one of the best movies ever made

Rating: Null/10 (9 April 2002)

"taxi driver" is a masterpiece of film without flaws substantial enough to mention or even notice. the broken dreams of the sixties and the pervasive sense of doom and nihilism that ruthlessly pervade every scene of the movie reflects the artistic mentality of the early seventies and create an unmistakable atmosphere of dark surrealism aided by scorsese's incredible visuals that make new york city look like a hell of loneliness and debauchery without hope or redemption. travis bickle, a taxi cab driver and young vietnam veteran, slowly slips into madness as the viewer watches and de niro's performance is so perfect that at times one must wonder if he felt some personal connection to the character or related to him in some profound way. it is not so much that travis is a 'loser' per se as a lucid but sick man who can no longer do what others do and ignore the horrendous depravity and inhuman indifference of his surroundings and the world as a whole. perhaps, in a strange way, he is the only truly 'sane' character in the entire movie, although this puts him in a tight spot indeed. the influence of dostoevsky's equally bleak "notes from the underground" is immediately apparent to readers of the book, and this entire film will strike a painful chord with those who have felt alienated and outcast at one time or another in their lives for whatever reasons. why, travis wonders, does no one care about him or what the world is coming to? how can scum like harvey keitel do atrocious things like prostitute twelve year old girls without anyone raising a finger in defense of the innocent? is there any sense or meaning in anything? and in defiance of conventional cinema, scorsese answers with a quite clear "no" to that question. there is not a glimmer of hope in this movie, simply a menacing ambiance of unrelenting sadness and hopelessness and that resounds in the viewer long after the film ends. although it temporarily satisfies travis, his act of vigilantism at the end of the film (the culmination of both his considerable personal neurosis and his legitimate perceptions of the evil and absurd nature of human society)really makes no difference and will only temporarily satiate travis' lust for vengeance on a world that has ejected him for recognizing the true state of things. a beautiful, unforgettable, haunting movie.