THE REWATCHABLES · February 9, 2021
A 1976 drama / crime directed by Martin Scorsese, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
Travis narrates the city's decay and sets the movie's hopeless, feverish tone.
About 40 minA mix of confidence and stalking makes the invitation awkwardly persuasive and creepy.
About 24 minTravis performs civic outrage while the politician politely absorbs the rant.
About 32 minA bizarre, funny, and uncomfortable cameo that deepens the film's insanity.
About 32 minThe build-up to the catchphrase is staged as a major behavioral turn toward violence.
About 32 minJodie Foster's funny, sharp reaction makes the scene both comic and sad.
About 40 minThe attempted killing goes wrong in a way that heightens suspense and realism.
About 40 minThe violent climax is admired for its stark staging, lack of score, and shocking aftermath.
About 40 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Bill SimmonsHe briefly tempts audience sympathy, but the movie insists he is sick and not heroic.
Sean FennesseyThe film creates a conflicted reaction by making the revenge emotionally gratifying while still undercutting it.
Sean FennesseyScorsese is the most significant American filmmaker of the last 75 years.
Bill SimmonsHe resists single-director supremacy and favors a broader view of great filmmakers.
Sean FennesseyDe Niro wins because 'You talking to me' became the movie's most enduring pop-cultural imprint.
Bill HaderFoster wins because her performance and career trajectory are extraordinary and unforgettable.
Bill SimmonsScorsese wins because the film changed what future filmmakers thought was possible.
Bill SimmonsHe thinks her interest is plausible because Travis can initially seem charming and observant.
Sean FennesseyHe agrees the scene works because the actors create a strange, alluring chemistry.
Sean FennesseyRaises the possibility but notes the filmmakers deny it.
Bill SimmonsThinks the movie mostly plays straight and only suggests interior instability, not an alternate-reality twist.
Argues the film is the ultimate version of this form because it is bleak, honest, and culturally prescient.
Opening minutesSays the city and its 1970s collapse are essential to the film's meaning.
Opening minutesAdmires the performance and emotional truth but stresses that Travis is sick, not heroic.
About 8 minHighlights tiny physical choices as the essence of great screen acting.
About 8 minCalls it a hard-edged, unsentimental action sequence whose realism makes it more powerful.
About 40 minSays the scene is now almost unbearable because it captures humiliating self-sabotage too well.
About 56 minChooses Foster as a winner because her performance and later career reflect extraordinary talent.
About 1:04Sees him as a director who always finds a personal hook and emotional clarity.
About 24 minTravis is framed as a lonely, disconnected figure whose diary and late-night wandering express isolation.
About 48 min1970s New York is treated as a crucial force in the film's meaning, not just a backdrop.
Opening minutesThe ending is discussed as cathartic but not heroic, because the film keeps Travis psychologically unstable.
About 8 minScorsese, Schrader, and De Niro are described as deeply identifying with the material rather than making a detached commentary piece.
About 8 minHader repeatedly emphasizes tiny acting choices over showy technique.
About 8 minThe script was written after Paul Schrader went through a lonely breakdown in Los Angeles.
Opening minutesRobert De Niro reportedly earned $35,000 and honored his original rate when the production feared losing him.
About 24 minThe film's famous mohawk is a prosthetic hairpiece, not De Niro's real hair.
About 1:04The 'You talking to me?' sequence was originally longer and was cut down for rhythm.
About 32 minBernard Herrmann died very shortly after finishing the score.
About 48 minJodie Foster's sister Connie served as a body double for scenes inappropriate for a child actor.
About 1:04The producers changed the pimp from Black to white out of legal/riot fears.
About 1:04The film was shot during a hot summer with a garbage strike and lots of wet streets from rain/hydrants.
About 56 minUsed by Bill as an example of a movie so embedded in a director's mind that it becomes hard to discuss.
About 16 minCompared to Taxi Driver as a more straightforward vigilante film.
Opening minutesPart of the bleak 1970s New York film cycle.
Opening minutesMentioned as an endpoint of the exaggerated 'dark New York' cycle.
Opening minutesContrasted with Taxi Driver as a romanticized New York version.
Opening minutesAnother romanticized New York film contrasted with Taxi Driver.
Opening minutesUsed as an example of Scorsese's emotional, intuitive filmmaking and editing style.
About 24 minMentioned as another emotionally personal Scorsese film, especially in its final 30 minutes.
About 24 minCited as a Scorsese film centered on film preservation, showing his need for a personal hook.
About 24 minExample of Scorsese making emotionally wrenching, personal drama outside crime films.
About 24 minReferenced when discussing Dustin Hoffman's method-era prep and performances.
About 48 minUsed to compare De Niro's range and Scorsese/De Niro collaboration.
About 8 minDiscussed as the 1976 Best Picture winner and as a comparison point for revenge-era heroism.
About 24 minDescribed as the modern film most obviously echoing Taxi Driver.
About 1:12Hader compares his own show to Taxi Driver's influence on his work and directing style.
About 8 minThe hosts repeatedly zoom in on tiny performance details, especially De Niro's behavioral choices.
About 8 minThey joke that the line was a cultural catchphrase for years and remains iconic.
About 32 minThey repeatedly joke about directors cameoing in films and whether the scene works.
About 32 minThey joke about crews wanting to simplify shots and how directors fight to keep complex coverage.
About 40 minThey stretch the category to include the Hinckley fallout, porn theaters, taxis, and uncomfortable scenes.
About 1:04“God's lonely man.”About 48 min
“You talking to me?”About 32 min
“I'm the only one here.”About 32 min
“We're all fucked.”About 48 min
“This guy is a ticking time bomb.”About 8 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before Taxi Driver, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Sean FennesseyThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
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