Travis Bickle.

Martin Scorsese made two of the best films of the 1970’s,one of them was his landmark feature Mean Streets and the other was Taxi Driver :an incredible visceral portrait of loneliness and alienation, which brought to attention the three remarkable talents of: actor Robert De Niro, screenwriter Paul Schrader and Director Martin Scorsese. These three men all felt strongly about Taxi Driver’s subject matter and worked together well, in synch to make a strong film which would speak volumes to many viewers who had also felt similar feeling of loneliness and alienation. Not only did audiences agree but so did critics who heaved praise on this visceral masterpiece, noting that the names De Niro, Scorsese and Schrader were a bright screen partnership bound to make more brilliant films.

It is a tale about Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) an ex-Vietnam vet who hopes to cure an inability to sleep by taking a job driving taxi’s "any time, any place". The Taxi cab can be viewed as a metaphor for a Travis’ drifting loneliness and alienation.

Travis is a disturbed man who feels alienated and angry, his anger is only fueled more by taking up the taxi job. Travis sees hookers, pimps and other low lifes on the street and feels sickened, he wants to clean-up the city, he feels he can make a difference. Bickle’s mis-guided attempts to make a difference involve firstly trying to have a relationship with a pretty young political campaign worker named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) ,then an attempts to save a young twelve year old prostitute (Jodie Foster) from her life on the street and a somewhat ambiguous plan involving a senator. Travis also has bigger plans to "clean-up" the city which are revealed in the film’s climax.

Schrader’s script is certainly one for the records. Schrader had previously earned acclaim from his most recent script The Yakuza which was bought by Warner Brothers for the notable sum of $350,000, it was Directed by Sidney Pollack. His script for Taxi Driver was a much more personal and meaningful project ,which had been drawn partly out of his personal experience of living in New York. It is a marvellous script which is a vivid nightmarish portrait of a lonely alienated man on the edge. A script which features one the best antiheroes ever, blistering violence, splendid dialogue and an unforgettable climax. Schrader’s final scenes in the script make for some wonderful commentary on American social values, as Travis becomes a hero simply for the reason he is famous, despite the fact he is quite disturbed mentally. These were brilliantly realised not only from Scharder but from Scorsese’s magnificent direction and De Niro’s dead-on portrayal of Travis Bickle.

The musical score from the film along with De Niro’s performance and Scorsese’s Direction helps create the haunting nightmarish atmosphere. Bernard Herman complied the score: the master-mind behind the unforgettably haunting score of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The score is evocative of the ticking time-bomb within Travis and the old fashion sounding parts of the music feel perfectly evocative of the seedy streets which Travis roams through. It was Herman’s last score and certainly one his finest and one of the finest in any film made.

De Niro’s performance epitomised him as the ultimate method actor. Robert actually worked as a cabby for a few months and went as far as tape recording Taxi driver’s conversations and researching killer’s patterns for maximum realism in the bloody climatic scene. As a result De Niro delivers one of his finest performances perfectly conveying the lonely,alienated ticking time-bomb that is Travis Bickle. He actually improvised some of the film’s best dialogue most notably the "Are you talk’in to me?" scene which has since become a classic scene. Unfortunately he did not receive an Oscar for what is arguably his finest performance.

Along with De Niro the film introduces us to two other fine young talents: Jodie Foster and Harvey Ketiel. Ketiel, Scorsese and De Niro had previously collaborated together in Mean Streets so they work fine together as a team. Foster plays a twelve year old hooker with maturity well beyond her years and Ketiel as her pimp "Sport" is equally convincing. Certainly it must be noted that Ketiel with long hair and a goofy hat is an amusing sight to see nowadays but even so it doesn’t detract from his solid supporting performance.

Scorsese’s direction is masterful. He tries lots of different things with great success, he directs with assurancce, flair and understanding for his characters and their situations. The steam rising from the ground below Travis’ cab, the extravagant slow-motion introduction shot of Cybill Shepherd and the unforgettable bloody climax are among the highlights of Scorsese’s brilliant direction. He never wastes a frame providing us with an onslaught of memorable images all evocative of the film’s meaning and never just for show. His atmospheric direction is up there with his best work and his since become a testament for other Director’s to aim for.

This is definitive 70’s cinema:a bold uncompromising film which is no-holds-barred in it’s portrayal of loneliness and alienation. It burst on to the screen with visual invention, stunning performances a magnificent score and it still hasn’t lost any of it’s impact, making it a timeless classic. One of the finest of the 70’s and of all-time.

5 STARS