Charlie Ireland

Set in the nightmarish landscape of New York City in the 1970s, this indisputable classic from 1976, “Taxi Driver”, tells a tale as old as Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime And Punishment”, the tale of the lonely man. One of the best pieces of screenwriting ever put to screen, written brilliantly by Paul Schrader, combined with the excellent portrayal of character by a young Robert De Niro, the complex character of Travis Bickle is portrayed unlike any other characters put on the silver screen. Travis is a man that can probably be identified with by most men. He wants to do something significant, impress the beautiful girl, clean up the streets, and be looked upon as a heroic figure. At first, Travis’s intentions are well founded. The city is dumpster, full of literal garbage, and “scum” as Travis bluntly states it. But in this deep character study of a highly secluded man, Travis, with his almost undoubtedly good intentions, unknowingly becomes perverted in his own endeavors. While attempting to “wash the scum off the streets” as he himself puts it, Travis almost unwillingly becomes exactly what he despises most. The gloomy depiction of New York City though can be credited to the director, a young Martin Scorsese. Through Scorsese’s direction, along with Michael Chapman’s cinematography and Bernard Hermann’s amazing and instantly recognizable score, the city almost becomes a character of it’s own, living and breathing just like all of the people that inhabit it. Maybe the greatest anti-hero in all of cinema history, Travis Bickle is like a clock. Even when it strikes 12:00, the clock keeps spinning, still unsatisfied, until it strikes 12:00 once more, infinitely repeating itself, and never quenching its thirst to reach its goal.