Taxi Driver

Friday, April 14 - Saturday, April 15, 2023

“A vet who takes to nocturnal cab-driving as a distraction from chronic insomnia, Travis Bickle is a casualty of the sex war as well as Vietnam, seeking to ‘rescue’ first Presidential campaign worker Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) and then juvenile prostitute Iris (12-year-old Jodie Foster, already adept at spinning humiliation into self-reliance) from what he perceives as the cesspit of Manhattan. Scorsese offers a fair bit of support for this perspective, from the banal closed-mindedness of Bickle’s fellow drivers to the director’s own cameo as a murderously jealous passenger.

 

“Initially, De Niro’s performance is a masterclass in contained indignation and a creepy willingness to be amused; Herrmann’s bluesy saxophone voices Bickle’s world-weary romanticism even as cymbal and snare crescendos hint at seismic ructions rumbling underneath. Once set on a course of self-aggrandising retribution, the score echoes his determination, with martial horns and drums unnervingly offset by the hysterical harp of a self-appointed avenging angel. Yet when the metal trap into which Bickle has translated his body is sprung, the resulting carnage – still horrific two decades on – unfolds without music, before Scorsese ushers us into a profoundly unsettling coda. New York may have changed, but TAXI DRIVER is as powerful and painful as ever.” – Time Out (London)

Screened as part as of our Autumn series “Waverly Midnights: Auto/Erotic”

  • Country USA
  • Rating R
  • Year 1976
  • Running Time 114 minutes
  • Format DCP
  • Distributor Sony
  • Director Martin Scorsese
  • Cast Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.