Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. Set in a morally decaying New York City following the Vietnam War, it stars Robert De Niro as veteran Marine and taxi driver Travis Bickle, whose mental state deteriorates as he works nights in the city. The film also features Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris and Albert Brooks (in his first feature film role). After seeing The Wrong Man (1956) and A Bigger Splash (1973), Scorsese wanted the film to feel like a dream to audiences. Filming began in summer 1975, with actors taking pay cuts to ensure that the project could be completed on its low budget of $1.9 million. For the score, Bernard Herrmann composed what would be his final score. The music was finished mere hours before his death, and the film is dedicated to him. Theatrically released by Columbia Pictures on February 8, 1976, the film was critically and commercially successful despite generating controversy for both its graphic violence in the film's climax, and for the casting of 12-year-old Foster as a child prostitute. The film received numerous accolades, including the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival and four nominations at the 49th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (for De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (for Foster). Although Taxi Driver generated further controversy for inspiring John Hinckley Jr.'s attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, the film has remained popular. It is considered one of the greatest films ever made, and one of the most culturally significant and inspirational of its time, garnering cult status. In 2022, Sight & Sound named it the 29th-best film ever in its decennial critics' poll, and the 12th-greatest film of all time on its directors' poll, tied with Barry Lyndon. In 1994, the film was considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.