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Taxi Driver Question

  • 15-06-2010 6:44am
    #1
    FearDark
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,425 ✭✭✭


    In the movie Taxi Driver with Robert Di Niro how come he
    got away with murdering what 3 or 4 people??
    There might be a blatently obvious answer here or maybe I missed out on something here. After just watching the movie I'm stumped! Thanks guys.


Comments

  • #2
    Hank_Jones
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,783 ✭✭✭Hank_Jones


    It's just the way he is portrayed really.
    He's a war hero who saved Iris from a world of child prostitution.
    They're scum with are involved in drugs and prostitution,
    I can't see anyone caring about them being killed,
    The police would most likely revere him for cleaning up the streets.

    This is all just guessing really, it's a film.
    He didn't get charged with the murders because nobody wants to see the hero being arrested for murder at the end of the film.
    American audiences like happy endings...


  • #3
    FearDark
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,425 ✭✭✭FearDark


    Hmm I dont know, if thats the case then the end is a total cop out, tarnishing imo what was an extremely good film. I'll probarbly get slated for saying that seeing as though its a classic.

    I'm currently working my way through the IMDB top 100 movies of all time, one every night, looking forward to a great movie every night for the last few weeks, I havn't seen a lot of them!


  • #4
    Hank_Jones
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,783 ✭✭✭Hank_Jones


    It may be a little bit of a cop out but it has to finish some way and that is how Taxi Driver does.
    They show the clippings on Bickle's wall, stating how he is a ''hero'' and how Iris's parents are so happy about her being returned to them.
    With a good media spin on things, it doesn't seem totally unrealistic that Bickle would get with murder of the pimp etc as ''self defence'' or some other nonsense.

    I wouldn't read too much into it.
    The ending never bothered me personally.

    It's basically just good vs evil.
    He's good, they're evil.


  • #5
    bonerm
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,595 ✭✭✭bonerm


    (Darko will love this) but I've always considered that the ending Travis is just him imagining himself as the hero. I'm not saying he was killed in the hallway but the whole ending is far too fantasy-like and sugary-sweet to fit in with the rest of the movie. It's clear from the rest of the movie that Travis basically lives in an imaginary world where he decides himself who his enemies are, who needs to be saved by him and who should love him. It would only stand to reason that his epilogue is at best some sort of half-truth, like that crazy friend you have who only hears what he wants to hear and will learn nothing from his experiences or mistakes. That said tho I haven't seen it in a while so could probably do with a refresh viewing.


  • #6
    Trine
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 191 ✭✭Trine


    That's roughly how I see it too, it's his fantasy of how it all ends.

    Though in saying that I'm sure the "official" version is that it's real, since wasn't the rumour of a sequel based around an older Bickle, according to the original screenwriter? But I prefer the movie with
    Bickle dying in the end.


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  • #7
    FearDark
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 9,425 ✭✭✭FearDark


    Trine wrote: »
    But I prefer the movie with
    Bickle dying in the end.

    Me too! Is it the third last scene where he has just
    killed all the "evil" people and is sitting on the couch, he puts his finger up to his head and indicates he is shooting himself in the head, his head slouches back and you think he is dead.
    If the movie ended there, Id have been happy! I just dont see why they went for the happy ending...


  • #8
    jeffreylebowski
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 132 ✭✭jeffreylebowski


    The ending:
    It can be read as Schrader talking about how much society craves and accepts bloodshed. Someone like Travis was more or less discarded after Vietnam, now that he's engaged in violence again he's useful again. It's a pretty common theme in New Hollywood, and it's certainly not a "happy" ending by any means.


  • #9
    Kess73
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,560 ✭✭✭✭Kess73


    jeffreylebowski wrote: »
    The ending:
    It can be read as Schrader talking about how much society craves and accepts bloodshed. Someone like Travis was more or less discarded after Vietnam, now that he's engaged in violence again he's useful again. It's a pretty common theme in New Hollywood, and it's certainly not a "happy" ending by any means.



    Would agree with you that it is not a happy ending, especially if the proposed sequel plays out anything like how Schrader describes how Travis would/will be in it. He speaks about it as part of the extras on the dvd.

    Seems shooting starts on the sequel late this year with De Niro, Scorsese, and Schrader all being involved in it, along with Lars von Trier.


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