Review of Scorsese's Taxi Driver

This movie was so enjoyable to watch. The plot unfolds in such a creepy way, and I love myself a good psycho-thriller. Scorsese focuses this masterpiece on the corrosion of a character, an insomniac named Travis. As he attempts to fight his loneliness in New York City, he can't help but get wrapped up in the corruption he sees around him. Scorsese has many scenes shot as if we were seeing through Travis's eyes, sometimes out of the taxi cab, sometimes in other situations in which he gets distracted by his tendency to focus on the negative. In one scene, he is in a diner with other taxi drivers he works with and as they talk to him the camera pans by a pimp sitting at another table to show that Travis isn't really paying attention. As the movie goes on we fall deeper into arms with Travis as he get's even creepier and rash. By Scorsese's choice of showing the film through Travis's eyes, he achieves the audiences sympathy. But sometimes its hard to watch Travis as he makes quick decisions. The convenient store scene is a beautifully lit and shot scene. The pan from Travis to the robber is awesome, and you know crap is gonna go down when you see Travis's blurry figure in the background. There are some impressive technical shots of this movie, my favorite being the slow, backwards-panning crane shot at the end coming out of the apartment. The slow pans of the bloody aftermath were well put together and edited, and coupled with the brass and harp score in the background was super eerie and ominous. The very ending where he flinches at something he thinks he sees in his rear view was an incredible touch to really give you an uneasy feeling, even after that dream-like happy ending. The lighting and colors throughout this film are marvelous, especially in the night scenes. When Travis is walking up to Sport in the final bloody sequence, the lights of the city cast an unreal aura on the scene and it has a very serious tone. Compared to other thrillers or dramas, this one is one of the best. Well played out, shot, and edited, its a comprehensive look at a mad man, and it's fantastic.