Taxi Driver, 1976
Through the eyes of the central protagonist, Travis Bickle (Robert Di Nero) the audience is able to witness the self destruction and mental deterioration as the film progresses. Bickle becomes more and more disgusted with the feats he witnesses as a taxi driver, and the audience is let into his thoughts through careful narrative where Travis Bickle declares that 'someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum of the streets.' Scorsese excercises a continuous build up of tension, where the audience is aware that Bickle is to commit some pinicle act, yet the only glimpse into such act is through Bickle's diary entries which are read allowed via voiceover. Taxi Driver stands unique as a film, as the audience bears witness to the world only through the eyes of one character. It is through this singular window into Travis Bickle's psyche that suspense is built up. It is even arguable that due to this technique the audience falls in tune with Bickle's outlook and thus is aware of some formidable event to come.
The question at the end of the film that remains is, is Travis a hero? Taxi Driver isn't a film which romanticises violence or even promotes it, therefore, unlike most psychological thrillers Bickle does not emerge a hero. The feat of hideous violence that occurs, although graphic, is not suprising given the build up of suspense within Bickle's inner thoughts. There is a theory to suggest that Travis Bickle died the day he first went into the Brothel, and the events from then on were that of a man, who has lost all sense of normality and being, and the self destruction causes him to do something 'heroic', that leaves him a subsequent 'hero' where Iris' (Jodie Foster) parents and Betsey (Cybill Shepherd) are concerned.
All quotes courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller
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