The Film ‘89 Podcast Episode 69 – “Thank God for the Rain” – 45 Years of Taxi Driver (1976).

By Skye Wingfield in Directors Series Film ‘89 Podcast Retrospectives July 25, 2021

Episode 69 of The Film ‘89 Podcast is one that we’ve been eagerly waiting to bring you since the podcast began. 45 years ago, director Martin Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader brought to the big screen a film that would epitomise that particular decade’s penchant for gritty and often unflinchingly bleak looks at society’s grimy underbelly. The film in question is Taxi Driver, and Robert De Niro’s remarkable performance as Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle is a chilling character study, a statement on the fallout of that most controversial of conflicts and also a study of one man’s failing mental health amidst a city where crime and vice are ubiquitous. Taxi Driver is unquestionably bleak but also remarkably beautiful due in no small part to some stunning cinematography by Michael Chapman and a frankly phenomenal final score from legendary composer Bernard Herrmann that helps elevate this already masterful film to one of mythic status. Taxi Driver isn’t an easy watch and tackles some disturbing and difficult themes but it’s also a film that remains ominously optimistic and is endlessly rewarding. Join Steve, Skye and returning guest host Leighton Winstone as they give their in-depth analysis of one of the crowning achievements of ‘70s cinema and an all-time classic from arguably the world’s greatest living filmmaker.