Unrelenting descent into one man's private hell.

Rating: 10/10 (4 March 2008)

One of the most talked about films of all time is Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, it has been pored over, analyzed, and dissected to within an inch of its life it would seem.
Taxi Driver is something of a bad dream, it's like we are privy to the melt down of the man next door because Travis Bickle has a certain level of believability, and it's this fact that makes Taxi Driver such a riveting and skin crawling delight. We see New York from the confines of Travis's Taxi Cab, the grim and grime of a dead beat society is itching away at the viewer because of the claustrophobic nature of the viewpoint, we see thru Travis's eyes, his shifty tortured eyes. This grim urban play gains maximum impact from Bernard Herrmann's score, one moment we are listening to a jangly pornographic sounding jazz/blues fusion and then we get Travis accompanied by judder music, unstable judder music! Michael Chapman's cinematography is appropriate to the feel of the film, some how it feels off kilter to further emphasise the unease unfolding on the screen.
The supporting cast are as impressive as they are memorable, Jodie Foster lays down a marker that she thankfully continued to improve upon, Cybil Shepherd gets to look pretty and convince as the intrigued but cold Betsy, whilst Harvey Keitel manages to get away with sleazy pimp portrayal by enthusing the character with menace without the histrionics.
It's Robert DeNiro's show all the way tho, everything that has been said and written is true, he has the viewer firmly in his hand, from the portrayal of the uncomfortable loner at the start, right to the mohawk wearing crusader at the end, he scares and enthrals in equal measure. He is Travis, and no greater compliment I can pay his performance than to say that I feel I'm along for the ride with Travis, he has my undivided attention, always!
One of the best films of the 70s. 10/10