"Thank God for the rain..."

Rating: 10/10 (5 July 2013)

"Taxi Driver" is a grim, grim Film. It captures perfectly the Hell that Man inflicts on his fellow Man, but also the Hell a man (Travis) inflicts upon himself. It doesn't feel linear, or even coherent. Put simply, one feels when watching this Movie that the plot is secondary, expendable even. If Travis had just taken a different route one night, an equally unpleasant story would have arrived, and manifested itself in pretty much the exact same way. It's the characters, mirror images of the Us we must ignore to function, that make this so fascinating. The Film seems initially uncertain, part character sketch, part love story, part crime drama. Really though, it's all about one man: Travis Bickle. This man's disassociation with Life and general misanthropy could have seen him be a pivotal figure in 1976's emerging Punk Rock scene, but instead we find him a mentally unstable, ex-Nam vet. Forget violence, sex, drugs, Travis is the most frightening thing in this Movie. Analytic to an agonizing degree, derision and loathing flow freely, heaped upon the decadent underbelly of NYC. Travis's diary detail his justification for wanting to "flush this city down a f*****' toilet", but as later exploits reveal, Travis has no higher moral ground: he's an unhinged maniac, and any channel to express this frustration, anger, fury will be seized, instantly. Any target is enough, be they depraved scum or Political Leader.
In conclusion, watching this man descend into the very depths of Mental Hell is an experience you may enjoy, possibly. Will you forget it quickly? Unlikely.