"Taxi Driver" Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader and the impact created in the 70's *Note! Contains spoilers.

De Niro impersonates a real driver, creating a realistic location

This was De Niro's second film with Scorsese. His first film was Scorsese's autobiographical film Mean Streets , set in New York's Little Italy, where he grew up. However, most of the filming took place in Los Angeles, with only a small amount of filming in New York. In that sense, ``Taxi Driver'' was the first time that a full-fledged location shot in New York was realized, but due to lack of sufficient budget, the filming (directed by the master Michael Chapman) took advantage of the city's neon Signs and other elements to recreate the scenery of the time. I just cut it out.

Also, De Niro, who is known for his method acting in the Actor's Studio, prefers realistic roles, so he even obtained a taxi driver's license and actually drove a car. When he drove the car, he realized that most of the passengers were completely indifferent to the driver, and he was able to feel the feelings of the main character, Travis. In addition, Harvey Keitel, who plays the prostitute Pombiki and Sports, took on the advice of a man who actually played Pombiki and took on the challenge of creating a realistic role.

The main character, Travis, was in the Marines until 1973. Although the Vietnam War is not specifically explained, 1976 at the time of release was not long after the end of the Vietnam War (1975), so it was easy to understand that he was a returning soldier (at the time) It was often talked about as one of the ``Vietnam sequelae''). He suffers from insomnia and volunteers to become a driver to earn money. They can drive their cars anywhere and give rides to anyone, regardless of race.

"Taxi Driver" (c)1976 COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES,INC.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

However, gradually the refracted emotions swelled. He keeps a diary, in which he writes, ``I pray that someday the rain in this city will wash away the scum of this city.'' Eventually, he begins to admire Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a beautiful woman who works in the campaign office of a presidential candidate named Palantine, and they go on a date, but she rejects him because he takes her to a pornographic movie. Then, he meets Iris (Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old prostitute, and wants to rescue her from Ponbiki's sport (Harvey Keitel).

Eventually, Travis acquires a gun and attempts to assassinate Palantine, who Betsy was supporting, but fails. Next, they attack the hotel where Iris is doing business. He shot and killed three people and seriously injured himself. As a result, he becomes a heroic figure in the town. Betsy shows up at him. Travis drives her home and disappears into the night as if nothing happened.

Reactions upon release in the 1970s