Directed by:
Martin ScorseseScreenplay:
Paul SchraderCinematography:
Michael ChapmanComposer:
Bernard HerrmannCast:
Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle, Cybill Shepherd, Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu, Victor Argo (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
At 26, Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is slipping slowly into isolation and violence on the streets of New York City. Trying to solve his insomnia by driving a yellow cab on the night shift, he grows increasingly disgusted by the people who hang out at night: "Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets." His touching attempts to woo Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a Senator's campaign worker, turn sour when he takes her to a porn movie on their first date. He even fails in his attempt to persuade child prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster) to desert her pimp Sport (Harvey Keitel) and return to her parents and school. Driven to the edge by powerlessness, he buys four handguns and sets out to assassinate the Senator, heading for the infamy of a 'lone crazed gunman'. (Columbia Pictures US)
(more)Videos (1)
Reviews (13)
Quite shabby and very much “about nothing”. I don’t see anything exceptional about Taxi Driver. De Niro acts like in every film – almost all his roles are the same to me – and I still can’t bring myself to like Scorsese. It’s a shame, but I’ve already come to terms with the fact that the best works of these two gentlemen will never say much to me.
()
Taxi Driver is the story of a man who couldn't stand how the whole of New York was gradually being flooded with all kinds of "filth", so he decides to sort it all out on his own. This film is mainly based on the outstanding performances of Robert De Niro and partly of the then young Jodie Foster, who were perfect for their roles. Then there's the strong musical score and the well-situated cinematography (especially in the final scene as it passes from Iris's room through the stairwell to the door). In short, a very fine piece of filmmaking, but one that I can't give full marks to because there was just something else missing.
()
Legendary American director Martin Scorsese has always had a flair for strong themes and great actors, which he proved with this disturbing crime drama in which the utterly inscrutable Robert De Niro as the frustrated loner Travis navigates the dirty streets of New York in a taxi. Absolutely disgusted with abominable social conditions, he finally decides to take justice into his own hands. The young Jodie Foster as the prostitute Iris gives an emotionally convincing performance here, suggesting that she will one day be a star of the first magnitude. (85%)
()
I waited twenty years to see one of Martin Scorsese’s most famous movies on the big screen in a festival atmosphere. It finally happened, moreover with a freshly restored version released by the restorers themselves. And nothing happened – at most, Taxi Driver is a valuable testimony of the period, place and mood of 1970s New York, which gives it historical significance (I’ve recently praised similar qualities in Sidney Lumet’s Serpico). The innovative and creative camerawork and Bernard Herrmann’s dark music are also excellent. However, the screenplay and its treatment of the protagonist are cold and aloof and take too many shortcuts, and the climax looks almost absurd, in a cartoonish fashion, as though it was a dramaturgically botched attempt at editing a more concise and epic work.
()
I wouldn't be afraid to call those moments in which Robert De Niro drives through New York City at night as a taxi driver something magical. I've known about this movie for a long time, of course, but with such an iconic thing it's almost mandatory to see it on a proper screen with proper sound, so I just waited. The magic is in the sensual atmospherics, the excellent cinematography, and the perfectly fitting Herrmann soundtrack. Plus, the way Martin Scorsese "manages" it all is fantastic – there are a thousand other movies being made in New York, but Taxi Driver captures the Big Apple vibe in just the right way. All the nooks and crannies, the dirty streets, the creatures you would prefer never to meet, and the contrast with its pomposity – the beautiful buildings, the charming lights, just the spirit of the big city with all that goes with it. I don't think it's a film with extraordinary overtones or even deep philosophical undertones.) The whole film can be summed up as a dirty, gritty, and unadorned portrait of New York, one of the many excellent collaborations of the Scorsese-De Niro duo.
()
Gallery (320)
Photo © 1976 Columbia Pictures
![Taxi Driver - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/161/279/161279476_ef5a02.jpg)
Ads