A unique picture

Here's a film that will leave you speechless. The rampage of Travis Bickle is one of the most unpredictable, yet best written stories of the 70s. The script is so surprising, that you never know what will come next. This is actually an easy thing to achieve; what is not easy is capitalising on this element of surprise by throwing the thing you least expect and still making it feel logical straight at your face. Taxi Driver does just this, and it's a masterpiece of film writing. All the segments in it seem to last just the right time, which can be credited to either the script or the directing. It's a damn near perfectly composed picture when you look at the technical aspects. It's also a very impressive whole, as it has no holes left in it after it's over. It does not explain itself all the way, leaving just the appropiate amount for the viewer to ponder about. It balances what it shows and explains and what it doesn't show nor explain, and it balances it perfectly. But, and you knew there was a but when I gave this a nine, the film is something of a mixed bag as far as our main character goes. He is child-like in nature, but an adult in heart. Yet he seems very schizophrenic for the entire duration of the film. Perhaps it truly is what Scorsese had in mind for the character, but I believe it occasionally hurts the movie as a whole. When you have him doing one thing first, then essentially acting the opposite in the next scene, the behavior jumps at the viewer as slightly odd in a way that made me feel uncomfortable and dislike the film slightly. Overall though, it is a nitpicky thing that probably no one else will complain about except for me, so you really ought to see this film. And also, it's a very stark thing to look at nowadays as the contrast between the DeNiro we see in the end really doesn't look like any DeNiro we have ever seen, and I say that in the utmost positive aspect.

9/10