MOVIE · 1976
Taxi Driver
An isolated New York taxi driver becomes increasingly alienated as he obsesses over corruption and his own place in the city.
What Taxi Driver is about
Taxi Driver stays close to Travis Bickle’s perspective, which means the city is filtered through his loneliness, anger and growing instability. His observations often sound certain even when his judgment becomes less reliable.
The film is less about solving a crime than about watching an isolated person build a worldview that justifies increasingly extreme action.
Why it works
Scorsese uses subjective imagery, voice-over and nighttime city textures to place viewers inside Travis’s mindset without asking them to accept it as accurate or moral.
Key themes and ideas
Alienation
Travis’s loneliness becomes the lens through which he interprets everyone around him.
Self-created narratives
He gradually turns frustration into a story where he can cast himself as a necessary actor.
Violence and recognition
The film questions how society interprets violent acts when the surrounding narrative changes.
What to watch for
The city often looks dreamlike or contaminated because the visuals reflect Travis’s perception rather than neutral reality.
If you liked Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver FAQ
Is Taxi Driver a crime movie?
Yes, but it is primarily a psychological character study rather than a conventional investigation or gangster story.
Is Travis meant to be sympathetic?
The film gives access to his loneliness without presenting his worldview as trustworthy.
What should I watch after Taxi Driver?
Fight Club is a strong next choice for alienation and unreliable perspective, while Goodfellas offers a different side of Scorsese’s crime filmmaking.