What makes Taxi Driver so special?

Stylistically, the film is a kinetic, cinematic experience as Scorsese shows off his talents as a filmmaker and storyteller, creating stunning visuals with the help of cinematographer Michael Chapman; no other film prior to the release of “Taxi Driver” could match its sheer intensity.



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If you look at Travis Bickle through the lens that he's a lonely, depressed, withdrawn social outcast, then yes, he is relatable to those who interpret him in that way. He is the “angry young man” character that is no different from Holden Caulfield or William Foster.

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Taxi Driver is a film about frustrated masculinity. Although Scorsese's films are usually being associated with male power and gangster world, it may often relate to a frustrated and fragile male rather than a truly masculine and powerful one.

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We never learn exactly what happened to Travis during Vietnam, and the rest of his past remains unexplored, so there's no way to explain why Travis has become the way he is. His war experiences must have influenced his character, acquainting him with violence and helping to turn him into a killer.

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The last shot of Bickle looking at his car mirror is a direct mirror of the film's opening. Thus, the film eventually becomes one whole loop that never truly ends. This can be interpreted as Bickle eventually returning to the paranoia and restlessness we have watched him experience throughout the first viewing.

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Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), age 26, is Taxi Driver's lonely, alienated “hero.” Yes, he's a Vietnam War vet, ex-marine, and likely has his share of PTSD.

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In another example of constant comparison, Pacino was offered the role of Travis Bickle before De Niro in Scorsese's classic film Taxi Driver. Along with Pacino, Dustin Hoffman also rejected the role, publicly turning down the offer before De Niro was roped in to play what now seems to be an iconic character.

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