Product Description

"Taxi Driver" is one of the major films of the 1970s, which established Martin Scorcese's reputation as a prominent American director. Robert de Niro plays Travis Bickle, Vietnam veteran and cab driver, who finally goes over the edge. This text is part of the "BFI Film Classics" series. Each volume in the series presents a personal commentary on the film, together with a brief production history and a detailed filmography, notes and bibliography.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #471662 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 79 pages

Review
"This acutely sensitive piece of psychological criticism is written in Taubin's typically elegant blend of empirical incisiveness and emotional empathy. Sight and Sound is the last word on Scorsese's powerhouse"--"Film Comment

Customer Reviews

You Taubin to me?
Taxi Driver marks the fiftieith of the British Film Institution's (B.F.I.) series of pamplets which give a commentary of the 360 films held in their archieve; chosen by the B.F.I. for the contribution that they have made to film culture. The series has been patchy. The authors have been a diverse selection of film critics, academics and famous novelists, some with interesting perspectives, others with little to add. At their best they convey enthusasm and intelligence (such as Mark Kermode's The Exorcist) at worst they are pedestrian and state the obvious (like Peter Cowie's abysml Annie Hall).

Last year, in the B.F.I. journal Sight and Sound, an edited extract of this book was greeted with a letter from a disatisfied reader who complained that Taubin did not have anything new to say about the film. I therefore had a great deal of sceptism as I approached the book, because Scorsese (the director) and Schrader (the writer) have spoken in detail in copius interviews about the themes and influences which informed the production, which has allowed them too much say in the interpretation of the film. Their thoughts seem to skew most articles and essays presently available about Taxi Driver.

Her thesis revolves around the film's engagement American society's obsession with the constitutional right to carry guns and the construction of masculinity within the US following the failure of Vietnam. She keeps the focus narrow, concentrating upon the film's references to the 'wild west' and the real-life would-be assassin Arthur Bremer (who's diary was the inspiration for Schrader's script and is quoted extensively in this book).Taubin does manage to offer some fresh perspectives on this masterpiece of 1970s.She does not allow the autobiographical circumstances of Schrader and Scorsese to interfer too conspicously which gives her the edge over many other Taxi Driver critiques I've read.