Isolation in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver

Travis Bickle, a gritty, disillusioned man, sits alone in his apartment. He is a man without friends, without passion. He rests his snake-skin cowboy boots on the ledge of his television stand as he stares blankly at the daytime soap opera that slowly manifests itself frame by frame. He is expressionless and uninterested. The stand begins to tilt backwards as his foot exerts more pressure against the TV. It teeters precariously in a moment of limbo between resting safely on the ground, and crashing to the floor. The absurdity of the soap opera becomes increasingly apparent as it seems so trivial, so insignificant. A moment later a loud crash echoes through the apartment as Travis hits himself on the head, loathing his state of mind. This singular scene in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver summarizes wholly the major themes of the film: the absurdity of human existence, and most importantly loneliness. Travis Bickle is a character on the brink of insanity that is stuck in a city of evil. By separating himself from reality with very little human interaction, his world becomes irrational. Through elements of mise-en-scene, camerawork, sound, point of view, and characterization, Scorsese invents a genre that would change filmmaking forever.

Filmed on location in New York City in 1976, Taxi Driver was the sixth film directed by Martin Scorsese. Notable films that Scorsese made prior to Taxi Driver include, Mean Streets and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Scorsese worked very

closely with Paul Schrader, the screenwriter to create this story. With the addition of Robert De Niro to play Travis Bickle, the three would form a creative trio that immediately clicked. At the time De Niro was just emerging as a notable actor after receiving an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II. The idea for the story was born mainly out of real life experiences that Paul Schrader had gone through, the feelings of isolation in loneliness in New York City. The irony of isolation in a big city was central in his thinking. There also appears to be a strong connection thematically with Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground, which chronicles a man at a point of inactivity and paranoia. This film was also a breakout performance for Jodie Foster who played a young New York prostitute named Iris. At the time she was only twelve years old but immediately displayed her credibility as an actress. Aside from directing Taxi Driver, Scorsese played a minor role as a man tormented by his adulteress spouse who rode with De Niro in the back of his taxi cab.

Along with being controversial for its time for the display of graphic violence, Taxi Driver received a lot of attention for its subtle references to the Vietnam War. It was one of first films to address the impact of the war on soldiers in a negative way. Travis appears to be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition that many veterans were afflicted with after the traumatic events witnessed during the war. Travis claims to have been “honorably discharged” from the marines and wears a military jacket. Not until The Deer Hunter, also featuring De Niro, are the atrocities of the Vietnam War addressed directly. Taxi Driver was the first film to begin to shed a negative light on the war, in an otherwise conservative Hollywood culture. This was further embellished when Travis decides on an assassination attempt of the presidential candidate and emerges from his apartment with his head shaved into a mohawk. There exist legends from the jungles of Vietnam that American soldiers would shave their heads into mohawks before going on very dangerous missions into the jungle. Taxi Driver also contains a good deal of latent racism that is somewhat characteristic of Vietnam veterans. At one point Travis drives his taxi into a dangerous neighborhood and a group of African-American youths emerges chanting “honky” and tossing eggs at his cab. Later we see Travis staring, with obvious racial contempt, at a man on the street. This reinforces the negative impact of the war on America.

The two major themes of Taxi Driver are the absurdity of human life and isolation. These two themes coupled together offer a very interesting outlook on the human condition. When one begins to retreat from society, it becomes more and more difficult to understand the world. We all acknowledge that there are wonderful and terrible things that happen everyday that are often irrational. Travis fails to realize this as he drifts further into the recesses of his own consciousness. He sees all of the evil and thinks, “Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.” He is unable to cope with the wickedness of the city which drives him to the brink of insanity. His isolation coupled with ridiculousness of the world creates an unending cycle for Travis. Although the ending of the film is a hopeful one, the story sheds light on the dangers of our own minds. Using film and literary techniques, Scorsese creates a story that is wonderful and terrifying, full of juxtaposition.