Taxi Driver (1976)
After watching Satyajit Ray's 1962 Abhijan about a cynical taxi driver, the only natural thing to is watch another cynical taxi driver. This time in the form of Martin Scorsese's depiction of a mentally disturbed Yellow Cab driver in New York.
If Ray's protagonist was trying to find the answer to life and morality, Scorsese's character, Travis Bickle (a young Robert De Niro) takes his own moral judgement on the wrongdoers.
A honourably discharged ex-Marine Travis, takes the job of night cab driver to make some money and as he is as awake as an owl at a time when most sane people are sleeping. He cannot stand the filth and vice that goes on in the streets and wishes that something could be done to clean it up.
We can see that he is having some kind of post traumatic stress disorder as he narrates his life in his journal.
He is infatuated with a Presidential candidate campaigner, Betsy (a young Cybill Shepherd). He finally plucks some courage to ask her out on a date after some hesitation. The later outings became uncomfortable and Betsy just stays away.
In the meantime, Travis bumps into a teenage prostitute, Iris (a young Jodie Foster), who is roughed out by her pimp but he just moves on with his work. Every now and then Travis bumps into Iris as she carries on with her work.
The rejection by Betsy proved to be a turning point in his life. He starts exercising, buys himself some guns and starts practising in the shooting range. On day, whilst shopping at his usual grocer, he witnesses a robbery. With his new found skill, he guns down the robber. The owner of the grocery is grateful and plants the gun on the thief!
Travis finally meets up with Iris and discovers her side of the story. She seems quite happy and grateful to her pimp for what he is doing. Somehow, now Travis feels that he needs to help her. He arranges for his savings to be sent to Iris, arms himself with guns (to the teeth!) and leaves his room to attempt to assassinate the Presidential candidate! - Don't ask me why? Probably, he felt that the candidate was not promising much to clean the filth off the city!.
After his attempt was foiled by the Secret Service, he goes on a shooting rampage at Iris' pimp and her bodyguard. Travis is seriously injured in the process but as the events turned out, as churned by the media, Travis is hailed as hero for saving a teenage prostitute.
After a protracted hospital stay, Travis is discharged from hospital to read a letter of appreciation from Iris' parents. Iris had continued her studies.
Travis goes back to his usual night cab job. Guess who takes his ride? Betsy. After some pleasantries on the turn of events in his life, they smile. He leaves her at her destination, sees at rear mirror, Betsy going up her apartment and the film abruptly ends!
In both films about taxi drivers (Satyajit's 1962 Abhijan and this one), you ask yourself what they are going to do next as the storyline is not so predictable. But then, with Hollywood, with the advantage of technical resources and the fetish for gore, Taxi Driver leaves a disturbing after taste with the gun, violence and blood splatter.
Whoever who said, "Guns don't people, people do!" must be wrong. With some many seemingly normal people scaling our streets and our lives daily, the damage done at the height of unabated emotion is definitely less fatal with a wooden stick or our bare hands than with a gun. The film is another in the long list of movies which show the damaging effect of war to soldiers and how difficult it is for them to assimilate into society after undergoing a rather psyche scarring, electro-potential overdrive effect of war!
If Ray's protagonist was trying to find the answer to life and morality, Scorsese's character, Travis Bickle (a young Robert De Niro) takes his own moral judgement on the wrongdoers.
A honourably discharged ex-Marine Travis, takes the job of night cab driver to make some money and as he is as awake as an owl at a time when most sane people are sleeping. He cannot stand the filth and vice that goes on in the streets and wishes that something could be done to clean it up.
We can see that he is having some kind of post traumatic stress disorder as he narrates his life in his journal.
He is infatuated with a Presidential candidate campaigner, Betsy (a young Cybill Shepherd). He finally plucks some courage to ask her out on a date after some hesitation. The later outings became uncomfortable and Betsy just stays away.
In the meantime, Travis bumps into a teenage prostitute, Iris (a young Jodie Foster), who is roughed out by her pimp but he just moves on with his work. Every now and then Travis bumps into Iris as she carries on with her work.
*This is a classic scene of a monologue
by Travis talking to himself at the mirror
whilst posing menacingly with his gun.
|
Travis finally meets up with Iris and discovers her side of the story. She seems quite happy and grateful to her pimp for what he is doing. Somehow, now Travis feels that he needs to help her. He arranges for his savings to be sent to Iris, arms himself with guns (to the teeth!) and leaves his room to attempt to assassinate the Presidential candidate! - Don't ask me why? Probably, he felt that the candidate was not promising much to clean the filth off the city!.
After his attempt was foiled by the Secret Service, he goes on a shooting rampage at Iris' pimp and her bodyguard. Travis is seriously injured in the process but as the events turned out, as churned by the media, Travis is hailed as hero for saving a teenage prostitute.
After a protracted hospital stay, Travis is discharged from hospital to read a letter of appreciation from Iris' parents. Iris had continued her studies.
Travis goes back to his usual night cab job. Guess who takes his ride? Betsy. After some pleasantries on the turn of events in his life, they smile. He leaves her at her destination, sees at rear mirror, Betsy going up her apartment and the film abruptly ends!
In both films about taxi drivers (Satyajit's 1962 Abhijan and this one), you ask yourself what they are going to do next as the storyline is not so predictable. But then, with Hollywood, with the advantage of technical resources and the fetish for gore, Taxi Driver leaves a disturbing after taste with the gun, violence and blood splatter.
Whoever who said, "Guns don't people, people do!" must be wrong. With some many seemingly normal people scaling our streets and our lives daily, the damage done at the height of unabated emotion is definitely less fatal with a wooden stick or our bare hands than with a gun. The film is another in the long list of movies which show the damaging effect of war to soldiers and how difficult it is for them to assimilate into society after undergoing a rather psyche scarring, electro-potential overdrive effect of war!
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