Archive of films Taxi Driver / Taxi Driver

USA
1976, 113 min

Section: Out of the Past
Year: 2011

Synopsis

Travis Bickle is an ex-Marine who suffers from insomnia after returning from Vietnam, so he takes work as a late-night taxi driver. While endlessly cruising the "mean streets” of New York, he constantly comes up against violence, drugs, and sex for sale. Long traumatized and frustrated, Travis becomes more and more determined to take radical action. And his encounters with the elegant Betsy, a volunteer working on Senator Palantine’s presidential campaign, and with an underage prostitute named Iris, inadvertently strengthen his resolve. The film garnered the Palme d’Or at the Cannes IFF in 1976. At the BAFTAs, composer Bernard Herrmann’s score took an award, while Jodie Foster came away with two prizes; in addition, she and the director each won a special David di Donatello award. The festival will present one of the most influential titles of postwar American cinema in a uniquely restored version.

About the director

Martin Scorsese (b. 1942, Queens, New York City) has maintained his creative status in the style of classic Hollywood, although he wasn’t awarded an Oscar for directing until his drama The Departed (2006). The respected director, who is also a producer and documentary filmmaker (e.g. A Letter to Elia, 2010), is at ease in all the classic genres, including melodrama (The Age of Innocence, 1993), musical (New York, New York, 1977), biopic (The Aviator, 2004), comedy (The King of Comedy, 1982), and drama (Taxi Driver, 1976; Raging Bull, 1980; Shutter Island, 2010). A question pervades his work concerning the value of a moral imperative in a violent, chaotic world devoid of rules, as seen in Mean Streets (1973) and other gangster offerings: Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and The Departed.

Contacts

Park Circus Group
15 Woodside Crescent, G37UL, Glasgow
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 141 332 2175
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.parkcircus.com

Sony Pictures Entertainment
10202 W. Washington Blvd., 90232, Culver City
United States of America
Tel: +1 310 244 400 0
Fax: +1 310 244 262 6
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.spe.sony.com

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About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Out of the Past

Director:	Martin Scorsese
Screenplay:	Paul Schrader
Dir. of Photography:	Michael Chapman
Music:	Bernard Herrmann
Editor:	Tom Rolf, Melvin Shapiro
Producer:	Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips
Production:	Columbia Pictures
Cast:	Robert De Niro, Cybill Shepherd, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle, Harvey Keitel
Contact:	Park Circus Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Guests

Grover Crisp

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