Review of Taxi Driver (1954) by Victor T — 27 Jan 2015

Martin Scorsese is consider by many to be one of the best directors of all time and the greatest director currently working (at the time this review as written), with such reputation, one question will always emerged: Which film is his greatest contribution to cinema? Having multiple possible answers like "Raging Bull", "Goodfellas" or "The Departed" , I will definitely argue that the correct answer would be his breakthrough film: "Taxi Driver".

Travis Bickle is a lonely man, former U.S. Marine, who suffers from depression and insomnia. Wanting to get some sleep, he gets a job as a taxi driver but by driving around New York City he starts to witness how society is filled with "parasites", wanting to do something in his life in order to "clean hi city", Travis starts to descend towards madness.

Few films have achieved the level of praise that Martin Scorsese´s big breakthrough film "Taxi Driver" has earned since its release, so let's examine the reasons of said universal praise. "Taxi Driver" has everything that a masterpiece requires: Amazing acting with the best being, obviously, Robert De Niro giving the best performance of his entire career and one of the greatest performances I´ve ever seen, with this subtle facial expressions and expertly used method acting; an iconic, complex, sympathetic and unforgettable protagonist/villain in the form of Travis Bickle; Bernard Herrmann´s score fits perfectly with Scorsese´s vision of NYC and is one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing scores that I´ve ever heard, high entertainment value, a pacing that never drags and gives us the perfect amount of scenes, Scorsese managed to made NY a big character with his gorgeous cinematography, a smartly written script, strong and even disturbing ideas on paper that were masterfully executed on their translation to the silver screen, impressive and quotable dialog, greatly executed themes, a powerful story with some social commentary that, despite the fact this film is more than 35 years old, still retain its power; a perfect dose of subtle ambiguity and Scorsese´s ambitious directing is the cherry on top of this perfect film: His camera movements are use with precise timing and the execution of every single shot is done so splendidly that it remains Scorsese´s best directing job to this very day. I honestly can believe that a film like "Rocky" could steal the Academy Award for Best Picture from this timeless classic and I will never understand how it got only 5 nominations and didn't win any of them when it deserved to.

"Taxi Driver" is not only one of the best character studies and Scorsese´s ultimate masterpiece but it is also one of the best films ever made and one of my all time favorite films; it has everything that a timeless classic requires. This is filmmaking at its finest and an absolute must see for anyone who calls himself a lover of the seventh art.