Slowburning portrait of a man who turns to violence to release his inner deamons.

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 2018)

A cabdriver who feels lost and alienated in the big city, looses his mind and turns to violence to "solve" his perceived problems.
Slowburning start, yet constantly increasing in claustrophobic insanity. For all those who never seen it, my advice would be to give it some time. "Taxi Driver" is not made for the impatient. It is NOT an action movie. It is a disturbing movie about a man's mental downfall. It is NOT fun to watch, brilliantly disturbing nonetheless.
Director Martin Scorsese got ignored by the Oscars for decades on end. Though recently Scorsese got a standing ovation at the Oscars that lasted longer than any other because of the enormous gratitude and admiration amongst his collegue directors and actors. But way back in the seventies Martin Scorsere was a young and upcoming talent and "Taxi Driver" got ignored at the Oscars, although Robert de Niro did get a nomination, which he didnt win.
"Taxi Driver" was only recognized for it's true significance by ALL the critics many years later. A lot of mixed reviews upon first release though. Some hailed it as a masterpiece (Cannes Jury Prize), others considered it utter garbage. Mostly the violence was mentioned as off putting by the critics. That's strange, because there is not a lot of violence in it, but when "Taxi Driver" had just been released in 1976 it got a bad rep for it's violence anyway. The (only very small part of) violence is purposeful and crucial to the story. It aint violence for the sake of it. The portrayed violence is the climax of a story about alienation in which the leading character sees no other solution for his problems then starting a killing spree. Lots of analyses about the reasons why this man turns to violence are on the tip of my tongue, but you better judge for your self why you think violence is portrayed the way that it is in this movie. Lots of different opinions here on Imdb.
Legendary movie composer Bernard Herrmann (famous from his Alfred Hitchock scores) who wrote the soundtrack is memorated at the endcredits, because he passed away after the making of "Taxi Driver". His soundtrack could truly be labeled as another leading role, because of the powerful impact it has got. The soundtrack mixes in with the voice over of Robert de Niro, who describes the filth of New York, while the jazzy tunes surround him during his nightshift as a taxidriver. This soundtrack is seductive and smooth at one time, yet pounding dark and eery sounding at other moments.
I think Herrmanns soundtrack together with the photography of another movie legend Michael Chapman gives us viewers one of the most impressive raunchy backdrops of New York City life ever recorded in the seventies. You can feel and smell the filth of the streets through their music and filming. Michael Chapman's use of the camera is extremely intuitive and acts as a fly on the wall, heightening the true to life depiction of Robert de Niro's alienation in New York City. Some of his shots are so extra ordinary and playful that they take me by surprise every time I see them. Just gorgeous alienating dreamlike shots that seem to float over the scene, instead of directly capturing it. You just gotta see it yourself, to experience the dark beauty of it. Because dark, yet beautiful it is!