Very Good in an Artsy Sort of Way
One of the main things that kept me away from Martin Scorsese films over the years was the fact that many of his films seem to be rather violent, maybe not for the whole movie, but certainly at climactic moments. However, as I slowly mature into a seasoned movie-watcher, I slowly become accustomed to violence. (That is, I can cover my eyes and watch through the cracks.) Taxi Driver was a good movie in the sense that artistically as a movie it was very well done. It feels like one of those movies that would be shown in a theater or film studies class.
The way Scorsese has the cameras pan and zoom provide the viewer with an ideal, suspenseful perspective of the whole film. He also successfully captures the wonderful job done by Robert De Niro throughout the film. De Niro accurately portrays a man regularly struggling with his identity and attempting to find purpose in life. As a viewer, I got close to being really creeped out by some of his utterances and body language. After watching this movie I can see why Jodie Foster got so much hype, especially considering how young she was, and Cybill Shepherd wasn't too bad herself. Again, the great parts of this movie lie within Scorsese's directorial abilities, but it's a shame the movie didn't win any Oscars.
Where was this movie lacking? As regular readers know, I'm a stickler for music, and the score for this film was not all that creative or inventive. It did the job, but for me, it really helped to stagnate the film. I think what also weakened the film was the fact that it was difficult to decipher Travis's (De Niro) motives. I understand that he has mental problems and he is a war vet, but there is still not enough exploration into his background to help familiarize the audience with our main protagonist. It was almost as if it was written on the presumption that we were already familiar with this one particular taxi driver.
However, I don't want to take too much away from the movie. If I was a film student, I probably would have enjoyed this movie a lot better, but as the history teacher that I am, most of the meaning was lost on ambiguous writing. Still, it's worth seeing if you haven't already.
Written August 24, 2013
The way Scorsese has the cameras pan and zoom provide the viewer with an ideal, suspenseful perspective of the whole film. He also successfully captures the wonderful job done by Robert De Niro throughout the film. De Niro accurately portrays a man regularly struggling with his identity and attempting to find purpose in life. As a viewer, I got close to being really creeped out by some of his utterances and body language. After watching this movie I can see why Jodie Foster got so much hype, especially considering how young she was, and Cybill Shepherd wasn't too bad herself. Again, the great parts of this movie lie within Scorsese's directorial abilities, but it's a shame the movie didn't win any Oscars.
Where was this movie lacking? As regular readers know, I'm a stickler for music, and the score for this film was not all that creative or inventive. It did the job, but for me, it really helped to stagnate the film. I think what also weakened the film was the fact that it was difficult to decipher Travis's (De Niro) motives. I understand that he has mental problems and he is a war vet, but there is still not enough exploration into his background to help familiarize the audience with our main protagonist. It was almost as if it was written on the presumption that we were already familiar with this one particular taxi driver.
However, I don't want to take too much away from the movie. If I was a film student, I probably would have enjoyed this movie a lot better, but as the history teacher that I am, most of the meaning was lost on ambiguous writing. Still, it's worth seeing if you haven't already.
Written August 24, 2013