Taxi Driver1976

The Scorses-a-thon I’ve seen the unpopular and the underrated and unsung. Now I have seen one of the most popular movies of all time. A film, like the others so far, that I had never seen before. And I must say that I was impressed and surprised.  I wasn’t expecting this movie to be so artsy fartsy. And artsy fartsy in a way I really liked. Pretty much everything about this worked for me: the design, the music, the plot, and performances are all extremely iconic and influential. We wouldn’t have a movie like Fight Club without this.  There is enough interpretation to be garnered here that keeps it thought-provoking in an engaging way. How much of this is real? How much of this is fantasy or hallucination? Does it matter either way? I think Vietnam-era civil unrest is a clear message here. The people are revolting. I don’t think it’s a coincidence this came out during the bicentennial. Scorsese clearly has a love/hate or at least very self-aware relationship with his city. How much of this movie is a critique of the city itself or the people living in it? Is Travis Bickle a defender of the people or is he the problem?  Or is it all of the above? I can understand why this is such a classic, and I’m excited to watch it again. But I’m also excited to get to Scorsese’s more gabagool fare.