopeless feeling of loneliness. It impacts us all, even if the wave hits some of us harder than others. The last shot of Travis looking back into the rear-view mirror tells us that Travis is standing tall at this moment of ignoring Betsy now that she desires him, but the loneliness still lurks underneath the surface.