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.
