Before social media, ‘Taxi Driver’ offered a portrait of the disturbed

The loneliness of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) transforms into rage in “Taxi Driver.” (Photo from Columbia Pictures/MovieStillsDB.com)

Ultimate Movie Year finds the best films from weekends past to build an all-star lineup of cinema.

“Taxi Driver”
Released Feb. 8, 1976
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Where to Watch

Last week I noted how watching a classic movie like “City Lights” can become empathetic experiences as we realize our societal problems can be timeless. This week offers the flip side of the coin, as a young Martin Scorsese directs Robert De Niro down a disturbing path in the 1976 drama thriller, “Taxi Driver.”

De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a Vietnam veteran who finds a new job driving a cab in New York City. The Big Apple of that era is known for its seediness, and that atmosphere is on full display throughout the film. A loner, Bickle finds it hard to socialize with others until he meets a beautiful political campaign volunteer named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) whom he successfully courts. Still, Bickle becomes increasingly isolated and angry while interacting with the world around him, further confusing his judgement. 

He takes Betsy on a date to see a porno and she ends the relationship almost immediately. Now completely without any social life to speak of, Travis acquires guns and stalks various people he encountered previously, including a child prostitute (Jodie Foster) and the politician Betsy is working for (Leonard Harris). Soon enough, the only thing Travis can see is injustice and hypocrisy around him, with only one solution that’s sensible to him.

Scorsese worked with screenwriter Paul Schrader to craft the film, striving to create a fever dream experience for audiences. “Taxi Driver” was released in a time when the United States was rocked by the Watergate scandal that led to the downfall of President Richard Nixon and the end of the Vietnam War. The people who saw “Taxi Driver” during its first run may not have been as unmoored as Travis, but they could relate on some level.

“You can’t make movies anymore in which the whole country seems to make sense,” Scorsese told Roger Ebert in an interview in 1976. “After Vietnam, after Watergate, it’s not just a temporary thing; it’s a permanent thing the country’s going through. All the things we held sacred …”

We know that a feeling of normalcy eventually returned to the United States in the years after “Taxi Driver,” but 45 years after its release, America has regressed back into a period of crisis. A worldwide pandemic, racial divisions, economic inequality, unemployment, and more have pushed many Americans to the brink. In “Taxi Driver,” Travis drives around New York, observing the worst of humanity as he passes. Today we often share that experience with social media, as so much of the casual and modern voices have been drowned out by extremists. Scorsese puts us in the headspace of Travis with film editing, making us doubt the existence of good will in the world because it doesn’t appear in “Taxi Driver.” But it is always there, just off camera and between frames.

Social media now feels like that invisible hand of a film director who is deciding what to show us of the world. The violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was a painful realization that there are a lot more Travis Bickles in the country as well, fueled by the world only they can see. 

“‘Taxi Driver’ is one of the most compelling portraits of a lunatic personality I’ve ever seen on film,” wrote Vincent Canby in his The New York Times review. “(De Niro) manages to display both pathos and lethally dangerous charm as Travis goes about the city slowly and methodically preparing for his one-man Armageddon.”

“Taxi Driver” grossed $26 million during its original box office run in 1976 and received great acclaim from critics and the industry, winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and earning four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. It still stands as one of the masterworks of Scorsese’s storied career. The film’s legacy is also controversial, as a real-life loner, John Hinckley Jr., attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan while being obsessed with “Taxi Driver” and Foster, then a young actress.

Decades later, “Taxi Driver” remains one of the great works of film art. It’s an uncomfortable movie, but an essential one.

Next Week: “Groundhog Day”