In entirely unrelated news (despite the importance to the plot of a Presidential campaign), Taxi Driver appeared on one of our movie channels last night as I was preparing for bed and cast its’ voodoo spell, as ever, leading to a much later bedtime than planned.
The print was pristine - I presume what aired derives from a version prepared for DVD release - and utterly hypnotic. The film is so much better than Mean Streets. One wonders if Scorsese knew what he was creating back then withthis film and Raging Bull. Growing up I recall lumping Taxi Driver in with Serpico, The French Connection, and Dog Day Afternoon under the sobriquet of “headache films” becasue of the common tendency toward presenting a gritty, dystopian world via grainy, low-light or available-light cinematography.
On thing that jarred, however, was the film’s happy ending! I’d completely forgotten that DeNiro’s idiot cabbie actually survives his epic gunbattle. It has to be a mistake. I mean, sure it’s not a big wedding or an inheritance or anything like that, but, really, the “bloody finger to the head” schtick sorta tells you everything you need to know, I gotta say.
Seems like others have
