when people are talking about good old times , they actually want to make some bad times look better . nice example of such behaviour is contemporary attitude of popular media towards the 1970s . for new generations , superseventies are the lost golden age of chic fashion , cult tv shows and sexual freedom unchecked by aids . for people who actually had to live in that period , it was the gloomy decade , marked by lost ideals of 1968 , rampant inflation and unemployment , international terrorism , fuel crisis and loss of faith in almost anything that previous generation stood for . feelings of despair and nihilism found its reflections in many films of that era . martin scorsese's taxi driver , which symbolises both the glory and despair of the seventies , is most celebrated of them all . the movie's protagonist is travis bickle ( robert de niro ) , 26-year old former marine who takes the job of taxi driver in new york city because he can't sleep at nights . the job gets him exposed to the dark side of apocalyptic megalopolis , and travis gradually gets alienated from the rest of world . the only bright spot in his life is betsy ( cybil sheperd ) , attractive woman working in senator palantine's presidential campaign . their date ends as humiliating fiasco because travis makes fatal mistake by inviting her to porno movie theatre . losing his only link to better side of the world , travis gradually descends into psychosis , becoming convinced that his mission in life is to battle scum on the street . he purchases a formidable arsenal of guns and begins physical preparations for the inevitable conflict . that conflict finally comes when he takes personal interest in iris ( jodie foster ) , 12-year old prostitute who temporarily took refuge in his taxi . as many great movies that got cult status through the years , taxi driver became the object of many interpretations . for some critics and scholars it is an exploration of universal subjects that date back to dostoyevski - loss of moral compass in a bleak reality of dirty , overpopulated industrial cities ; the story could have been set in 19th century same as in our times . for others , the movie uses raskolnikov-like figure in order to portray burning problems of 1970s america - its apparent inability to deal with the consequences of rapid social changes that occurred in previous decade . brilliant performance of robert de niro in role of a lifetime can give arguments for both sides . his travis bickle has a lot in common with most of the average viewers of today - many of us share his feelings of isolation , loneliness and outrage towards crime , drugs , prostitution and senseless street violence . his pathetic attempts to establish some kind of human connection with the people around him , sometimes in most unusual circumstances - like with secret service agents , pimps or job interviewers - make him a person too goofy to be the hero , and too pathetic to be the classic villain . however , most of the average viewers are sensible enough to recognise the tin line that separate concerned citizens or troubled souls from fanatical madmen . but despite anything , average viewer at the end actually cheers for travis - his crusade against " scum " is something that average person wants , but doesn't have a stomach/lack of brains to do it . while de niro's travis might come in and out of particular times and places , other persons that appear in the film ( mostly played by the character actors ) give it distinctively 1970s feel . wizzard ( played by peter boyle ) presents the only link with america's better past ; but only because he is the oldest taxi driver in company and therefore everybody assumes that he " knows stuff " . his obvious inadequacy in giving advice to troubled travis illustrates the inability of pre-1960s generations to find answers to the problems of gloomy decade . other characters , on the other hand , show the bad side of new age . matthew " sport " ( keitel , who befriended real-life pimps in other to prepare for his role of a lifetime ) is dressed like a hippie ; iris found excuse for her escape to the world of drugs and child prostitution in a ideology of counterculture . porno movies , that should be the element of new times of sexual freedom , are too much even for supposedly " liberated " betsy . even the politicians , like senator palantine , are lost in post-vietnam and post-watergate mess ; his broad and senseless " messages " that cover the lack of any serious program can't fool even such idiots like travis . the past is gone , the present is bad , and even the future seems bleak , and the feeling of pessimism can't be washed away even by ironic happy end . travis and his world found themselves in a desperate situation , and martin scorsese uses the best of his cinematic skills in order to spill the gloom of schrader's screenplay into the silver screen . new york city in the night is portrayed as a hell on earth , and the red light and steam coming out of sewers give it surreal , almost stygian atmosphere . another important element of the atmosphere is score of great bernard herrman , whose efficient use of jazz elements gives some melancholy that softens the brutality of motion picture . one of the greatest ironies of taxi driver is the fact that the movie was , same as his protagonist , famous for the wrong reason . instead of receiving cult status because of his artistic merits , for many years it was tabloid-fodder because of hinckley and his real-life re-enactment of events in the movie . now , more than two decades later , when some other " life imitating art " incidents get more attention , we can finally enjoy taxi driver in all its artistic glory .
