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Taxi driver film analysis
Taxi driver film analysis
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The film, Taxi Driver, takes place in New York City. Being that this film takes place in one of the largest cities in the United States with millions of people in it, it is easy to make alienation or isolation present among the characters in the film. The character Travis Bickle, plays as a taxi driver in the film. He feels like the people who get into his taxi, do not pay any attention to him and make him feel he is not even there. This reinforces his feeling of isolation.The film also shows many images of crowds of people, all going to different places or heading in different directions. This also may make the viewer feel the alienation of Bickle’s character. Bickle’s mental state is shown as unstable in the movie. He shows signs of depression,
The author of the film shows the audience what it is really like on the streets of New York. Also, he lets us into the background of their lives. Most vendors got their occupations due
The economical and societal conditions and their changes during the film had a dramatic affect on the story. The movie starts off with James J. Braddock, in the twenties which was a great economical time, and it shows when he comes home, with a bundle of cash from the boxing match he has just one, to a beautiful house that is filled with nice objects in a nice suburbia neighborhood. This shows the audience the wealth of this time period and how many people could do no wrong and buy whatever they want. During the twenties unemployment was low and the stock market was up. This scene also points out where the Braddock family is now because it all changes in the very next scene. The next scene flashes forward to the thirties during the Depression and the setting changes to a small dim apartment located in the Bronx. During this time Braddock’s kids are not playing with any fancy toys or anything but his daughter has what looked like a home made doll. The significance for the movie to do this is to show the audience the hard times and the living conditions of the Depression. People did not have a lot of money. Braddock gives his meal up to his daughter when she says she is still hungry after she finished hers. He had to give up his...
All through this film moods were continuously changed through lighting and music creating a symbolic meaning behind every scene. An example
Emotions manifest themselves in people through various ways. Some individuals are very expressive of their emotions while others are highly impassive of their feelings, and most people are in-between these two polarities. The movie Napoleon Dynamite, illustrates the behaviour and emotions of individuals who are extremely impassive. Despite the immense lack of emotions in the film, there are still elements of emotion exemplified, such as psychological responses, subjective feelings, and expressive behaviour.
An outsider can see the values of society because their withdrawn nature gives them the time to observe those around them and make thoughtful analyzations of society. Despite the ability for outsiders to see the gross reality of society, the reality of being withdrawn is also isolating. The romanticised idea of an outsider, present in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Scarlet Letter, show the protagonists as free thinkers who want to escape from the confines of society. The reality is shown by Nick in The Great Gatsby and Billy in Slaughterhouse-Five where the main characters suffer from loneliness and disconnection from other people. Both characters are effectively stuck in time; trying to make sense of their lives they forget to
The character’s demeanour changes the entire atmosphere of the movie due to experiencing serious trauma through bullying in childhood. The
...the predominant theme of disorientation and lack of understanding throughout the film. The audience is never clear of if the scene happening is authentic or if there is a false reality.
His perceptions change from seeking for opportunities to unrealistically believing that he can acquire wealth by becoming a traveling salesman, and later in the book, he is defeated by the Great Depression and goes back to home; his perception of the reality becomes increasingly difficult to dealt with since he tries to escape from the reality and never really solves the problems, and although he later tries again to become successful during the war, he becomes insane and loses all of his perceptions.
As a result, he becomes complacent with his mundane life and becomes consumed with the idea of creating his own identity; jilting his family and institutionalized life in the process. Furthermore, the choice of the author to only describe the populous of the poorer neighborhood shows a contrast of lifestyle between that of the rich and poor. As most affluent people obtain their wealth in similar ways, their life stories cease to possess an element of individualism. On the other hand, those who end up becoming impoverished each have their own stories of how they descended to the bottom of the social hierarchy. Whether it be from an abusive childhood to financial complications, the stories of the impecunious are dissimilar to another. Ultimately, the protagonists death at the hands of an inexperienced police officer is a result of contrast. Appearing as “... an unshaven man in blue jeans” who is driving an expensive Mercedes Benz, the main character’s unsophisticated attire resulted in the presence of an aura of non congruence. When sighted by law enforcement, the contrast between the car and disheveled protagonist resulted in the rookie police officer to insinuate that the Mercedes Benz was
In the film, symbolism was everywhere. In the beginning of the film, the pictures of the city were in black and white and dull shades, giving the city a gloomy look. The camera angles made the cars in the city appear tiny, and the buildings appear very large to symbolize how small everything was amongst the city. The interiors of the office buildings and the panic symbolized that there was no way out. The soundtrack of the film was symbolic to the tension of the film. The darkness of visual composition of the lighting in the film, symbolized the darkness of the human nature in the story.
The film stays in line with classic noir in many ways. The usage of dark sets and high contrast lighting, which creates heavy shadows on the actors faces, makes the movie feel like it all happens at night and in dark alley ways. The story focuses on the inhumane parts of human nature. Each of the main characters experiences some kind of tragedy. For Vargas his tragedy was in dealing with Quinlin who has set out to frame him and his wife. For Quinlin his entire life represented a man consumed with darkness who lives his life with a “Touch of Evil.” Menzies was a hopeful man who looked up to Quinlin but was let down. For the viewer, film noir represents truth, even if it is not a truth that all people would like to hear.
... middle of paper ... ... Travis, in contrast, does act in order to pursue his ideal, but in such a contradictory and vile fashion that it almost denounces the title of saviour altogether. Ironically, he survives the order, despite attempting to commit suicide, and is lauded as the “taxi driver hero”. He keeps the newspaper clippings praising his heroic endeavor on his wall, perhaps insinuating that he has started to believe that what he has done was heroic, and ultimately justifying what he has done as for the best interest of humankind, and in accordance to the normal interests of “reason, honour, [and] peace” ().
He is a man whose psychological workings are dark, twisted, horrifying, and lonely. He is an absurd, anti-hero who is absolutely repulsed by his surroundings, and because he is unable to remove himself from them, he feels justified in removing other people. This profile fits Travis, portrayed by Robert DeNiro in Scorsese's film "Taxi Driver,", and Raskolnikov, the main character of Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. Their revulsion for life leads both men to commit cold-blooded murders, but the story lines contain major differences. By contrasting these differences and comparing the common themes of the classic and the film, we may come to a clearer understanding of the purpose of both stories.
New York City that is depicted in Taxi Driver seems to be too real to be true. It is a place where violence runs rampant, drugs are cheap, and sex is easy. This world may be all too familiar to many that live in major metropolitan areas. But, in the film there is something interesting, and vibrant about the streets that Travis Bickle drives alone, despite the amount of danger and turmoil that overshadows everything in the nights of the city. In the film “Taxi Driver” director Martin Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader find and express a trial that many people face, the search for belonging and acceptance.
Setting: “I move onto the sidewalk and Curt and I stand there watching our cab disappear into the sea of cars making their way up and down Houston.