God's Lonely Man !!!

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2020)

"You talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here."
This line highlights one of the film's most significant themes...loneliness. The story is about former Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle who is suffering from mental health problems and toxic masculinity. The first time we meet him is during his attempt to become a Taxi Driver stating to the manager that he specifically needs the job because he can't sleep at nights. Taxi Driver is considered one of the best character studies in cinema with Scorsese's direction playing a major part in it as we, the audience feel Travis' loneliness and anxiety every time he stares at a couple or a potential criminal. Scorsese puts us in Travis' point of view by having us look through his eyes using slow motion in order to make us focus wherever Travis is focusing and it's through the way he watches and observes several people that we start getting in his head. The beauty of Taxi Driver lies with the amount of information the audience receives for its main character by simply looking at the screen and noticing how the camera works and where it focuses. Whereas a movie nowadays would simply build its character through dialogue and/or exposition, Taxi Driver through Scorsese's brilliant direction and Michael Chapman's beautiful and informative cinematography allows us to know Travis without ever hearing a word of dialogue. One would argue about the fact the film has a background narration of Travis' journal entries, although that is merely used as a tool of exploring some of his thoughts, operating more as a companion to the film's main series of events while also adding to the film's noir aesthetic, instead of being an exposition dump about plot. Examples of the film's brilliant visual storytelling that convey character are scenes like the one with Travis on the phone trying to earn Betsy back as the camera pans to an empty hallway, as if the camera had a personality of its own and was embarrassed watching our protagonist's pointless and humiliating attempts or the scene in the coffee shop where he is distracted from the bubbles of his glass, showcasing his inner anger that boils within him and how cut off from the rest of the group he is or even the scene where he watches a movie, in which a man gets dumped by his girlfriend, with Travis throwing the TV on the ground breaking it because he is reminded of Betsy dumping him. There are so many more scenes with brilliant camera work that give the audience information about who Travis is and how he perceives the world, whether we're talking about the way he is so turned on by guns and the idea of enacting his crusade of blood, to the way he views black people as potential pimps/criminals without having enough context to back this up. Bernard Hermann's score creates a dream like aesthetic with his jazzy soundtrack that is often calm and romantic but hides an unsettling undertone of horror, hinting at the film's initial romantic feel that will later be swapped with a depressing journey of loneliness, despair and a cynical quest for self-discovery.
Besides the technical aspects of the film that make it such a masterful character study, the other reason I love Taxi Driver is the themes it explores through its not-that-much intellectual but relatable antihero. Chapman's masterful portrayal of 1970's New York with the production design of the film being so realistic (because it was 100% real) summarize the film's case study: the decadence and degradation of post-Vietnam America and what that does to a person. Assuming Travis is indeed an honorable discharged and didn't just lie about it so that he can be more respected and accepted (notice the manager's reaction in the opening when Travis mentions he was an honorable discharged), the film tries to explore the world's now-greatest city that back then was a cesspool of prostitution, drug dealing and crime. Paul Schrader, who wrote the script drawing from his own similar to Travis' experiences, does a masterful job of realistically portraying the psychology of a lone male with a lack of basic socializing skills that is so frustrated not only with the city's decadence but with the alienation of his urban environment. The film is one of the most powerful experiences I've ever felt in film because it rarely dramatizes the things it wants to show. It is as real as it gets from a simple interaction with a woman at the beginning, that leads to Travis' brutal rejection to a robbery, that leads to Travis simply shooting a man without second's hesitation as he worries about not having a permit for his gun, with the store owner brutally beating the dead corpse of the robber with a crowbar afterwards. Everything seems so shocking because everything seems so real. The film is more reliant on the character and his actions and less on the plot, which involves two women that throughout the film Travis tries to befriend and "save" from other males that seem to "own" them. Betsy, the first woman that Travis seems to perceive as his get-away to a life devoid of loneliness and despair, rejects him (having initially won her over) after he takes her to a porno theater simply because he had seen other couples attending the theater, making him think it was ok. And that's where his basic lack of socializing skills starts to kick in, with the audience realizing his innocence, since we know it's his ignorance and not his intentions that made him take such a bad and idiotic decision and Betsy seems to understand that too: "We're just different" she says, as she gets into a Taxi and abandons him. Later on, Travis decides to approach Iris, a 12-year old prostitute that he swaps Betsy for. What seems to connect these two female characters is the male figures behind them. Betsy is working at the campaign office of Charles Palantine, a senator that campaigns for president of America. Although the two might have not met in person, it's the way Betsy describes and idolizes Palantine that shows us how he has put a spell on her, preventing her from realizing the truth Travis witnesses every night. To Travis, Palantine is the personification of politicians and although the film never idolizes or condemns him, it's not that hard to understand Scorsese's and Schrader's view on him (and thus their view on politicians). You simply have to look at the streets of the city that Travis roams all night...which we perfectly do. Travis thinks he knows better (even if he doesn't follow political issues that closely) and so do we, as we share his anger and just wonder how can Betsy be so attracted by someone she doesn't know and is responsible for the city's condition as opposed to a guy that was prepared to do anything for her and simply made a mistake out of his own ignorance. Taking a woman at a porno theater on the first (or any) date is indeed a bit unforgivable but we feel Travis' frustration as we probably had some sort of similar experience. Getting dumped by a woman for doing something inappropriate as a result of inexperience (first date anyone?) is totally realistic with the film simply presenting an extreme situation. Iris and her "protective" male figure on the other hand, are the film's more literal representations of decadence. A pimp that manipulates a 12-year old girl into being a drug addicted prostitute with their relationship being more direct and intimate compared to Betsy's and Palantine's non-physical and distant connection. Travis perceives his role as "God's Lonely Man" as he attempts to fill his empty life with some sort of purpose. He failed to be with his angelic savior Betsy so now the only mission that gives him some sort of purpose is to stand up against the evils of the world and become a hero. His interest is not in Iris but in the man behind her. She is just an excuse for him to go to war with the scum he is so disgusted by.
And so by the end, after a brutal and shockingly violent shoot-out, that lacks any dramatization and is as realistic as the rest of the film, Travis is hailed as a hero by the public for taking out the right people. The idea of the ending being a dream sequence is romantic and ok by me, although the suggestion of a mentally ill loner being praised by the public for killing is scary, especially if one considers how he would have killed Palantine, a public figure in case he wasn't spotted by the bodyguard. The unsettling glance of the mirror serves as an indication that Travis is not well and that the real massacre begins now as he spots his next victim.
In the end, what is Taxi Driver?
To me, it's a film that takes the issues that a male, who is supposed to act in a certain way in order to be perceived as an Alpha-male goes though, in an alienated society that has lost its way. We all have a Travis Bickle inside of us but the film is concerned with portraying the extreme example to keep things interesting. After so many years, Taxi Driver is still relatable as we go through an age of technological prosperity, which indirectly obligates us to socialize through apps such us Facebook, Instagram and various dating apps. We go through an age of massive globalization, with urban setting dominating over the natural and even though we're now the closest with our fellow citizens, it feels like we are yet so much further. Crime, corruption and the so called "animals" that come out at night just like Travis says early on, are not only a thing of the past but of the present as well. Depression, isolation, the need for some sort of connection with the other sex, that seems all the more difficult due to outrageous expectations, absurd lifestyles (from both parties) and the turn to pornography are real problems existing today as they did back then. What is Taxi Driver? It is the world seen through the eyes of a depressed loner...a world not at all that dissimilar with our own...with the eyes observing it being not at all that dissimilar to that of a real-life Travis Bickle.
MASTERPIECE: 9.5-10/10