Review of Taxi Driver (1954) by Joao P — 13 Oct 2012

When you think of a good drama movie you think (or at least you should) about a glorious moment in cinema, Taxi Driver. This is my opening sentece to one of my favorite movies of all time, one of the definitive urban dramas, one of those movies that stick on your mind like super glue.

Besides having one of the most perfect performances of all time, it's actually a mainstream movie that people don't mind relating to. For me it's much more than that, it's Scorsese fear towards the initial fame after doing Mean Streets and being trapped in the taxi of high expectations by the big bosses, it's madness that leads to a higher state of dispear.

Apart from the "director" way of seeing Taxi Driver, this 1976 feature has one of the most challenging screenplays ever made. It's mostly about people who don't fit in the society, but can also be a beautiful dream spent in the deep jungles on the Vietnam War, about a man looking for a purpose, "washing the scum".

But then Travis realises that he's actually in a dream and all the stuff about saving a young prostitute, killing pimps means nothing, and he's actually facing his own death, or is he? Whatever you think about it, it's true, it's about all the fears and hopes to achieve something in life, and the ends sometimes justify the means.