Wash the scum off the streets

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2011)

Taxi Driver is often reverred for its pointed criticism of city slums, the hard lives of the people that inhabit them, and the even dirtier world of politics. Even in this day and age, much of these points remain true, and makes it almost ten times a more enjoyable flick, although it's definitely not age appropriate. Keep away from your children's. Somehow this film makes an extremely unreliable narrator, an insomniac taxi driving pervert to be a somewhat likable fellow. The night scenes are shot brilliantly and make it feel more like New York City for real, the freaks really do come out at night. Robert De Niro is brilliant in his role, but I need to understand one thing. Why does he shave his head? Why did he need a mohawk to gain the courage to go and fight the pimps and criminals, and then why didn't he keep it after all of that? I suppose it represents the changed side of him, but he was still a hero nonetheless afterwards. There still seems to be a disconnection between the meaning of his mohawk and the motivation of his actions. Either way I loved this film, I will make my friends watch it, and when I have children, they will too.