Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) is a story about story as told by a storyteller. It builds these stories around quirky visual aesthetics, so much so, that some may complain it lacks any real message or meaning. And to some extent they are right, if we are to believe its director Wes Anderson: “when I do a movie, all I want to do is make an experience that can be as strong a version of whatever it is as it can be. I don’t really like any explanations….my opinion about it is really irrelevant, so then it’s a good idea not to have one [a message].”(Time). Nonetheless, even a film without a message has themes, whether it intends to or not. One of the central themes revolves around the value of storytelling, as we are constantly reminded that The Grand Budapest Hotel is a story through its overtly self-aware nature, which is no more evident than in the films introduction.

While in Hollywood, Hinckley first viewed the 1976 film Taxi Driver, which gave dramatic meaning to his miserable and depressed state of life. Hinckley became obsessed with this film watching it over 15 times in a few years. Robert DeNiro portrays a psychotic taxi driver who thinks about political assassination throughout the film and also rescues a vulnerable female prostitute names Iris who was played by Jodie Foster (The Biography.com, “John Hinckley Jr. Biography”). When watching the movie, it gave Hinckley ideas of

The critically acclaimed film, Goodfellas, is a gangster crime drama that features a great deal of talent. Household names such as Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Joe Pesci (Tommy DeVito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), and promising stars like Ray Liotta (Henry Hill) and Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), attracted numerous Golden Globes and Academy Awards nominations. That type of cast power, linked with the signature talent of Martin Scorsese as a director, made for cinematic gold. Unquestionably, the actors and actresses did an excellent job augmenting the verisimilitude of this film and compelling audiences to empathize with their characters. But the cinematography in this film plays just as large a role in having audiences feel what the characters are feeling at a specific moment. Through the use of freeze frames, we learn of significant moments that shape Henry into the man that he is. By means of first-person narration, we are able to know exactly what is going through a particular character’s mind. Finally, strong editing made efficient use of multiple jump cuts, which add to the sensation that we are undergoing the same experiences as the characters on screen. Altogether, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas effectively depicts paramount scenes and allows the audience to empathize with the characters by virtue of stylistic editing and cinematography.

Much like Noah, he believes that he will be saved, while everyone else in the world perishes from the torrents of water. Later in the film, Travis feels compelled to take action against this sleaze. He wants to help purify the world by eliminating the sleaze by whatever methods he deems appropriate. Even if this means killing his fellow man, then so be it.

From the movie Taxi Driver, it is shown that Travis passionately hates criminals. He refers to them as “scum” and wants to get rid of them, to cleanse New York City of their “filth”. Throughout the movie you see Travis hinting that the government and law enforcement are not doing anything to clean up the criminal activity that are occurring on the streets. This is seen directly when Travis has a conversation with Charles Palantine, a presidential candidate, about what bothers him the most about the United States. Charles Palantine’s question to Travis is vague that it could be about any problem that was occurring in the United States. Yet, the only thing that bothered Travis was how “filthy” the city was. Travis focus on the city shows how

In the 2005 neo-noir film Hostage, directed by Florent Emilio Siri, Chief of police Jeff Dailey helps negotiate with three hostage keepers to save his own family and two kids. The thrill-seeking, crime plot is executed very intelligently and you can't often infer what will happen next. The darkness of the lighting, darkness of humanity, darkness of the setting, visual motifs and archetypes are all elements of this film that shape it into a neo-noir style. All of these different elements illustrate a neo-noir style film and help us better understand the plot.

The taxi driver, the beginning of the movie starts out with a black night in an urban area with a taxi coming out of the smoke giving the audience a sense of suspense and nervousness which are the emotions associated with

Taxi Driver, a 1976 thriller directed by Martin Scorsese grants onlookers a grimy view into the lonely, slowly deteriorating life of the disturbed New York City cabbie Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), a Vietnam War veteran. Viewers are guided through Bickle’s take on N.Y.C. through the masterful use of aesthetically pleasing camera techniques such as the “rule of thirds” that bring focus onto the characters onscreen without causing the eye discomfort. Sound choices further immerse the audience in the buildup to and execution of up-close, violent, and mental action that ensues later in Travis’ story. However, Travis’ focused story is not simply delivered through some indescribable “magic of film.” To fully appreciate how Taxi Driver is put together

Film is an art form that has the power to move its audience emotionally and intellectually by creating impactful messages. Martin Scorsese creates depth and meaning in his 1976 film, Taxi Driver by employing various film techniques. There are many theories on the film Taxi Driver and its intended meaning. The films mise-en-scène invites the audience to enter Travis’ state of mind, arousing an array of interpretations on Travis, and consequently the central message of the film. However, I would argue that there is a dominant message of loneliness and alienation that is made particularly clear by the camerawork in the first scene in the night diner when Travis joins the other taxi drivers.

Prior the Americans had been free people and bosses of their own fate, however in after war America individuals got to be tied up by a monetary and political framework out of their control. Film noir addressed 1940s American groups of onlookers, who had gotten to be loaded with nervousness, vulnerability and negativity in the wake of World II. In this way, film noir was characterized by its tone of negativity, skepticism and misery (Film Noir and Contemporary America).

Although the film was voted as being one of the best films for the decade, Scorsese was having trouble deciding whether or not it was going to be successful or not. He wondered if it would ever be released: “We felt like we were making it for ourselves.” Scorsese and De Niro had been reading the autobiography of Jake LaMotta, the middleweight champion whose duals with Sugar Ray Robinson were a legend in the 1940s and '50s.( Ebert Roger). They asked Paul Schrader, who wrote “Taxi Driver,” to do a screenplay. At one point Sorceress had a big drug issues which caused De Niro to push even harder for this film. With the effort of visiting Scorsese in the hospital, De Niro finally got the idea to go through causing this movement to be both a re birth

Off the screen, he has a reputation for being rather illusive and hard to get a hold of. These qualities just happen to be things that accurately describe Travis’ character in the film. De Niro and Martin Scorsese, the director, were fully aware of this on-screen and off-screen mythology. They embraced it with this character in full force. Both being New York City natives, the two understood the effects that living in the city could have on an individual’s psyche, and they utilized this knowledge to great effect.

The third motif, Arthur Bremer of An Assassin’s Diary reflected in the script and Travis Bickle. In the film, Travis attempts to assassinate a presidential candidate Palatine. Before Taxi Driver was released, a young white man, Arthur Bremer actually attempted to assassinate presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972.

Travis would not necessarily be considered the most agreeable person since he does struggle with fitting into society. It might seem that he does not agree with the views of others, nor put the needs of others first (Deacon, p.78, 2013). People with low agreeableness, “… are less friendly, do not trust so easily and are less responsive to other people’s distress” (Deacon, p.79, 2013). He is lonely, perhaps making him seem to be less friendly, but also he never trusts anyone since he barely has any relationships. However, he does want to be in a relationship with Betsy and is willing to help Iris, thus this proves that he does not only care for himself (Deacon, p.78, 2013). Therefore, these two plot elements can demonstrate that his score of agreeableness is in the low to middle of the spectrum for the Big Five Personality Traits.

Travelling has used to be an activity that entirely differs from our everyday life, an escape in order to find authenticity. Travelling forces people from their comfort zones and lead to new emotions, new actions, new perceptions, acquired through the prism of another reality. For a long time it has been a privilege available only for a group of eligible. Not surprisingly, the idea of interconnectivity between “crime” and “travelling” is highly exploited in the movie industry exposing the gap between expectations and reality, between dream world and real world.