Taxi Driver
"Paul Schrader wrote Taxi Driver during a very low point in his life and Travis was drawn from all the bad things he felt within himself at the time. I think this is why he tells us a lot (in the script) that Travis is drifting towards violence, but pulls back from making him as sinister and violent as he could in dialogue and action. He could not quite follow through with making this character as insane and out of control as Scorsese and De Niro did because that might mean that he was that insane and out of control. Or maybe he did feel that insane and out of control and was unable to fully explore it out of fear."
- Miriam Paschal, from her new Script-to-Screen Analysis
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Taxi Driver Script
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Master Scene Breakdown
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Miriam's Script-to-Screen Analysis:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
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Video:
Profile of De Niro by Tarantino
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Taxi Driver Documentary:
Part I and II
Part III and IV
Part V and VI
Part VII and VIII
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Around the Web:
Paul Schrader Interview - "I was in a bad place."
Magnificent Obsession by Matt Zoller Seitz
The Last Temptation of Travis Bickle by Andre Caron
Postmodern Antihero by Matthew J. Iannucci
The anguish of God's lonely men: Dostoevsky's Underground man and Scorsese's Travis Bickle by Andrew J Swensen
Visions of Hell by Scott Curl
A Personal Journey: The Films of Martin Scorsese 
9 comments:
I LOVE the Portishead video you found for this. It's awesome.
Yeah, isn't it great? I love that video. And you did such an excellent job, Miriam.
Guys, Miriam's script-to-screen study has a thousand little lessons in it. It's absolutely engrossing from beginning to end.
I'm so motivated by her study, I may do a few of my own...
-MM
This has already been established- but MIM ROCKS. I think the biggest lessons I took out of this were the scene lengths (kiss= keep it short stupid) and also the imagery scorsece used. It's something I'm trying to be more conscious of.
Those were the big things I took out of it as well. There were some lessons from the order of the scenes, and it was interesting how they brought some depth to Betsy and improved the interaction between her and Travis. That whole "star-fucker" business was a bit too simplistic, I think.
This is probably one of the best studies Miriam has done. A fascinating read. I really loved it.
-MM
I'm going to watch this movie again. I had no idea that Travis was even remotely insane, he seemed just like most of my neighbors...yeah, I lived in the suburbs.
I've actually never made it through this movie. I'll have to try again.
I want to see it before I read all that analysis, too. Wow.
Guillermo - Hehehe... Not to worry, so did I.
Hey, Carl! Great to hear from you. Hope your assignment jobs have been going well for you. I can't wait to see those films.
-MM
I have 50 pages to write today. Yeah, I've been busy. Wouldn't have it any other way.
50 pages? Pfft! No problem!
Hehehe...
Okay, so, get just the right music for those scenes, brew a nice pot of full-bodied, medium-roast coffee, have a pack of gum handy, and find a nice location where you can (at any time) sit, stand, and/or pace furiously.
It's totally do-able.
-MM
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