Taxi Driver
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
Sunday night at the Mahoning was dedicated to Martin Scorsese and one of the greatest films of all time.
Mahoning Drive-In Theater - Lehighton, PA
Sunday night at the Mahoning was dedicated to Martin Scorsese and one of the greatest films of all time.
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| Show banner designed by Andrew Kern |
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| Show poster designed by Tom Bifulco |
Taxi Driver is another movie that I discovered when I was a teenager working for Blowout Video that I watched one time in the late 90's and haven't come back to since. It's a movie that I've always wanted to re-watch at a time and place when I can give it my full attention, and that time and place was last night at the Mahoning.
Donnie was handing out buttons at the front gate to folks as they were pulling onto the lot. He had one that reimagined Robert De Niro's character as Travis Pickle, and a "We Are The People" button from Senator Palantine's campaign in the movie, which was the one that I picked.
One of the hardest lessons that I've learned as I've gotten older is the fact that I'm really not that smart. It's not that I think that I'm stupid, but my family raised me to believe that we were all very smart. Life has taught me that I and my family are of average intelligence, and if I'm being honest I think that assessment is generous.
Certain movies serve as a reminder to me that I'm not nearly as smart as I was once led to believe, and Taxi Driver is one of them. It's not as challenging as movies like Eraserhead, but I still find myself struggling to understand why Travis Bickle wanted to assassinate Senator Palantine. I've read reviews from fans who suggest that he sees the politician as no better than the pimps and street criminals that drive him to madness, but that argument doesn't make sense to me. There's nothing in the film that suggests that Bickle understands who Palantine even is on the surface, let alone any dark secrets that he may have hidden from the public eye. The only thing that he seems to know about the Senator is that the woman he's obsessed with is working on his campaign. So, does he want to strike out at him to get her attention, or as an act of vengeance after she rejected him, or just because he has violent urges and the Senator came into his field of vision? I have no idea.
None of this is meant to suggest that I don't like this film because I absolutely love it. It's visually stunning, particularly the scenes of the city as seen from Bickle's cab, and the performances draw you into this world and holds you there for a few minutes after the credits have rolled, and I guess it's probably a good thing that I don't fully understand the motivations of one of the most deranged characters in the history of cinema.
