De Niro’s lopsided grin. The inner madness of the outsider who will conquer the world. A direct romantic link between Les Fleurs Du Mal, (the taxi driver as the modern flaneur), and the lunatic apostles of Trump.
De Niro as cowboy. Keitel calls him a cowboy. He polishes his cowboy boots. He’s the vengeful hero of a Western come to clean up the land. Shades of Midnight Cowboy, a decade later.
The logical conclusion of the conquest of the natural world, is to turn in on itself, to wallow in an orgy of supposedly lost freedoms. (The right to roam wild, the right to kill, the right to commit crimes. The freedom to carry weapons, to curtail another’s freedom.)
Keitel as Gatsby - the use of the word “sport”.
The imperfections of an iconic movie. The narrative drifting with the rhythm of the night.
The secondary characters who create the world. The other cab drivers. The Latino bodega owner. Iris’ companion. The man who interviews Travis for the job. Scorsese himself. The secret service agent. A world is made of people. Film can accommodate a local galaxy like no other artistic medium.
The slogan of Charles Palantine: “We are the people”
The dry witty interchange between Brooks and Shepherd, like something out of another movie, an NY romcom running alongside the dystopia Travis is living.
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