Taxi Driver - Review

This is a masterpiece by the legendary Martin Scorsese, one of the most unforgettable movies of modern cinema. A psychodrama that shows us the dark side of the 70’s, the social problems of a country, the Unites States, after the failure of Vietnam’s war. New York: Travis Bickle, a Vietnam veteran on leave, suffers from insomnia and decides to make sense of his long, endless nights. So he decides to look for employment as taxi driver. This could be a way to find his temporary, interior equilibrium…he also falls in love with an unknown, beautiful woman who is working for the democratic candidate’s campaign as next US president in New York City. The hallucinated Travis tries to conquer her cold, unconquerable heart, but without success he’s going to abandon himself to the complete shutdown and bewilderment. Something unexpected is coming to lead his empty, lonely existence out of the edge of perdition…

The protagonist Travis performs his heroic path among other low, picturesque characters such as his colleague “Wizard”, a particular type of taxi driver-philosopher, or “Dollar” a very greedy man engaged in any sort of deal. Nightlife experience in the streets of New York upsets Travis deeply: prostitution, beggars, drug addicts and drug dealers become in his eyes the cancer of American society. Life flows like a taximeter, this could be the slogan of Travis’ personality.

I strongly suggest this film, you can’t miss it. I suppose that you’ll surely fall in love with it, if even it could seem bitter or rude. The wonderful soundtrack, with its warm, fascinating jazz sound, the immense charisma of the interpreter, Robert De Niro, will totally involve you in this mythical walk under the colorful lights of the Big Apple, the mysterious chaos of urban wildlife, the smell of common people with their strengths and weaknesses…The shocking experience of Travis becomes a witness to the conflict among justice and citizens who take it on their own, law and crime that can become allied, hate and opposition towards the political system and the power which always commands and never rewards. Here you are a passage from alone Travis’ (Robert De Niro) dialogue lying on the bed: “I have always felt the need to have a purpose in life, I do not think that one can devote himself only to his well-being. In my opinion you should try to get closer to other people…”

Anna Silvia Panico