Since Mark and I both had a free night together and we're trying to keep our weekend activities to a budget, we thought we'd stay home and watch a movie. After I filled him in on my AFI Top 100 movie goal, we browsed through the list and found some that he would even watch with me :)
So tonight we watched "Taxi Driver".
Going in to this movie I had absolutely no idea what it was about. I even joked with Mark before it started asking him if this was that movie with Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon. Well let's just say it couldn't be more opposite.
The film came out in 1976 and explores a lot of popular and tumultuous themes of the time. Politics, Vietnam, urban decay, race, sex, drugs, city life, war veterans, guns, alienation, angst, and class are some just to name a few. I can imagine how controversial and edgy it must have been when it first came out.
It definitely takes a lot of turns that I did not expect. It starts out with a young, 26-year old, ex-marine getting a job as a Taxi Driver to fill his time.
And slowly...things get to him...
I had no idea this movie was going to be like that! I guess I should have expected it since it was directed by Scorsese. I've only seen Martin Scorsese's recent stuff, but this movie had many of the same distinct qualities. Some of the shots, angles, and blood baths reminded me a lot of "The Departed." Really the only way to describe it is to watch the movie yourself.
It was also interesting to see all of the actors so young! Jodie Foster was only 13 when she had the role of a prostitute in this movie. Other actors you'd recognize (besides Robert DeNiro, of course) are Cybill Shepherd and Harvey Keitel.
The film was interesting...definitely different from what we're used to seeing today, but that's not always a bad thing! In fact, that's the exact reason why this particular goal exists for me :)
Dad looked up the AFI list and he said, "Hey, I've seen most of these." He giggled when he saw the "On the Waterfront" was listed in the top 10. I didn't like Taxi Driver much when I saw it. Back in college English class I had to write about some movies like that one.
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