SparkNotes: Free Study Guides No Fear Shakespeare: The Bard made easy SparkCharts: Just the facts TestPrep: SAT, ACT, and more 101s: College texts condensed Subject Finder: Browse by subject SparkCollege: Get in! SparkLife: 100% study-free home_bottom home_top BN_link
 
◄ PREVIOUS
Important Quotations Explained
NEXT ►
Quiz
 

Taxi Driver

 Martin Scorsese
 

Key Facts

 
full title · Taxi Driver
 
director · Martin Scorsese
 
screenplay author · Paul Schrader
 
leading actor · Robert De Niro
 
supporting actors/actresses · Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, Albert Brooks, Martin Scorsese
 
type of work · Feature film
 
genre · Drama
 
language · English
 
time and place produced · New York (with some work in Los Angeles), 1975
 
awards · Winner of Palm D'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. Nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster), and Best Original Score (Bernard Herrmann)
 
date of release · 1976
 
producers · Michael Phillips, Julia Phillips
 
setting (time) · The summer of 1975 or 1976
 
setting (place)  · New York City, mainly Manhattan – Times Square, Harlem, around Union Square.
 
protagonist · Travis Bickle
 
major conflict · Travis struggles to find his place in the world, first as a member of society and later as an outsider.
 
rising action · Travis's sociopathic feelings increase after Betsy rejects him, fueling his desire to lash out and kill Palantine as well as his desire to save Iris.
 
climax · After failing to kill Palantine, Travis perpetrates a gory shootout in which he kills Sport, another pimp, and a john who is trying to see Iris.
 
falling action · Travis is proclaimed a hero by society and thanked by Iris's father. He has a reconciliation with Betsy that is probably imagined, suggesting that Travis is still mentally unstable.
 
themes · Predetermined versus self-directed fate; loneliness in crowds; the glorification of violence
 
motifs · The taxi; racism; television
 
symbols · Guns; the $20 bill; water
 
foreshadowing · The music gives the film a sense of foreboding, even before any hint that Travis will be violent appears. Travis's shooting of the young black man foreshadows his extreme and emotionless violence at the end of the film.
 
 
Help | Feedback | Make a request | Report an error | Send to a friend

◄ PREVIOUS
Important Quotations Explained
NEXT ►
Quiz
 
 
 
 
 
 
Message Boards
Ask a question or start a discussion on the community boards.
  • Taxi Driver
  • Film Criticism & Theory
  • Film History
  • Great Directors
  • Style & Technique in Filmmaking
  • Genres & Conventions in Film
  •  
     
     
     
    Printable PDF
    Download a printable version of this SparkNote.
     
     
     
     
    Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | About | Sitemap
    ©2008 SparkNotes LLC, All Rights Reserved.