Taxi Driver(1976)

To me, this is a very special movie. It stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, and this movie really centers on the main character and his thoughts. Travis Bickle is just an ordinary taxi driver in the trash city of New York somewhere between the 60s or 70s I believe. Robert De Niro really gives a lot of insight on his character's mind and what his opinions belie on. This film shows amazing character development on Travis Bickle and really shows the transformation of a taxi driver to someone who lost his mind. The narrations are all done by Travis and I find this to be a very effective technique to express Travis's thughts and emotions. Of course there are other characters but no other character proves to be as significant to the audience as Travis is. You have Betsy, some kind of love interest of Travis but not really. Then you have Iris, a girl who Travis pities and tries to reach out to. The film is slow however and only really picks up near the end. Is it boring though? No...It's slow in an interesting and captivating way, allowing the audience to understand Travis's action and feelings. Another great thing about this film is its ability to portray New York as a shithole. It shows how messed up the people were back then and how nobody gave a shit if someone died out there in the open. The monologue in this film is amazing and really gives depth to Travis's personality. There is the classic 'You talkin' to me' scene which I really found intense. That one scene just completely changes the audience's perspective on Travis. He was no longer just a taxi driver or a man on a street. He was Travis Bickle, crazy and psycho. Fun fact: that scene had Travis's monologue improvised 100% by Robert De Niro. I strongly feel that Robert De Niro doesn't get enough respect from the younger generation for his acting talent and effort. Instead, many people favour Robert Downey Junior, Chaning Tatum, Scarlett Johansson and the list just goes on. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike them at all but gone were the days where Robert Downey Junior produced good performances such as Harry in 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' or Charlie Chaplin in 'Chaplin.'All he does now is play himself in movies. Chaning Tatum is far from establishing himself as one of the greats and as solid as Scarlett Johansson is, she is no De Niro. Robert De Niro I would consider on of the best in Hollywood with the exception of a few. I am just waiting for the day when he reunites with Martin Scorsese and pulls of another amazing performance which I have yet to see in the last 10 years. All in all, this film is really great character development with a very unique Scorsese style. This is easily my favourite Scorsese film and remains to be one of my favourite films. I highly recommend this movie to people who are looking for a psychological film or just a movie buff who wants to watch a great movie.