Apr 12, 2006 04:07 PM
7255 Views
(Updated Apr 13, 2006 12:02 PM)
Robert De Nero became a great Hero with this film.
“Taxi Driver” was an Oscar award winning film, which depicts a Taxi driver who takes to violence to correct the social injustice.
The taxi driver is not one of those uneducated, crude taxi wallas but an educated one who worked some time back as an officer in the army. After retiring from army he was working as a taxi driver in the city somewhat as part time and somewhat a full time. He regularly writes letters to his mother.
The biggest problem for this taxi driver was sleep. The sleep will not come to him.
Somebody suggested him to watch blue films so that he might sleep. But that worsens the problem.
Another biggest problem for this taxi driver was that he speaks whatever that comes to his mind. And always-pure thoughts will not come to his mind. The moment some thought pattern comes to his mind he speaks making people to misunderstand him.
He finds a girl friend who works for party office when election fever was at high pitch. He invites her to a film in the evening. He thinks that “guptha gnan” type sex education film would be better for that innocent looking girl. Indeed that film was by a popular director and indeed it may be required for her in a home theatre probably after he marries her. But anyway he convinces her that film might be a good one and takes her inside the theatre. Obviously the girl walks out scolding him. She would never like to meet him again anyway.
Thus the girl friend saga ends for the taxi driver.
He sees many types of persons as his passengers and some of them were criminals like the one suspecting husband who watches his own building from the window of his taxi.
At another time a little girl of 12 year old is being sold practically in a red light area. This was most distasteful for him and his blood boils.
At one time even the presidential candidate travels in his car. And the politician expectedly speaks how great are the taxi drivers etc.,
But that 12-year-old girl haunts him, coupled with that he had the trouble of inability to sleep.
Taxi driver thinks that for all the ills in the society the politicians are the base and root cause. Immediately he remembers the presidential candidate who was passenger in his taxi at one time. So he decides to assassinate the presidential candidate!! Because he had witnessed injustice like a 12 year old working like a prostitute. !!
He purchases various types of handguns with all his savings. Changes his residence to a flat in the heart of the city. And attends the political party meeting with shaven head and fully armed. But security guards in civil cloths sense something wrong with this guy and they start moving closer to him. He escapes.
Then he goes to meet the pimp who stands on the roadside to collect money from the customers who might want a 12-year-old girl for a night. He himself goes in to brothel by paying and finds the 12-year old girl innocently approaching him to unzip his trousers to suck his genitals.
He cries “no, no” and tells the baby to come for a break fast next day. The girl tells that she gets up only at 12 pm. midday. When the girl comes she wears coloured glasses generally available on the foot path and the girl says that “how can you protect me from myself” and his idea that there is an injustice done to her was funny according to her because the pimp was giving money to her for goggles and food and in addition to that she is also having fun, a lot of fun from elders etc.,
Taxi driver obviously concludes that the 12 year old girl has to be rescued from brothel.
He simply walks the next evening towards the pimp standing in front of the building and enquires if has gun. The pimp considers him as “nuts” and shouts at him to go away. But the taxi driver takes out the gun and shoots the pimp there and then. After that he sits there itself on the steps of side by building as if nothing happened. Later he enters the brothel and begins to shoot everybody.
The film has won many awards and if any thing attracts it is the acting talent of Robert de Nero. He was at his superb best.
