Movies
Taxi Driver (1976, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster)
‘To my mind, it is Scorsese’s worst film to date,’ Nigel Andrews wrote in the Financial Times when Taxi Driver was released. That was very much a minority opinion, though, as Scorsese’s chilling depiction of a man ‘who would not take it any more’ was acclaimed by many critics as a modern masterpiece, winner of the 1979 Palme d’Or at Cannes and subsequently Oscar-nominated. Almost 30 years later, the film has lost none of its power to disturb, provoke and mesmerise, with Robert De Niro’s performance as unbalanced loner Travis Bickle a career high.
A great deal of credit lies with film critic-turned-scriptwriter Paul Schrader, who originally wrote the script in 1972. Somewhat worryingly, the film’s unremitting bleakness came easily, with Schrader completing the script in a mere 12 days. ‘I wrote it after a bout of depression where I received a lot of psychological body blows. My marriage broke up, I was badly in debt, I had begun to drink heavily and I was having enormous stomach pains which turned out to be an ulcer.’ He made the protagonist a taxi driver because he was someone who ‘moved, worked, walked and talked, and yet somehow was invisible to the eyes of his fellow man.’
Although De Niro’s descent into psychotic madness is the acting highlight, there is also another career best performance from Cybill Shepherd, as presidential campaign worker Betsy, plus a frighteningly mature performance from Jodie Foster as the teenage prostitute working for her pimp and lover Sport (Harvey Keitel). And Bernard Herrmann’s score – his last – adds an extra dimension of menace to proceedings. Not content with directing, Scorsese also contributes a cameo as a passenger who manages to rival Bickle for scariness. ‘Taxi Driver,’ Derek Malcolm said in The Guardian, reflecting the view of most critics, ‘is a tour de force which doesn’t so much explain America as reflect part of it with unerring accuracy. You may not like what you see, but you can’t stop it hitting you between the eyes.’
production details
USA / 114 minutes / 1976
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Paul Schrader,
cast
Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle
Jodie Foster as Iris Steensma
Albert Brooks as Tom
Harvey Keitel as ‘Sport’ Matthew
Cybill Shepherd as Betsy
Peter Boyle as Wizard
Leonard Harris as Senator Charles Palantine
Diahnne Abbott as Concession Girl
Gino Ardito as Policeman al rally
Martin Scorsese as Man in Cab
Murray Moston as Iris’ Time Keeper
Richard Higgs as Secret Service Agent
Bill Minkin as Tom’s Assistant
Bob Maroff as Mafioso
Victor Argo as Melio, Delicatessen Owner
Frank Adu as Angry Black Man
Brenda Dickson as Soap Opera Woman
Norman Matlock as Charlie T
Harry Northup as Doughboy
Harlan Cary Poe as Campaign Worker
Steven Prince as Andy – Gun Salesman
Peter Savage as The John
Nicholas Shields as Palantine’s Aide
Ralph S. Singleton as T.V. Interviewer
Annie Gagen as Campaign Worker (uncredited)
Carson Grant as Political rallier (uncredited)
Debbi Morgan as Girl at Columbus Circle (uncredited)
Don Stroud as Policeman (uncredited)
Copper Cunningham as Hooker in Cab
Mary-Pat Green as Campaign Aide (uncredited)
Joe Spinell as Personell Officer