Taxi Driver (1976)

Intro
While pouring back through all the Tarantino films recently I realized a couple things:
1) There's not that many of them. I mean he's only one guy and he pretty much only works off of his own material that he wrote... which takes time, and thus this is very understandable.
2) His films make reference other movies constantly. Now call it what you want homage, reference or just plain theft but I'm thinking that a lot of people don't catch the majority of these references to other films because frankly, we don't have the film same exposure as a young Tarantino did going to the grindhouse theater constantly in his youth or working in a video rental store. However, hypothetically with the vastness of the internet and Amazon, Netflix etc. these films should be easier to get a hold of today, if you know what you're looking for that is.

So I figured there's probably more people out there, like me, who crave more Tarantino constantly and I could showcase some films that I'd consider essential viewing for Tarantino fans. And thus the 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans was born. Now let me warn you this is in no way a comprehensive list and there's no particular order to these either. There's probably hundreds of films that Tarantino references in his own films, and I found enough films I could write about to probably do this series again but that will have to wait until next time there's another big Tarantino release.

DAY 4: Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver might seem like an obvious choice but I felt like putting it on this list because Tarantino has been adding a lot of little homages to this film throughout his career. Tarantino considers this film a masterpiece and frequently lists it in his top three favorite films of all time (once again thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives for compiling these lists.) This film has frequent Tarantino-collaborator Harvey Keitel in it and years later Tarantino even gave this films lead, Robert De Niro another role of a very socially awkward guy in Jackie Brown (1997). Tarantino's first script True Romance (1993) features a somewhat large subplot of a guy killing a pimp to save a young girl from her life of prostitution (just like this film) and he's even wearing a green army jacket when he does it (though this choice might've been thanks to Tony Scott the director of that film). In Bruce Willis' segment of Pulp Fiction (1994), Bruce Willis's character runs into a taxi driver named Esmeralda Villalobos who drives a cab that's very similar to the one in this film (kinda strange for a film set in the 90's no?) And most recently in Django Unchained (2012), Christoph Waltz's character Dr. Schultz uses a hidden mechanized derringer pistol similar to the one Travis builds in this film.

"All the animals come out at night."

Taxi Driver (1976) is a dark and moody character study of a lonely, frustrated and bored man directed by Martin Scorsese. The film follows Travis Bickle a former Marine living in New York City who begins driving a Taxi because he can't sleep at night. As the film goes on we see how sick of the world Travis really is.

I love the world that is portrayed in this film. I love how real it all feels, I like how scary some of the random people they show seem and I really like how you can almost feel the mood of driving around the city at night. Things like the cab drivers meeting up at diners between shifts to just sit around and talk really seem to ground this odd movie for me.

All the acting is good in this film but I was especially blown away by the young Jodie Foster as the young prostitute Iris. This was her first major film role, and at 13 it's no surprise that she got an Academy Award nomination for this part because she seems wise beyond her years in this film.

This is admittedly nitpicky but there seems to be a little bit of a missed opportunity to show how Travis feels after killing the man in the convenience store. He seems scared in the moment, but this is his first time killing a person (as far as we know) and the first time he actually does something about the "filth" and crime of the city. I would have liked more of a scene showing if he enjoyed it or if it scared him or if he felt bad about it or whatever, the film just kind of moves on after this.

One of the best things about this film is how interesting it is. I really think this is one of the best character driven stories on film and something about combination of the unique setting, strange characters and moody atmosphere really drags you into the film and keeps your attention.

I love how the film treats the lead character Travis Bickle. It's not too obvious about the oddness of Travis Bickle in the very beginning but as the film goes on you slowly start to realize that there might not be something right about this guy. You eventually seem him get strange obsessions in his head and even jump to weird conclusions. But I really like the very little things, like Travis will say something slightly odd and then you see the person talking to him kind of get uncomfortable or give a slight roll of their eyes, this something I'm sure most people can relate to. Robert De Niro's performance is really great in all of it's subtleties and how earnest he seems int this role. It's really hard not to feel for and like the guy.

The music of this film really adds a lot to the mood of it. The score was composed by Bernard Herrmann who is probably most well known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958), etc.) but also for the score to Citizen Kane (1941) & the opening to The Twilight Zone television show. Unlike most of his previous work however, the score to this film is predominately built around a jazzy saxophone line that seems to meander through the darkness of the city, really cool.

I also think it's really magnificent how the pace of this film seems to change with the mood of the main character we're following. At the beginning of the film Travis lacks direction, he can't sleep and the sequences seem really drawn out and dream like but later on as Travis' gets more fed up with the world around him scenes go by a lot faster and tension really seems to build effortlessly. The mood of this film is pure art, absolutely beautiful.

Taxi Driver (1976) is an very artistic film and probably the best character-driven story ever told on film. 5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!





This film is part of my month-long Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained (2012) and his 20-year career. If you've missed any of my reviews so far, be sure to check out his filmography and click on any film you've missed.

The 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans countdown continues tomorrow, so be sure to check back!



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Jackie Brown (1997)

"Half a million dollars will always be missed."

Jackie Brown (1997) is a crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino and based on the book Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard. The film is Tarantino's tribute to blaxploitation films of the 70s. It follows a 47-year old flight attendant named Jackie Brown who is caught bringing cash into the country for a gun dealer named Ordell Robbie and the many different parties that would like to run off with Ordell's half a million dollars.

This film has an absolutely amazing cast. There's nothing better than a film with a character-driven story where every character has a great actor behind it. It's no surprise that this film revitalized Pam Grier's career because she is really great in this film. The only character I didn't really care for is Robert De Niro as Louis Gara, a bankrobber recently released from prison. He's not bad in it, but this is a pretty minor role and I kind of feel like its kind of a waste for Robert De Niro's talent.

A majority of this film uses actual lighting, in a world where every movie has fake "Hollywood lighting" this really stands out to me. Not just in mall scenes where it would have been hard to affect the lighting, but I love how Tarantino uses the very dark lighting inside apartments to it's full effect. This is such a simple way to increase the suspense and intensity in a film, but I'm completely blown away by its use in this film.

The plot in this film is too convoluted and complicated for my taste. It took me a couple viewings before I really appreciated how much is actually going on. But with so many characters and so many different plans and plots I just feel it could have been a lot simpler.

The film also seems incredibly long winded. I'm not sure if this is just because we effectively watch a money heist/exchange four different times or what. Also the structure is unusual to this film in that it takes almost an entire hour to set up all the different characters and their separate plans.

Also the cinematography seems a lot less meaningful and more random in this film than most other Tarantino films. For example this film has a lot of random close ups for seemingly no reason.

This film does a thing where it shows a money exchange three different times. Each takes place at the same time, nothing actually changes in the exchange, but each is shown with a different perspective and each gives the viewer more insight into what actually happened. It's kind of like Rashomon (1950) except the events don't actually change from each character perspective, it just takes advantage of the fact that not every character is going to see the same thing because they all enter and leave at different times. This is something that must have taken a long time to plan, but its masterfully executed really seamless and surprisingly easy to follow and figure out while you're watching.

And if for no other reason you see this film, I recommend you see it just for Samuel L. Jackson's character Ordell Robbie. Samuel L. Jackson hit's all the major ranges of emotion with this one character. I love how funny and humorous (and even dumb) he can be in one scene and yet completely menacing and sinister in another. He's really a treat to watch and makes a really convincing antagonist for the story.

Jackie Brown (1997) is probably Quentin Tarantino's least "flashy" film, but its a very solid film and has a great cast and amazing characters. 4.5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!

Check out this original minimalist poster design I did for this film, click through to buy prints/posters etc. OR check out other movie posters I designed here. :)

Want more Tarantino goodness? Check back all month for my Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained.

Go back to Tarantino's first film with Reservoir Dogs (1992), check out the first script he wrote (but didn't direct) True Romance (1993), The smash hit that really put him on the map Pulp Fiction (1994), or another film written by him but in the hands of another director From Dusk till Dawn (1996).



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film (and 8 other Tarantino hits from his 20 year career) in this new set (now on Blu-ray) through these links: