In his second collaboration with Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, cult director Martin Scorsese tells the moral decline of a hero. Despite its difficult start in the premiere and the brutality in the finale, the Federal Agency for Civic Education recommended this dark thriller for use in schools. No wonder, because in the end it was not only a huge success, but has grown over time developed into a true cult film. You can stream Taxi Driver on Netflix tonight.
Robert De Niro in a punk look: That’s what Taxi Driver is about
Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), who suffers from insomnia, works as a taxi driver on the night shift. He is convinced that New York is overrun with human scum that the streets need to be cleared of.
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After his rendezvous with campaign worker Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) ends disastrously and he meets the underage prostitute Iris (Jodie Foster) and her pimp Matthew Higgins (Harvey Keitel), he becomes obsessed with clearing the streets of scum himself.
Despite boos to global success
When Martin Scorsese’s thriller premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976, it was met with boos. Some spectators even left the cinema. The reason for this was the violence and brutality with which the thriller comes to an end. Besides, that is Hard to assess the protagonist’s moral ambivalence. Some employees at the plant reported that they even felt very uncomfortable after the premiere at the film festival because of the reactions, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Despite the reactions, the Palme d’Or for best film went to Taxi Driver.
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Taxi Driver is recommended for cinematic discussion in schools
After the initial dismay, the film celebrated great success. Numerous nominations and awards were given to the actors and staff of Taxi Driver. And even today, Taxi Driver remains relevant. In Germany, the Federal Agency for Civic Education 2003 a canon of 35 films compiled. The aim of this canon is to enable improved teaching of film skills in schools. Taxi Driver is one of the 33 feature films selected for this.
The selected works are to be shown and made available by cinemas as part of special screenings for school classes. Booklets accompanying the films were also created to enable the topic of film to be discussed in schools.
Taxi Driver is available on Netflix in a flat rate.