Taxi Driver as a film is dominated by the uniqueness and insanity of it's own main character, Travis Bickle, portrayed in this film by Robert De Niro. Now, this is in no way a bad thing, as the music, setting and supporting characters all do enough to add to the plot and overall quality of the film, but nothing shines brighter than De Niro's performance of the insane character that is Travis.
Everything down to the look is hit right down on the head. Bickle is a lanky, weird looking guy. His personality is just sort of off. He misses a lot of social queues. He really doesn't seem to have a cause or a goal or anything of that nature either. He sort of just, exists. But, not in a passive way though either. When he does something, he generally does it defiantly, but it's never quite clear why.
There's a reason De Niro was Scorsese's "main guy" at the time. Travis Bickle is a bizarre, weird, borderline insane character, and De Niro simply nails his portrayal of him. Scorsese only picks the most talented actors to fill his roles, which is why actors like De Niro and Leo DiCaprio are chosen. Overall, the performance of Robert De Niro only adds to the tremendous character that is Travis Bickle, which overall adds to the quality of the film.
This is a very good point. Travis is pretty bizarre, and just exists as a single unit in his crowded environment. If this was truly the characterization Scorcese was going for, he nailed it with De Niro as the main character. His And yes, although we are given the information that Travis was once in the Marines, it is never really truly clear why Travis does the things he does. He never talks about his time in service, and there is very little background on his story aside from what was given to us in the beginning.
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