The Man in The Yellow Cab

For those who are unfamiliar, Taxi Driver is a Martin Scorsese directed film that hit theaters in 1976. It was Scorsese’s third feature length film, and marked his second collaboration with Robert Di Nero (The first being the frenzied Mean Streets). Paul Schrader’s raw script takes us to a grimy and dirty mid 70’s New York where we as an audience follow the isolated life of one Travis Bickle, played by Di Nero.

Travis, much like Arthur Fleck, is a reject of society. He is a Vietnam vet who copes with his dissociation by working long hours as a taxi driver. He is trapped in his own bubble of isolation and is berated daily by the chocking nausea that is New York. He is subjected to interact daily with the “scum” of New York, but unable to act on his frustration due to his loneliness.

After countless nights of driving and a failed attempt at a date, Travis begins to further project his frustration onto society, deciding to eventually buy some guns with the intention of, as he puts it, “doing something”. This all comes to a head after he meets a young prostitute Iris and halts a robbery by killing the armed thief. Invigorated by this newfound power, he goes after the Iris’ pimp and consequentially breaks up a prostitution ring, brandishing him as a hero

I’ve skipped over quite a bit, as this is a particularly dense piece of media. In time I will do a full length review diving into the subtle nuances that make this movie a bona fide masterpiece. In the mean time however, we will simply look at what makes Travis the unstable killer he becomes.

Scenes of slow jazz intertwined with jarring cuts leave us feeling the same sense of surrealism that lingers with Travis. Days become meaningless as time jumps randomly, leaving us wondering low long we’ve been doing this, like Travis himself. Scenes of traffic lights passing by again and again and again while the meter ticks and ticks and ticks put you in the same sleepless state as Travis. Slowly, one almost feels like they’re loosing their mind, seeing nothing but pimps, prostitutes, adulterers, and fiends. As Travis says, all the animals come out at night, and were helpless as Travis cruises through the zoo.

Scenes with the sick passenger and Palentine show Travis’ fractured view of the world, one twisted by objectification and obscenity. The gun buying scene followed by the famous “you talkin to me?” scene illustrate how Travis glorifies violence, or at the very least is consumed with thoughts of cleaning the streets. Travis has a view of the world that is simplistic and unchallenged by virtually anyone, a dangerous combination that leads to a bloody climax.

Sleepless nights and unrelenting salaciousness take a toll on a person. While I’m typically against schmaltzy ideals, living in this type of enviornment is bound to cause irreparable damage to the soul. While it is natural to wince at some of what Travis does throughout the film, it all speaks to show what happens when an outcast is left to his devices. It is haunting and beautiful. It’s sinister, yet it’s understandably sinister.