the film Scorcese will be remembered for

Rating: 10/10 (6 June 2010)

Almost four decades since Taxi Driver was first released, and after countless critiques and analyzes, it is still startling to watch this film and be impacted by the beauty and brutality it portrays. From that opening moment when the cab bursts through the cloud of steam rushing up from the depths, the score emphatically invoking a sense of rising dread, we are transported to another world that is both convincingly seventies New York, and its psychological rendering through the scopophilic lens of a deranged mind.
The violence, filth and profanity so searingly presented are well-documented, less remarked is the quiet moments that work in counter-point to Bickle's inexorable decline. Most memorable is his initial seduction of Betsy, the ostensible honesty of his flirtation both seductive and horrific. Shepherd's contribution to this masterpiece has been related historically in terms of how tough the shoot was for her facing the hostility of Scorcese and De Niro, but in this scene she is no lightweight; a woman told she is lonely and wanting, but confident enough not to dismiss the messenger out of hand. It is only her genuine response at this moment that makes the poignant last scene of the film pay off so handsomely.
The careers of De Niro, Foster and Scorcese went stellar after this, deservedly so, all three arguably failing to match this apotheosis in their careers (though Scorcese certainly has the best claim to counter that argument with Goodfellas). Direction, acting, music, editing and effects seldom gel so well in creating an emotionally complex tale. Hailed as a masterpiece, and deservedly so.