Synopsis
Vietnam veteran Travis Bicklea finds that his life has been turned upside down after returning America from the battle-field. He suffers from the insomnia and sense of isolation, which leads him to take a job as taxi-driver at night; many of his customers represent the people from the lowest class of society: prostitutes, adulterous husbands and wenchers. Since Travis has promised the cab company that he will drive anywhere, at anytime, his likelihood of seeing the best of human nature is fairly slim. So, he tries to create an extra-occupational life for himself. He befriends Betsy, a beautiful girl working at a Senator's campaign office. Unluckily, with on possession of the slightest amount of social skills, Travis takes her to a porn movie on their first date, so Betsy rejects him and refuses to see him anymore. Then another girl bumps into Travis¡¯s life. One day, a prepubescent prostitute who is desperately trying to escape from her pimp named Sport (Keitel). Travis is touched by her plight and resolves to assist her, despite her later unwillingness to cooperate. Meanwhile, Betsy refuses to accept his repeated attempts to apologize, and he begins to go psychotic under the force of various pressures. Travis purchases several semi-automatic guns, takes up a rigorous physical training, shapes his hair into a bristly-looking Mohawk, and decides to assassinate the candidate for whom Betsy is working. After his attempt to assassinate the senator failed, Travis then goes after Sport, killing him and a Mafioso who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in a spray of bullets. After this massacre, Travis tries to kill himself in Iris's room, but has wasted so many bullets that he has none left with which to commit suicide. Nevertheless, his bloodbath turns him into a media hero, and Betsy suddenly discovers an interest in him. In turn, Travis rejects her, and he drives off into the night toward an uncertain future.
Film-making
Martin Scorsese truly captures the film with his evocative directing where he often use slow-mo camera shots and dark, eye-wielding camera angles to capture the decay of New York City. Scorsese is in top form with his directing where he makes the camera use as a viewpoint of Bickle¡¯s character or as a third party watching Bickle¡¯s descent into paranoia and madness. Even with the film¡¯s final act whe...
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... Award Best Foreign Film
Martin Scorsese
Kinema Junpo Awards
Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s)
1977
Won Kinema Junpo Award Best Foreign Language Film Director
Martin Scorsese
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s)
1976
Won LAFCA Award Best Actor
Robert De Niro
Best Music
Bernard Herrmann
National Film Preservation Board, USA
Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s)
1994
National Film Registry
National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA
Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s)
1977
Won NSFC Award Best Actor
Robert De Niro
Best Director
Martin Scorsese
Best Supporting Actress
Jodie Foster
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s)
1977
Won NYFCC Award Best Actor
Robert De Niro
Writers Guild of America, USA
Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s)
1977
Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen
Paul Schrader
There are many techniques used in films that help to strengthn the plot and rmphasize a certain theme. Usually, to most viewers, these camera techniques go seemingly unnoticed. Yet, this ability to fly under the radar ensures the success of the style, as smooth transitions and clear storytelling are hallmarks of the editing process known as continuity editing. One approach of continuity editing is known as point of view editing. Basically, the viewer is able to see a scene from a character’s perspective. Notably, point of view editing plays a significant role in the film Notorious. With the repetition of point of view throughout the film, Notorious utilizes point of view as a vital aspect of the film, as it provides clues to the viewer, heightens
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.
The noir style is showcased in Sunset Boulevard with its use of visually dark and uncomfortable settings and camera work, as well as its use of the traditional film noir characters. In addition, the overall tone and themes expressed in it tightly correspond to what many film noirs addressed. What made this film unique was its harsh criticism of the film industry itself, which some of Wilder’s peers saw as biting the hand that fed him. There is frequent commentary on the superficial state of Hollywood and its indifference to suffering, which is still a topic avoided by many in the film business today. However, Sunset Blvd. set a precedent for future film noirs, and is an inspiration for those who do not quite believe what they are being shown by Hollywood.
From the outset Travis vocalizes and addresses his loneliness through a diary he keeps and updates, “Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I’m God's lonely man (Taxi Driver). This honest, but disconcerting self-analysis is materialized throughout the film; Travis walks alone, drives alone, and eats alone (Figure 1.1) – (Figure 1.2); his loneliness festers but he does little to resolve it. Moreover, Travis also talks of his inability to sleep, and the drag of life and his distaste for society, “Twelve
The key moments I have noticed were the repetition of the crowd scenes and the camera focused on what is happening at the time in the town. The way the film invites us in a particular way captures the audience into the characters worlds and how they live from their own judgments. “Lies in being able to observe reality, not to extract fictions from it”. I examined that I was able to extract observational shots straight away and was able to observe reality quickly. Long takes which indicates the deep focus which suggests the realism in the film. The film shows the uncaring system is the reality of Italy, but they do not want this to be exploited. The desperate need for he...
'Shawshank Redemption' directed by Frank Darabont is a compelling film about the life of one of its prisoners, Andy. many film techniques were used through out the film as a clever way of conveying main themes. This essay is going to examine how Darabont used camera angles and colour effectively in this film to portray the idea of power.
The opening shot looks like it was taken with a handheld camera, as it is somewhat shaky and we can hear a background noise. We are introduced to the character right away. We see a reflection of him at first, and then the camera proceeds to pan up until we can see his whole body. His head is turned away, so we can only see his profile. He is wearing casual clothing and a red headband. We know he is in New York City because we can see Queensboro subway station behind him. He looks to the side of the camera as it makes a few quick cuts. He crosses the street and the camera is behind him, a safe distance away. It zooms in and out and makes another series of quick cuts as it observes him reading a newspaper. He is never really in the centre of the shot and does not appear to be the main focus of the camera. We see people pass by and block our view and we even see him from the back. The next shot, at 1:50, shows his back as he’s having a conversation with somebody, whose face we also cannot see. The next shot is him sitting on a car, smoking a cigarette. Another man approaches him and they proceed to talk briefly. We cannot hear what they are saying. After another series of cuts, w...
Connelly, Marie. "The films of Martin Scorsese: A critical study." Diss. Case Western Reserve University, 1991. Web. 07 Apr 2014.
In one particular scene, director was truly a great one, featuring special focus on his dad life and the Colorado River. It was so cool to highlights of the movie by one of his favorite poem written by his dad when he was born, the Important Place. Also, this film was a good length, not excessively long but long enough to tell the story. This is really important today there were no such unwanted scene in the film, which literary the most closely and accurately delivered. In my opinion, this film is forced to possess the characters of a great aspect, and turns to make for quite the adventurous. There was no special character encounter rather than his dad, learned something from the secret Colorado River. Another great aspect of the film was the special footage that were introduce in this film was an enjoyable aspect to be a good documentary film, and that’s how this film is different from the rest.
In Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle repeatedly expresses two ideas that are central to the film. First, Travis has an undying wish to purify the world. He wants to rid his city of all the evil and scum that currently inhabits the city's cold and damp streets. Second, is the method by which Travis tries to obtain his goals. Travis Bickle tries to clean up his city by methods similar to those of religious figures. He even takes on a role as a savior figure. Travis Bickle's quest to save the world via religious ideas fails, and instead results is a bloodbath.
Spike Lee does many fascinating things from a directorial standpoint, which makes his film (dare I say, joint), Do the Right Thing so interesting to watch. Writer, director Lee makes much use of the high and low angle shots. He does this to draw clear contrasts between the two elders of the block, Da Mayor and Mother Sister and to make conflict more apparent.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
The director Antoine Fuqua vision for this film was to bring that intense love-hate relationship onto the big screen and showcase it for the world to see. To ensure a convincing film setting, Fuqua shot on location in some of the most hardcore neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Fuqua also wanted to show the daily struggles of officers tasked to work in the rougher neighborhoods of cities and how easy it can be to get caught up in a street life filled with killers and drug dealers. Overall the film displayed the city of Los Angeles in a different perspective. One which m...
Movies featuring car chases have always been popular in Hollywood. Classics like Smokey and the Bandit, To Live and Die in L.A. and Bullitt all contributed to the action genre. The movie Drive however, used car chases in a movie that drew from the action genre, the romance genre, and the crime genre of films. The movie is a depiction of the life of a man only known as “The Driver”. The movie follows him as he tries to balance his life of crime, with his love of cars and driving, and also an attempt at romance. The movie follows the Driver and details his daily life as a stunt driver, a mechanic, and a getaway driver for criminals. The Driver meets his neighbor Irene and her son Benecio, and begins to bond with them. He learns that Irene's husband is in jail and is due to be released soon. After her husband, Standard, is released, crime bosses immediately want payment for keeping him safe in prison. The Driver, having deep feeling for Benecio and Irene offers to help. Things go awry, Standard gets killed, the Driver is on the run with stolen money, and is furious for being set up. The movie follows his quest to make things right, however this causes a rift between Irene and the Driver, and at the conclusion of the movie the audience never knows what becomes of the relationship. In Drive the camera work soundtrack casting and style all fuse together to create a fantastic film detailing the criminal underworld, corruption, and romance.
Travis is forced into the home of Leonard, a man convicted on drug charges and fired from his teaching job, yet despite the man's shady past Travis say "He's a better man than you...he's treated me better than my blood kin have," (Rash, pg 231) to his father during a dispute. The civil war's affect on the American people North Carolina is a heavy topic for the characters, Travis' father expresses the weight of the past upon the region by tell his son within the same argument, saying "That's kindly ironic, ain't it...His momma's great-granddaddy helped kill off near ever member of your family." (Rash, pg 232) This toxicity to holding to the past is a constant throughout the book, yet Travis moved forward, something that is fundamentally important the the United States. so that her individuals can progress to make a city upon the hill far better than the one Winthrop