Travis Bickle

Last updated

Travis Bickle
Travis Bickle.jpeg
Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver
First appearance Taxi Driver (1976)
Last appearance Before Watchmen (2012)
Created by Paul Schrader
Portrayed by Robert De Niro
In-universe information
AliasHenry Krinkle
NicknameCowboy, Killer
OccupationTaxicab driver
NationalityAmerican

Travis Bickle is a fictional character and the anti-hero protagonist of the 1976 film Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorsese. The character was created by the film's screenwriter Paul Schrader. He is portrayed by Robert De Niro, who received an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Contents

Biography

Travis Bickle is a 26-year-old living in New York City. When applying for a job as a taxi driver, he says he is a former U.S. Marine who served in the Vietnam War and was given an honorable discharge in May 1973, and has had "some" education. With few friends, and suffering from depression, loneliness, existential crises, and severe and chronic insomnia, he takes a job as a graveyard shift cab driver to occupy his time, working grueling 12–14 hour shifts 6–7 days a week. Working late at night in dangerous neighborhoods, his customers tend to include pimps and drug addicts. He is visibly angered by them, and begins fantasizing about "cleansing" such "filth" from the streets.

Bickle becomes attracted to a woman, Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), who works in the local campaign office of presidential candidate and United States Senator Charles Palantine. Bickle often spies on Betsy from his cab, and finally enters the office with the pretense of wanting to support the candidate, and asks her out. They meet for coffee, and Betsy finds him strange but charming, and agrees to see him again. He then takes her to a porn theater he frequents, which disgusts her and makes her refuse to see him again.

After Betsy rejects him, Bickle becomes increasingly paranoid and starts acting out his fantasies. He buys several guns and takes to carrying them secreted about his person – taped to his limbs, for example, or in hidden spring-loaded holsters. He begins a physical training regimen which consists of doing 50 pushups and 50 pullups every morning and practices an intimidating, thuggish presence in the mirror to use on whoever challenges him. Eventually, he shaves his head into a Mohawk. He attends one of Palantine's speeches, apparently intent on shooting him. However, he attracts the notice of Secret Service agents and flees.

De Niro's wig from Taxi Driver DeNiroWigTaxiDriver.jpg
De Niro's wig from Taxi Driver

He later becomes obsessed with protecting Iris Steensma (Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old prostitute he has seen on his route. He pays her pimp, Matthew "Sport" Higgins (Harvey Keitel), for her time, but is not interested in having sex with her; instead, he tries to persuade her to leave prostitution and return home. Iris rebuffs him, only increasing his anger and resolve to take her away from a perilous life. He confronts Sport and shoots him in the stomach, leaving him to die on the street. He then goes on a rampage through a brothel with his concealed weapons while Iris is servicing a client. Bickle shoots the approaching bouncer's hand off as soon as he walks in, but he in turn is shot in the neck from behind by a dying Sport.

Bickle begins to advance only to have the wounded bouncer attack him while going up the stairs. Iris' client, a Mafioso, overhears the previous gunshots; he sneaks up behind the distracted Bickle and shoots him in the arm. Bickle kills the mafioso and the bouncer, and then turns the gun on himself, but finds that he is out of ammunition. Severely injured, Bickle collapses on Iris' couch. When the police arrive, Bickle stares at them and smiles, pointing his bloodied finger like a gun at his head.

The newspapers hail Bickle as a hero for rescuing Iris. While in hospital he receives a letter from her parents, thanking him for returning their daughter to them; she had been sent home after the police arrived and found out she was a runaway. After recovering he sees Betsy, who tells him that she read about him in the news; when she gets out of the cab and asks him how much the ride costs, he smiles and drives away. [1]

Critical response and analysis

Taxi Driver , American Gigolo , Light Sleeper , and The Walker make up a series referred to variously as the "Man in a Room" or "Night Worker" movies. Screenwriter Paul Schrader (who directed the other three films) has stated that he considers the central characters of the four films to be one character, who has changed as he has gotten older. [2] [1] [3] [4]

De Niro received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Bickle. In the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains, Bickle was named the 30th greatest film villain of all time. Empire magazine also ranked him 18th in their "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters" poll. [5] Premiere ranked De Niro's performance as the 42nd best in cinematic history. [6]

Cultural influence and controversies

You talkin' to me?

The character has often been referenced in popular culture due to his famous "You talkin' to me?" monologue. The scene was listed by IGN as the 4th best moment in film history when counting their top 100. Bickle sinisterly utters the line while he stands in front of the mirror, clad in a USMC jacket, threatening his unseen foes with the gun up his sleeve. The line has been parodied multiple times throughout film history, including by De Niro himself in the film The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle . The line can also sometimes be heard in famous game Grand Theft Auto III when the player tries to steal a taxi by forcing the driver out. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

John Hinckley Jr.

On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate United States president Ronald Reagan in an attempt to impress the actress Jodie Foster, who played Iris in Taxi Driver. Hinckley's inspirations for his assassination attempt were directly linked to Travis Bickle's attempted assassination of Charles Palantine in the film, with Hinckley even fashioning his appearance to resemble Bickle's mohawk and army jacket. Ironically, Bickle's character was inspired by Arthur Bremer, who attempted to assassinate presidential candidate George Wallace on May 15, 1972. Upon hearing of Hinckley's assassination attempt, Taxi Driver director Martin Scorsese considered quitting the film industry. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Contemporary art

Several contemporary artists have directly referenced and appropriated Travis Bickle and Taxi Driver in their artwork. These include Douglas Gordon in his video installation 'Through a looking glass' (1999), [20] which features the well-known scene in which Bickle asks, "You talkin' to me?" while gazing into a mirror. In Gordon's piece, the scene is projected onto large dual screens placed on opposite walls of a gallery space and plays on a continual loop. This artwork can be seen in the collection of the Guggenheim Museum, New York. The art duo Beagles & Ramsay created an artwork titled We Are The People – Suck On This (ICA, London 2000), [21] which featured a video based on re-staged, downbeat version of Taxi Driver. Ramsay was dressed and styled to appear like Travis Bickle, complete with mohawk, and handed a petition into the British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street. This artwork can be seen in the Glasgow Museums Collection and includes the petition which reads We Are The People – Suck On This, which is signed only by the two artists.

Joker

Todd Phillips' 2019 film Joker pays tribute to Travis Bickle and Taxi Driver through the character of Arthur Fleck (played by Joaquin Phoenix). The character's descent into madness and chaos was seen as reminiscent of Bickle, leaving many critics and audiences to speculate whether the character was an homage to Bickle or simply the use of familiar storylines. The film further references the character by having Robert De Niro play the character of Murray Franklin, a talk-show host pivotal in Arthur Fleck's descent into madness and subsequent transformation into The Joker. De Niro's casting was also a reference to another collaboration between him and Scorsese with their 1983 film The King of Comedy and his character Rupert Pupkin. The film includes a visual reference to Bickle miming shooting himself in the head in a scene in an elevator between Arthur and his neighbour, Sophie (Zazie Beetz). Sophie mentions how much she hates living in the apartment block and mimes shooting herself in the head, which Arthur does as well. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]

Music

The Clash song "Red Angel Dragnet" on the 1982 album Combat Rock references Travis Bickle and directly quotes or paraphrases some of his lines from the movie.

Punk rock band Rancid recorded a song called "Travis Bickle", which was released on their 2003 studio album Indestructible . [30]

Metalcore band Emmure also recorded a song called "Travis Bickle", which was released on their 2007 studio album Goodbye to the Gallows .

Hip-Hop artist Prime Minister Pete Nice mentions Travis Bickle in a lyric of the song "Blowin' Smoke" on the Dust to Dust album.

Alternative musician Rusty Cage* recreated scenes as Travis Bickle in the music video for the 2018 song "The Grave".

Other

In the season 4 episode of Oz titled "A Town without Pity", Clayton Hughes dresses in the look of Bickle, complete with the haircut and tries to kill Governor James Devlin.

In the 1990 film Look Who's Talking Too, John Travolta's character refers to another as "Travis Bickle" during an argument with Kirstie Alley.

The limo driver character in the 2003 Comedy Central film Windy City Heat is named Travis Bickle.

Travis Bickle made a cameo appearance during the third issue of the 2012 comic book Before Watchmen: Rorschach , written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo. [31]

Bickle's "finger gun" was also referenced in season 1 of FX horror television series American Horror Story in the scene where the police attempt to arrest Tate Langdon after he commits a mass shooting. Tate mimes the finger gun to his head, resulting in the police opening fire, killing him. [32]

Bickle was referenced in season 3 of the TV show Succession in 2021.

Natasha Lyonne's Russian Doll references Bickle in season 2, episode 1, at the 7:36 mark, with her character Nadia Vulvokov speaking the line, "Hey, Travis Bickle, what year do you think it is, man?"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Scorsese</span> American filmmaker (born 1942)

Martin Charles Scorsese is an American filmmaker. He emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. Scorsese has received many accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Directors Guild of America Awards. He has been honored with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997, the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1998, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010, and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2012. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

<i>Raging Bull</i> 1980 film directed by Martin Scorsese

Raging Bull is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Nicholas Colasanto, Theresa Saldana and Frank Vincent. The film is an adaptation of former middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story. It follows the career of LaMotta, played by De Niro, his rise and fall in the boxing scene, and his turbulent personal life beset by rage and jealousy.

<i>Taxi Driver</i> 1976 American film by Martin Scorsese

Taxi Driver is a 1976 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and morally bankrupt New York City following the Vietnam War, the film follows Travis Bickle, a veteran and taxi driver, and his deteriorating mental state as he works nights in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvey Keitel</span> American actor (born 1939)

Harvey Keitel is an American actor known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, earning particular acclaim from his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, having starred in six of his films: Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967), Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and The Irishman (2019). He has also appeared in three films directed by Wes Anderson: Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Isle of Dogs (2018).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hinckley Jr.</span> Attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan (born 1955)

John Warnock Hinckley Jr. is an American man who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan as he left the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on March 30, 1981, two months after Reagan's first inauguration. Using a revolver, Hinckley wounded Reagan, the police officer Thomas Delahanty, the Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy and the White House Press Secretary, James Brady. Brady was left disabled and eventually died from his injuries.

<i>Hardcore</i> (1979 film) 1979 American crime-drama film by Paul Schrader

Hardcore is a 1979 American neo-noir thriller crime-drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, and Dick Sargent. Its plot follows a conservative Midwestern businessman whose teenage daughter goes missing in California. With the help of a prostitute, his search leads him into the illicit subculture of pornography, including snuff films.

<i>The King of Comedy</i> (film) 1982 film directed by Martin Scorsese

The King of Comedy is a 1982 American satirical black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis and Sandra Bernhard. Written by Paul D. Zimmerman, the film focuses on themes such as celebrity worship and American media culture. 20th Century Fox released the film on February 18, 1983, in the United States, though the film was released two months earlier in Iceland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodion Raskolnikov</span> Fictional character

Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is the fictional protagonist of the 1866 novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The name Raskolnikov derives from the Russian raskolnik meaning "schismatic". The name Rodion comes from Greek and indicates an inhabitant of Rhodes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Schrader</span> American film director

Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became widely known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader is more prolific as a director: his 22 films include Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017), with the last of these earning him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work frequently depicts "man in a room" stories which feature isolated, troubled men confronting an existential crisis.

<i>The Departed</i> 2006 American epic crime thriller film by Martin Scorsese

The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang; the character Colin Sullivan is based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, while the character Frank Costello is based on Irish-American gangster and crime boss Whitey Bulger. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson and James Badge Dale in supporting roles.

<i>Abhijan</i> (1962 film) 1962 film

Abhijan is a 1962 Indian Bengali-language film directed by Satyajit Ray.

<i>The Five Obstructions</i> 2003 film

The Five Obstructions is a 2003 Danish documentary film directed by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth. The film is conceived as a documentary, but incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films produced by the filmmakers. The premise is that von Trier has created a challenge for his friend and mentor, Jørgen Leth, another renowned filmmaker. Lars von Trier's favorite film is Leth's The Perfect Human, and von Trier gives Leth the task of remaking The Perfect Human five times, each time with a different "obstruction" imposed by von Trier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slap (song)</span> 2007 single by Ludacris

"Slap" is the fourth single from Ludacris' fifth album Release Therapy (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert De Niro filmography</span>

Robert De Niro is an American actor, director and producer. His early films included Greetings (1968), The Wedding Party (1969), Bloody Mama (1970), Hi, Mom! (1970), Jennifer on My Mind (1971), The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971), and Mean Streets (1973). In 1974, De Niro was cast as the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II. His performance in the film led him to win the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. After The Godfather Part II, he starred in Martin Scorsese's psychological drama Taxi Driver (1976). In the film, De Niro portrayed Travis Bickle, who is a lonely, depressed 26-year-old living in isolation in New York City. He won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. De Niro's "You talkin' to me?" dialogue was ranked number 10 on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes. In 1978, De Niro appeared in Michael Cimino's war drama The Deer Hunter, a film based on a trio of steelworkers whose lives were changed forever after fighting in the Vietnam War. De Niro was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert De Niro</span> American actor (born 1943)

Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor and film producer. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. In 2009, De Niro received the Kennedy Center Honors, and earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro</span> Collaborations between the American director and the American actor

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are an American director-actor collaborative duo who have made ten feature films and one short film together since 1973. Many of them are often ranked among the greatest films of all time.

<i>The Irishman</i> 2019 film by Martin Scorsese

The Irishman is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt. It stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, with Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons, and Harvey Keitel in supporting roles. The film follows Frank Sheeran, a truck driver who becomes a hitman involved with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and his crime family before later working for the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). The film marked the ninth collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro, in addition to Scorsese's fourth collaboration with Joe Pesci; his first with Al Pacino; the fourth collaboration between Pacino and De Niro; and the first collaboration between Pacino and Pesci altogether.

<i>Joker</i> (2019 film) Film by Todd Phillips

Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed by Todd Phillips, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film, loosely based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as Joker. Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and aspiring stand-up comic whose descent into mental illness and nihilism inspires a violent countercultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy appear in supporting roles. Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Joker was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, Bron Creative and Joint Effort.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Scorsese's unrealized projects</span>

The following is a list of unproduced Martin Scorsese projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Martin Scorsese has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these productions fell in development hell or were cancelled.

References

  1. 1 2 "Paul Schrader's Light Sleeper". Filmmaker magazine. Fall 1992. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
  2. Interview with Paul Schrader, BBC Radio 4's Film Programme, August 10, 2007
  3. "The Last Temptation of Travis Bickle". Offscreen. September 1997. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  4. "The Betrayal of Travis Bickle". Facets. June 19, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  5. "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". Empire . Retrieved December 2, 2008.
  6. "100 Greatest Film Performances". Filmsite.org. p. 3. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
  7. "Top 100 Best Movie Moments". IGN. July 28, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  8. "You talkin' to me? Joaquin channels his inner DeNiro". Helena Independent Record. October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  9. "Robert De Niro: 'Every day for 40 years someone has said: You talkin' to me?'". The Guardian. April 22, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  10. "Here's the amazing story behind one of the most famous lines ever uttered in a movie". Business Insider. April 23, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  11. Andy Dougan (2011). Untouchable: Robert De Niro: Unauthorised. Random House. p. 106. ISBN   978-0-7535-4684-0.
  12. Cohen, Sandra E. (May 2, 2019). "TAXI DRIVER Is Travis Bickle A Hero? Reality Or Grandiose Fantasy?". Characters on the Couch. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  13. "Robert De Niro: 'I'd like to see where Travis Bickle is today'". The Guardian. November 14, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  14. "Taxi Driver: Its Influence on John Hinckley Jr". University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. Archived from the original on March 2, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2011.
  15. Woods, Paul A., ed. (2005). Scorsese: A Journey Through the American Psyche. Medford, New Jersey: Plexus Publishing. p. 135. ISBN   0-85965-355-2.
  16. Kiernan, Laura A.; Pianin, Eric (June 22, 1982). "Hinckley Found Not Guilty, Insane". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on April 5, 2019.
  17. Kiernan, Laura A. (May 29, 1982). "Hinckley, Jury Watch 'Taxi Driver' Film". The Washington Post .
  18. Cappellino, Anjelica (June 23, 2020). "The Trial of John Hinckley Jr. and Its Impact on Expert Testimony". Archived from the original on February 15, 2019.
  19. Dowd, A.A. (January 16, 2014). "Taxi Driver remains one of the best (and most troubling) of Palme winners". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on February 16, 2019.
  20. "through a looking glass". Guggenheim. January 1, 1999. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  21. Seymour, Ben (October 4, 2000). "Everything Must Go". Mute. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
  22. Collins, K. Austin (October 9, 2019). "Rewatching Taxi Driver in the Age of Joker". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  23. Spencer, Samuel (October 4, 2019). "'Joker': 10 Essential Films To See Before Watching The Movie". Newsweek. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  24. "Todd Phillips's Joker Captures all the Artifice of Scorsese's Movies Without Any of The Soul". Esquire. October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  25. Sharf, Zack (September 12, 2019). "The 17 Movies to Watch Before 'Joker'". IndieWire. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  26. "Robert De Niro's Joker Character References A Movie, Not Batman Comics". ScreenRant. October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  27. "Joker: A Violent, Noxious Scorsese Rip-Off". National Review. October 10, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  28. "Why 'Joker' is Set Decades Ago and How Martin Scorsese's 'The King of Comedy' Inspired It". /FILM. September 16, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  29. Dowd, A.A. (October 3, 2019). "Joaquin Phoenix Goes Full 'Taxi Driver' for the shallow but striking psychodrama of 'Joker'". The AV Club. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  30. "Rancid – Indestructible". Discogs . Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  31. Johnston, Rich (December 12, 2012). "Robert De Niro's Taxi Driver Picks Up Rorschach In Before Watchmen". Bleeding Cool . Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  32. "[The Twisted Parallels of Cinema] Edition #4: American Horror Story (Vol. I)". FatherSonHolyGore. April 3, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.