The bourgeoisie erased the sacred halo of all venerable and awe-inspiring professions. It turns doctors, lawyers, priests, poets, and scholars into wage laborers it pays to hire. The bourgeoisie tore off the veil of tenderness that covered family relations and turned this relationship into a purely monetary relationship. -"Communist Manifesto"
"Taxi Driver" is an early film directed by Martin Scorsese. The director selected the specific era in the 1970s, when the United States was deeply trapped in the Vietnam battlefield, and the domestic people generally doubted the correctness of American political decisions. For the protagonist, taxi drivers and other people on the fringe of the city, the conflict of interests in the macro world is out of reach.
At the beginning of the movie, a taxi was parked in the dark, shrouded in frightening fog, indicating that the entire film will be narrated in the director's usual cold and realistic expressionist style. The tumultuous and decadent jazz soundtrack in the film was composed by the famous Hollywood music master Bernard Herman (this is also his last work). The movie opens with a slow-motion close-up of the driver's eyes. Across the blurry night view of the city, the neon lights are chaotic and flashy, and the music is soothing but reveals sadness and loss, suggesting the negative depression of the protagonist Travis's inner world.
"All the animals come out at night." The night bus driver is the loneliest. They have read all the glory and wealth but can't participate. Seeing too many scum and scum, they have no way to intervene. The veterans who have been marginalized have gradually diminished their emotional scent. All they can do is numbly drive a taxi that does not belong to them every day, driving from the west to the east, working day and night. They chat with everyone, but no one can make friends with them. The lonely eyes that run through the film give the character of indifference and sadness. The only way for him to kill time was to walk into the porn theater, but even if he was sincerely making friends with the bartender, he was wary of rolling his eyes.
Travis's first woman was a staff member who elected the president for the congressmen. The warm tone recorded their encounter, he was attracted by her beauty, and she was attracted by his special and boldness. Travis saw the loneliness of this woman. She described him as "he is a prophet and agitator, half-truth and full of contradictions." When he was driving a guest, he ran into this woman working councillor. He was very excited to tell the councillor that he was a supporter, but when he said his innermost words, "the president's duty is to clean up the trash," the councilman showed an embarrassing attitude. He took her to watch pornographic movies-in his opinion, couples should go to porn movies together. He didn't realize that there was nothing wrong with bringing a white-collar worker to watch pornographic movies. They broke up for good. In the parting scene, the man borrowed the phone to call the woman in the building, and the camera slowly moved to the aisle. With the depressive extended space and the cool light source, the taxi parked at the end of the aisle was empty and sad.
It is repeatedly mentioned in the film that "the United States is a free country". But in this free country, there are scumbags. All the tyrannical tyranny has put freedom in chains, and the rubbish pile is turned into invisible shackles on the people. The slogan "people rule the country" in the election is just a hypocritical slogan. A girl got in his car and said, "I want to leave this place", but a rude bastard pulled her out of the taxi forcibly-"Be cool, bitch", in the dark night field where I was allowed to be free, The weak struggled under the control of the strong and finally became their appendages. The second strange passenger was an unshaven Italian man. He was panting, his voice trembling, and he told Travis that his wife had cheated on a black man and that he was going to kill his wife. Betrayal and cruelty, greed and evil spirits, darkness fills the sinful city at night.
The turning point of the movie came after he had a conversation with the "witch". "The Wizard" is an old driver. He has been driving taxis for seventeen years and night buses for ten years. Travis told the "witch" that he wanted to go out. "The wizard" told him, "You are doing one thing, and then it becomes your representative. Although you don’t want to do it, you must want to do it. You have become a part of your work, and others When they mentioned you, they would say that he drives a taxi. You have no choice, I mean, we are all over."
In his life, loneliness followed him like a shadow, and he began to believe in a kind of "true power." He buys guns and exercises. He wants to do a big business. If he is a taxi driver, he will always be a driver, but he has to be the focus. He began to practice shooting to find out what the congressman was doing. He talked to himself at home, just like a hero or an agent in a movie, he suddenly raised his pistol and imitated the scornful hero to speak, "Are you talking to me? Are you sure you are talking to me?". But this is after all self-entertainment. He will do a great job. But when he met the robber in the supermarket, he shot down the robber, but fled in embarrassment.
For the third time, he ran into the woman who wanted to get in his car and leave here but was stopped by a rascal. Unlike the mainstream temperament of the upper class emanating from his first woman, this girl is a non-mainstream. She believes that Travis’s character is due to him being a Scorpio, she is accustomed to prostitution, she is a resignation girl, willing to be played with feelings by shameless pimps, and even believes that she is a perfect match with that pimp’s zodiac sign. Unconsciously, he has become a tool for him to make black money.
Travis started his "career". He had a moxican haircut, and he was determined to insulate himself from the mainstream and assassinate the congressman. But the congressman's bodyguard spotted him in advance. The first plan failed. In the evening, he shot and killed the girl's pimp and innkeeper, and the floor was washed with blood. He finally completed his enfeoffment, and the media began to brag about his heroic deeds. His first woman took his taxi again. She was related to his injury. When asked how much money, Travis was just He smiled and walked away. It was still his blurred eyes, and it was still blurred neon lights.
This is a movie about the theme of "finding". Travis has been looking for a way to get away from the established track, and this established track cannot simply blame the injustice of fate, but is more a manifestation of the mature development of American urban culture. Urban culture is a sign of the development of contemporary civilization. When the urban functions of the capitalist world are complete, the hierarchy of people is clearly distinguished. He lives by driving, then he will always be a marginal figure, even he will always be synonymous with driving; he is a food delivery, so his mobile phone number will always have the label of express delivery. The people live in a seemingly free society, but they are widened by the invisible classes of the society.
Industrial civilization has accelerated the development of urban civilization and brought technological rationality. But when people pay more attention to rational thinking than perceptual thinking, money will become omnipotent. Successful capitalists are attracting attention. The value of works of art can be measured by rankings. Brothers can turn into enemies because of the division of property. The depth of love can be directly converted into money to pay. An absolutely rational society is utilitarian. Hypocrisy, filthy, and ugly will become a means to achieve personal goals. Victims can only be wary of everyone like the waiter at the bar. People have lost their deep thinking and poetic perception, and their only pastime is watching pornographic movies, because this is the most rational physiological need. Urban development has turned life into a container, which has caused us to lose homesickness and the feelings of ordinary citizens.
Did Travis intend to assassinate the President? One argument is that it was intentional. He wants to get rid of those absurd electors who are glamorous in appearance but who don't care about people's livelihood. Another view is that "Taxi Driver" is a crusade against heroism. Society tends to focus on a certain part of the character. For example, when the president is elected, no one cares about the psychology of every voter. In an era when heroism has become the focus of spirit, the lives of marginalized figures no longer have meaning and can only be called alive. And when Travis became the focus of the media instantly after the bloodbath, he was affirmed by the society and became the mainstream. And if he chooses to assassinate the congressman, he will become a villain targeted by the public. But no matter who you kill, you can achieve Travis's goal. He is ready to die, just to break the monotonous life. He had a non-mainstream Mohican hairstyle, and his goal of "killing" was his freehand romance. His line of action can be interpreted as revenge against society, so he has no clear goal. He wanted to save the twelve-and-a-half-year-old prostitute, and at the same time saved his soul.
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