#16, Taxi Driver

This is one of the more recently made films that I've watched, and one of the first in color, so I don't feel entirely as pretentious viewing it as I have some others. Luckily, the film is very good, so I can enjoy the picture and not feel so much like a geek at the same time.

The thing that I've noticed with Scorsese films is that they tend to be incredibly violent, in a graphic kind of way. I'm sure this puts some people off, but the thing is, the violence is in no way gratuitous. In fact, it's incredibly limited, only manifesting itself in short, unsettling bursts (as in the climax of this particular film), that seem all too appropriate to the intent and aesthetic of the film. Though the actual graphic violence is only directly present for a few moments, you can nevertheless feel it throughout the entire film. It is there, in DiNero's character, both poisoning and seeping out of him, permeating the world and the life he lives in. Oh, it's so very fun.

So, yeah, this film rocks. Scorsese and DiNero work together famously (as I witnessed again when I later watched Raging Bull), and both complement the film perfectly. The film is dark, haunting, and at points almost surreal (especially towards the end), and DiNero portrays the lonely, brooding cab driver who may or may not be a war veteran, trapped in a dark world of whores and murderers with no way to escape, perfectly. And during the few moments when he feels the light of day, when it seems that he can finally escape from his own personal hell, it's all snatched violently and cruelly from him, ironically due to the world he is trapped in seeping into his very being. As the film progresses, he becomes rapidly more and more desperate to achieve some sort of recognition, to justify his existence to both the world and himself. He finally finds a companion soul, the young (12!) prostitute Iris, played by a young (12!) Jodie Foster, who turns in a far better performance than I could have as a 12 year old (or perhaps now). She comes in relatively late in the film, though, and with the exception of one scene that was rife with continuity errors (but otherwise great), there wasn't all that much that built their relationship. I found this a bit disappointing, though the juxtaposition between her and Cybil Shepard, DiNero's apparent savior earlier on, is quite stark and effectively noticeable.

So, then, Scorsese does a wonderful job working with all of the elements laid out before him and constructing them into a powerful, emotional, and deeply disturbing whole. He manages to take the story about a nobody, a common, run-down, and highly unstable man, and turn it into a genuine epic. His skewed cinematography, wonderful pacing, and general mastery of what exactly he is trying to accomplish with every shot without imposing himself in a negative way are all truly amazing. He really is one of the best American directors, though I haven't necessarily been a fan of his later work: Taxi Driver is not nearly as trite as Gangs of New York, for example.

Highlights: Wonderful acting, cinematography, and aesthetic. The film sets a real mood, and drives the viewer forcefully along. It's impossible not to care about what is happening on the screen.

Downers: I really can't Cybil Shepard seriously. At the same time, it's a shame her character dropped out of the film too quickly, and I wanted to see more about that particular story, even though the loose ends were integral parts of the film. In this way, I felt some of the relationships in general weren't fully explored.

8.5/10