“Bringing Out the Dead” Scorsese and Schrader, “Taxi Driver” after 20 years *Note! Contains spoilers.

Difference between the original and the movie

The story structure of the original novel was surprisingly similar to that of Paul Schrader, but when you compare it to the finished film, it's interesting to see what Paul Schrader took away from the adaptation and what he threw away.

The original novel, which is told from the main character's first-person point of view, is sometimes interjected with humor that makes you laugh, but the movie completely cuts out that humor, and instead focuses on the pessimistic parts of the vast amount of dialogue. , the protagonist's inner darkness is more noticeable than in the original.

In addition, the original work spends a considerable amount of time depicting episodes related to the main character's family and his obsession with his ex-wife, Mona, but in the movie, these are completely cut out, and information about the main character is kept to a minimum. ing. Furthermore, in the original work, the relationship between the protagonist and his co-workers is not that bad, such as having idle chats, going out for drinks at a bar after work, and asking his boss about taking a long vacation. , these are also removed in the film, emphasizing the protagonist's loneliness even more.

"Bringing Out the Dead"(c) Photofest / Getty Images

In addition, in the original work, it is strongly emphasized that the main character suffers from insomnia, and there are many variations of hallucinations caused by stress, but in the movie, the main character is focused only on Rose, the girl who could not be saved. The story has been changed to make it seem like the girl is the trigger for some kind of obsession.

Schrader created the main character of the original work, Frank, who is a pessimistic character whose identity is unknown, an insomniac, and a lonely man with no one to share his troubles with, and a girl who holds the key to his obsession, which is unique to the film. The character is a mirror image of Travis from Taxi Driver .

How can Travis be saved after 20 years?