Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver

Director: Martin Scorsese

Year: 1976

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel and Peter Boyle

     Not all war movies deal with the actual war, and Taxi Driver is one such an example. The film is set shortly after the Vietnam war, and follows a former infantryman (played by De Niro) as he re-adjusts to civilian life. Vietnam films typically deal with this theme, as most of the films made deal with the personal struggles and how the war itself affected each individual involved. To put it simply, most Vietnam war movies are about PSTD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Taxi Driver is probably one of the best visual examples of the disorder. 

     De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a man returning from Vietnam and decides to work the late shift as a taxi driver. He begins hanging around other fellow taxi drivers (one played by Peter Boyle, of Everybody Loves Raymond and Young Frankenstein fame) and puts off a very distanced personality. He nevertheless strikes up a relationship with a woman named Betsy, and the two begin seeing each other on a regular basis. I admit, this sounds a little dull, but it's crucial to the overall plot as we see Travis interact and adapt to a non-military, non-hostile environment. He is clearly uneasy, and is not quick to make friends. The struggle of dealing with the aftermath of the war is clearly affecting Travis, but it slowly digs it's way out. It first breaks free temporarily when Travis shoots a man who attempts to rob a convenience store.

     Travis runs into a girl named Iris (played by a young Jodie Foster) and eventually figures out she's actually a child prostitute, and seeing as he was disgusted by prostitution himself, he sets out to protect and possible save her from Sport, her pimp (played by Harvey Keitel). The climax of the film is where it takes a complete 180, and Travis, now sporting a Mohawk, first attempts to assassinate Senator Palantine at a public rally, but escapes. He then finds Iris, and in a very bloody shootout, he rescues her, and kills Sport after being fatally wounded. 

     Surprisingly, the film ends on a high note. Travis survives the ordeal, and is hailed in the media as a local hero, and even receives a letter from Iris' parents, thanking him. He returns to his job as a taxi driver, and for the first time in the entire film, he looks genuinely happy and okay, and that he's adjusted to civilian life once again, and has made peace with his past in the war. 

     Taxi Driver is one well made film. It shows that not every war movie needs a big budget, impressive combat scenes, and Nazis, to make it a good one. This is a different kind of war movie, and it gets down to the individual, and how it can leave a lingering effect. The film is a classic, and the famous "You talking to me?" scene should be enough to appreciate it for what it set out to accomplish.