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BFI Film Classics
راننده تاکسی
Paul Schrader was in meltdown in 1972. Drinking heavily, living in his car, he was hospitalized with a gastric ulcer. There he read about Arthur Bremer's attempt to assassinate Alabama Governor George Wallace. This story was the germ of his screenplay for Taxi Driver (1976). Executives at Columbia hated the script but when Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, who were flying high after the triumphs of Mean Streets (1973) and The Godfather Part II (1974), signed up, Taxi Driver became too good a package to refuse.
Scorsese transformed the script into what is now considered one of the two or three definitive American films of the 1970s. De Niro is mesmerising as Travis Bickle--pent up, bigoted, steadily slipping into psychosis, the personification of American post-Vietnam masculinity. Cybill Shepherd and Jodie Foster give fine support and Scorsese brought in Bernard Herrmann, the greatest of film composers, to write what turned out to be his last score. Crucially, Scorsese rooted Taxi Driver in its New York locations, tuning the film's violence into the hard reality of the city. Technically thrilling though it is, Taxi Driver is profoundly disturbing--finding, as Amy Taubin shows, racism, misogyny and gun fetishism at the heart of American culture.
Scorsese transformed the script into what is now considered one of the two or three definitive American films of the 1970s. De Niro is mesmerising as Travis Bickle--pent up, bigoted, steadily slipping into psychosis, the personification of American post-Vietnam masculinity. Cybill Shepherd and Jodie Foster give fine support and Scorsese brought in Bernard Herrmann, the greatest of film composers, to write what turned out to be his last score. Crucially, Scorsese rooted Taxi Driver in its New York locations, tuning the film's violence into the hard reality of the city. Technically thrilling though it is, Taxi Driver is profoundly disturbing--finding, as Amy Taubin shows, racism, misogyny and gun fetishism at the heart of American culture.
128 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 18, 2022
نقد فیلم نبود و بیش‌ت� گفتگویی بود با راننده تاکسی. و اطلاعات جالبی را درباره� فیلم اسکورسیزی که بی‌ش� از مهم‌تری� فیلم‌ها� تاریخ سینماست و حاصل ذهن پوچ‌انگا� و روان‌پری� شریدر و دیدگاه‌ها� مذهبی اسکورسیزی و چهره و بدن حیرت‌انگی� دنیرو می‌ده�. راننده تاکسی در زمان اکران و تا مدت‌ه� بعد در آمریکا فهمیده نشد و همواره وجه خشن فیلم برای منتقدان مانع درک دقیق فیلم می‌ش�. اما راننده تاکسی مانند سرگیجه که آن هم فیلمی‌س� که تا دهه‌ه� درک نشد توانست جایگاهش را در سینما پیدا کند. الان راننده تاکسی بی‌ش� از مهم‌تری� و تاثیرگذارترین فیلم‌ها� آمریکایی است و این کتاب به خوبی نشان می‌ده� اهمیت آن کجاست. و چگونه اندیشه و نگرش فیلم به جهان مدرن، سرگردانی انسان و جنون در فیلم‌ها� دیگر امتداد یافته
تراویس بیکل هم معماست و هم بخشی از دانش عمومی و چنان در خودآگاه فرهنگی جمعی جای گرفته که ارزیابی زیباشناختی راننده تاکسی را تقریبا نامربوط می‌ساز�. این فیلم همچوم آینه‌ا� چند وجهی است که شگفت‌انگیزتری� بازتاب آن قهرمان‌ساز� و پرستش تراویس در درون و بیرون فیلم است. پاسخ منتقدانی که می‌گوین� پایان باز راننده تاکسی از نظر اخلاقی و منطقی مبهم است، همه� چیزهایی است که در این بیست و چند سالی{۲۰۰۳} که از نمایش آن می‌گذر� رخ داده است
جملات پایانی کتاب
تراویس بیکل هم معماست و هم بخشی از دانش عمومی و چنان در خودآگاه فرهنگی جمعی جای گرفته که ارزیابی زیباشناختی راننده تاکسی را تقریبا نامربوط می‌ساز�. این فیلم همچوم آینه‌ا� چند وجهی است که شگفت‌انگیزتری� بازتاب آن قهرمان‌ساز� و پرستش تراویس در درون و بیرون فیلم است. پاسخ منتقدانی که می‌گوین� پایان باز راننده تاکسی از نظر اخلاقی و منطقی مبهم است، همه� چیزهایی است که در این بیست و چند سالی{۲۰۰۳} که از نمایش آن می‌گذر� رخ داده است
جملات پایانی کتاب
May 25, 2019
It starts with Arthur Bremer, a loner loser type who thought he wanted to get a better social life and to do that he should assassinate someone that no one else liked, such as Richard Nixon. This was in 1972 and by then Arthur was 21 years old and was living in his car. He found out that shooting a president had got a lot harder than it used to be so he switched targets to George Wallace and managed to shoot him on 15 May but was caught immediately. He had been keeping a diary and this was published the following year, entitled An Assassin’s Diary.
Meanwhile over in Los Angeles there was another young American living in his car, 26 year old Paul Schrader. His marriage had broken up, he was drinking heavily, he had been in hospital for a gastric ulcer (when he checked himself into the hospital he realized he hadn’t spoken to anyone in weeks), things were not good. Schrader read about Bremer. And he read Nausea by Sartre and Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky, and he wrote a screenplay called Taxi Driver, which came out in 1976. (“Travis Bickle was me.�)
A third young American, named John Hinckley Jr, this one rich enough never to have to live in his car, saw Taxi Driver more than once and became obsessed with Jodie Foster, the actress who plays the 12 year old hooker rescued � should I say “rescued� by Travis Bickle in the bloodbath at the end of the movie.
So five years later, in 1981, after all his stalking and creeping around Jodie at Yale had come to nought, he attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, making Taxi Driver the only movie to directly inspire a presidential assassination attempt. (“The reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you�). He was 25 at the time.
As of today, Arthur Bremer is 68. He was paroled in 2007, aged 57 after 35 years in the slammer; Paul Schrader is now 72 and is the garlanded screenwriter and director of many movies including Raging Bull and First Reformed; Jodie Foster is 56 and has made a ton of interesting movies; John Hinckley is 63 years old � he was found to be not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric institution for 34 years, until 2016 when he was released under supervision.
I enjoyed finding out that when Travis is doing the famous “You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? [turns around to look behind him] Well, then who the Hell else are you talking- You talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here� sequence the screenplay just says Travis talks to himself in the mirror.
Meanwhile over in Los Angeles there was another young American living in his car, 26 year old Paul Schrader. His marriage had broken up, he was drinking heavily, he had been in hospital for a gastric ulcer (when he checked himself into the hospital he realized he hadn’t spoken to anyone in weeks), things were not good. Schrader read about Bremer. And he read Nausea by Sartre and Notes from the Underground by Dostoyevsky, and he wrote a screenplay called Taxi Driver, which came out in 1976. (“Travis Bickle was me.�)
A third young American, named John Hinckley Jr, this one rich enough never to have to live in his car, saw Taxi Driver more than once and became obsessed with Jodie Foster, the actress who plays the 12 year old hooker rescued � should I say “rescued� by Travis Bickle in the bloodbath at the end of the movie.
So five years later, in 1981, after all his stalking and creeping around Jodie at Yale had come to nought, he attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan, making Taxi Driver the only movie to directly inspire a presidential assassination attempt. (“The reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you�). He was 25 at the time.
As of today, Arthur Bremer is 68. He was paroled in 2007, aged 57 after 35 years in the slammer; Paul Schrader is now 72 and is the garlanded screenwriter and director of many movies including Raging Bull and First Reformed; Jodie Foster is 56 and has made a ton of interesting movies; John Hinckley is 63 years old � he was found to be not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric institution for 34 years, until 2016 when he was released under supervision.
I enjoyed finding out that when Travis is doing the famous “You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? [turns around to look behind him] Well, then who the Hell else are you talking- You talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here� sequence the screenplay just says Travis talks to himself in the mirror.
November 5, 2024
تراویس بیکل هم معماست و هم بخشی از دانش عمومی و چنان در خودآگاه فرهنگی جمعی جای گرفته که ارزیابی زیباشناختی راننده تاکسی را تقریباً نامربوط می سازد. این فیلم آیینه ای چند وجهی است که شگفت انگیزترین بازتاب آن قهرمان سازی و پرستش تراویس در درون و بیرون از فیلم است.
May 13, 2017
تهوع سارتر، یادداشت های زیر زمین داستایوسکی، فیلم جیب بر روبر برسون و از همه مهمتر اخبار روزنامه از آرتور بره مر که در سال 1972 قصد ترور جورج والاس را داشت، منابع الهام فیلمنامه ی راننده تاکسی بودند.
کتاب اشاراتی به لایه های پنهان نژادپرستانه و زن ستیزانه ی قهرمان فیلم (تراویس) دارد.
تراویس قهرمانی است که می خواهد قواعد جنسیت مردانه برای زندگی را دوباره بر قرار سازد. هفت تیر جبران دلواپسی از اختگی است. در فیلم بین خشونت با هفت تیر و اوج لذت جنسی رابطه برقرار می شود. ولی تراویس نشسته در صندلی سینمای مستهجن به لذت جنسی نمی رسد همانگونه که پشت فرمان تاکسی اش نیز به چنین اوجی نمی رسد.( شیشه ها و آینه ی تاکسی مانند پرده ای است که فیلم مستهجنی به عظمت خود شهر را نمایش می دهد.) شاید بتوان گفت که تراویس هیچ گاه به اوج لذت نمی رسد و تنها رهایی او در مرگ است ولی فیلم حتی این را از او دریغ می کند و با این کار ما را نیز از امنیت خاطر پایان محروم می سازد.
کتاب اشاراتی به لایه های پنهان نژادپرستانه و زن ستیزانه ی قهرمان فیلم (تراویس) دارد.
تراویس قهرمانی است که می خواهد قواعد جنسیت مردانه برای زندگی را دوباره بر قرار سازد. هفت تیر جبران دلواپسی از اختگی است. در فیلم بین خشونت با هفت تیر و اوج لذت جنسی رابطه برقرار می شود. ولی تراویس نشسته در صندلی سینمای مستهجن به لذت جنسی نمی رسد همانگونه که پشت فرمان تاکسی اش نیز به چنین اوجی نمی رسد.( شیشه ها و آینه ی تاکسی مانند پرده ای است که فیلم مستهجنی به عظمت خود شهر را نمایش می دهد.) شاید بتوان گفت که تراویس هیچ گاه به اوج لذت نمی رسد و تنها رهایی او در مرگ است ولی فیلم حتی این را از او دریغ می کند و با این کار ما را نیز از امنیت خاطر پایان محروم می سازد.
November 19, 2016
The great Amy Taubin writes a shot by shot, slightly perfunctory analysis of this great work, notable mostly for her unforgiving tone regarding what she views as a romanticization of Travis' racism and gynephobia. Still, Taubin clearly recognizes and dissects the landmark nature of the picture. Her final perception--that Travis the icon is bigger than the artistry of Scorsese's movie itself--feels to me questionable.
March 21, 2008
This book is definitely going to help me with my research paper!
January 25, 2020
I suppose the highest compliment I can give this book is that after reading in one sitting, I immediately watched the film (for the first time in a while...)
There is a lot of insight in these short pages - packed with detail and significant analysis and understanding. Where the film came from, writer, director, composer...what it did and what it left behind. The only thing missing is anything from the star - it would be interesting to know more about how De Niro became Bickle, and what it left behind...I will have to track down a good book on him one day.
My only disagreement is that Taubin states that this film falls short of being 'truly great'...written in 2000 the world was a different one from 1976, and different again in 2020. In many ways 2020 is more aligned with the 70's, whereas in 2000 there was a genuine optimism about the new century...which is a pretty sad thought...but one that makes the film all the more relevant in our socially, and artificially, detached world.
There is a lot of insight in these short pages - packed with detail and significant analysis and understanding. Where the film came from, writer, director, composer...what it did and what it left behind. The only thing missing is anything from the star - it would be interesting to know more about how De Niro became Bickle, and what it left behind...I will have to track down a good book on him one day.
My only disagreement is that Taubin states that this film falls short of being 'truly great'...written in 2000 the world was a different one from 1976, and different again in 2020. In many ways 2020 is more aligned with the 70's, whereas in 2000 there was a genuine optimism about the new century...which is a pretty sad thought...but one that makes the film all the more relevant in our socially, and artificially, detached world.
June 26, 2016
Utterly straightforward in its structure and its thoughts. Taubin's thoughts are repetitive and only contain the occasional bit of true insight, offset by her nearly as common specious suppositions and niggling inaccuracies; those are pretty much the two positions between which the passages of this book vacillate on a binary spectrum. It's rather unfortunate, because she approaches the film from a distinct critical distance, and touches briefly on some potentially legitimate gripes, but then deigns to delve further into her own thoughts; much as I love the film, I'd have been much more happy to read any substantive comment, positive or negative, than the relatively inoffensive and not-so-relatively well-worn praise and complaints Taubin offers instead. She's willing to remain in the shallow end throughout, not just declining to deeply examine her own criticisms but also refusing to probe further into the obvious ideas she presents; it's frustrating because especially for a film that, despite being broadly adored, seems to nevertheless skew toward a masculine fanbase that could undoubtedly have benefitted from a definitive (or even just any) thoughtful approach from a female perspective. Instead, because her book is so rigidly and boringly structured, even the faintest bits of originality only feel awkwardly shoehorned in, asides that jar the reader, brief speed-bumps in a linear trudge through the film's running time.
April 22, 2024
an essential text on an essential text.
March 24, 2025
“We see the bill lying on the seat. The camera rises to take in Travis’s face then drops down again. The move looks simple but Scorcese remarked that they had to do about 25 takes to get it right.�
I love shit like this.
I love shit like this.
October 30, 2013
This slim volume reads more like an extended critique on Martin Scorsese's urban nightmare than an in-depth study. I consider this a good thing. If you are a fan of Taxi Driver you may find yourself disagreeing with some of what seem to be the author's assumptions. But don't let that put you off. This is authoritative, very well researched, and a very fine supplement to Paul Schrader's bloody monument to urban isolation.
November 23, 2013
Great extended essay on one of my favorite films. Most enlightening was the detail that both Scorcese and Schrader had originally conceived the "Sport" pimp character as a black man (how did I not get this before!). It makes me wonder if America then or now would have been able to handle that much truth about itself in on the screen.
July 14, 2015
A good old-fashioned close reading of the film. A little plodding in structure perhaps and a little glib in its misapplication of some psychoanalytic terminology, but also resists the tendency to deform the evidence to make a point or otherwise test the reader's credulity (except as it relates to Scorsese's Catholicism).
June 14, 2010
Nice analysis (for the most part) of one of the greatest American films of the 1970's. Chronicles how the film is a portrait of an American nightmare as well as a modern urban "Western" deeply influenced by The Searchers.
August 24, 2008
Amy Taubin's book-length critique of the Scorcese film. Read it for film criticism class. She came to speak in the class and I found her to be kind of full of herself.
July 5, 2009
I'm thinking about this movie in a whole new way now!!! Even if you kind of like the movie, pick this up and you'll have a whole new respect for it. Quick read, took less and an hour to finish.
February 8, 2012
This was the best film criticism I've ever read. It was airtight. I can't say one bad thing about it.
July 8, 2012
Amy Taubin makes some interesting arguments about the thematic levels of Martin Scorsese's wonderful film. A good book to read about the struggling 70s in America, and the world as well.
September 17, 2012
interesting.
December 5, 2012
One of the best books in this fine series. In the midst of her probing analysis, Taubin's prose actually captures some of the slow-boiling, febrile dread of the film itself.
September 9, 2016
Contains some very valid points, but shows an interesting fascination with "rear entries" that I don't see as a relevant part of the movie. And it's Max Schreck, not "Schrenk". ;-)
October 17, 2014
عصیان ضد قهرمان تنها
November 15, 2017
Short, concise, and to the point. Taubin had her work cut out for her and weaves an analysis of Taxi Driver that gets to the point while simultaneously expressing her own thoughts and opinions. Quick read, I think there's only 75 pages, give or take.
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