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Life & Arts

'Taxi' still a cinematic forceEssential De Niro, Scorsese flick as powerful as ever

by ADIL SALEEM
The Daily Cougar

"Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man." 

Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver recieved Academy Award nominations for best picture and best actor when it was released in the mid-1970s. The reason the movie has had such an impact on millions of people is not because of its cinematography, or even because of its acting, though the performances are superb. It's because of the themes presented in the movie, and their universality and timelessness. 

It's 1976, and Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a lonely ex-Marine and Vietnam veteran who can't sleep at night, and finds himself driving a taxi "anytime, anywhere." 

Early in the film, Bickle informs the audience that his driving record is "real clean like (his) conscience," which is the first time one realizes Bickle isn't a run-of-the-mill cabbie. Driving at night exposes Bickle to the decay of society. He expresses a wish for rain to come and wash the filth off the streets. 

During one of his stops, Bickle becomes obsessed with Iris (Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old prostitute who wants to get out of the business. Bickle calmly watches as her pimp Matthew (Harvey Keitel) drags her away and rewards him with a crumpled $20 to keep his mouth closed. 

Bickle also becomes obsessed with Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), an aide to Sen. Palantine's presidential campaign. Bickle sees Betsy as an "angel, which the filth cannot touch."

Bickle's sanity suffers as the film progresses. He becomes totally obsessed with saving Iris, which ultimately leads to his downfall. 

Taxi Driver is one of the rare films that could be viewed 100 years from now, and it would still affect viewers, in part because of Bickle's loneliness and sense of isolation. 

After the war, Travis suffers from insomnia, a guilty conscience and his battles with a lonely existence driving a cab. We don't see Bickle as a disturbed individual -- we grow to be him. Bickle's downfall has more of an impact because viewers can sympathize with the character.

The moral decay that affects Bickle is present today just as much as -- if not more than -- it was in 1976. We can see the same scenario in every major metropolitan city. The same "skunks, whores, pushers" are there, just in different packaging. The politicians are more corrupt, and the stakes are raised. 

John Hinckley Jr., watched Taxi Driver more than 15 times, and he became Travis Bickle. He believed he had to kill President Reagan to impress Jodie Foster. Though an extreme example of the film's appeal, Hinckley's reaction is not beyond comprehension. 

Taxi Driver introduced the concept of the man changing his social environment by force, rather than living it passively. By the end, the viewer questions his or her own existence -- where it's going, and where it's been -- and Taxi Driver makes us realize we all share the blame for the "moral decay" that exists in our society.

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