Taxi Driver

            There’s a long list of unforgettable emotionally unstable cinematic characters, but among the top of that list is Travis Bickle. If you don’t recognize the name, the line “Are you talking to me?” will probably jog your memory. The infamous Bickle from Scorsese’s 1976 classic Taxi Driver is still fascinating audiences 40 years since the movie debuted. There much to love about this film, especially De Niro’s portray of the lonely cabbie spiraling down into a delusional break with reality.

            The plot of Taxi Driver is simple. Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle picks up a job as a night time taxi driver which fuels his perceptions of New York City as a demented Hell hole. After he is rejected by a campaign worker he is infatuated with, Bickle becomes increasing unhinged. He plans to assassinate the campaign worker’s candidate, but once that fails, he ends up saving an under aged prostitute through a blood bath instead. The irony at the end is that Bickle is praised as a hero for saving the prostitute when, had he been successful at the campaign rally earlier, he would have been labelled a villain. This makes an interesting point about society, violence is viewed by not the mental/emotional state of the person committing it, but by the people it is aimed at. Since Bickle killed the “bad guys” his actions are not only acceptable, they are perceived as brave. Had he killed the “good guy” politician, his action would have been seen as cowardly and wrong. Either way, the fact remains that Bickle was unstable to the point he was going to kill someone.

            The plot itself isn’t the highlight of this film. The actual pacing of the movie is somewhat slow and choppy, but that is because this movie is about the character not the action. De Niro’s Bickle captivates, as he should considering the movie is more about his insights. De Niro is brilliant, there is no denying that. I think Bickle also fascinates us because we only get a present view of his life. A common element to most stories containing a psychotic type killer is to explore the background events of the life that created them. Bickle’s backstory is blank. No flashbacks to his time in the war. The audience doesn’t even know what job he had  in the marines. There is also nothing about his childhood. The note he writes on a card to his parents only shows the audience that he is detached from them enough to lie about his life in order to keep them away. All the audience has are the thoughts at present during the film, which makes him an enigma.

            This is a “show, don’t tell” sort of film in that manner. The audience is shown his decent, and all the pieces of his everyday life that pile on to lead up to the brutal mass murder at the end, but they are never told why Bickle saw the world so negatively in the first place. Loneliness and the desire for connection, especially romantic, are a theme that drives Bickle to the end of his rope. As much as he hates the view of the streets from his cab, he also longs for the companionship he witnesses. It’s a brilliant inner tension battle for a character; he both wants to be included in society while loathing it at the same time.

This push and pull is the main conflict of the film. His failed attempt at a relationship with Betsy, the campaign worker, causes him to think of her as just like everyone else, meaning he lumps her in with the rest of the depraved and selfish people he sees the rest of society as. Iris, the twelve year old prostitute, he becomes attached to because although she is one of the street walking sort he detests, he believes he can save her from that. That fact that she doesn’t reject him, actually he rejects her advances, makes Bickle feel like she is a special case.

The film wraps up on a surreal note. Having killed three people, Bickle survives to be announced as a hero by the media and Iris’s parents. He resumes his taxi work, picking up Betsy. She seems to have a renewed interest in him now that the papers have labeled him a hero. Bickle seems to bury the hatchet but doesn’t pursue her affections. There is some talk that this is all Bickle’s fantasy as he dies at the shootout, which the writer and director deny.

Personally, my interpretation is that these events actually happen in the end. However, it isn’t the happy ending it seems at first. For one thing, Bickle has gotten away with murder. He may seem better in his emotional and mental state, but the paranoia still lies beneath. He is distant from Betsy, which means he is no closer to intimacy than before. In the final moments of the film, his eyes in the rearview mirror still look upon the streets with a mix of disgust and fear. If anything, the shootout reset the ticking time bomb and he will inevitably go off again.

Overall, this is a classic film for a reason. It may seem slow at points, as this a highly character driven story, but well worth the viewing. The acting is exception, specifically De Niro’s performance. If you haven’t seen it, or seen it recently, it’s time to give this movie a watch.