As part of the promotion of his upcoming film “Killers Of The Flower Moon” Martin Scorsese He gave an interview to GQ in which he reflected in detail on a large part of his film catalog and the importance of his protagonists. One of the analyzes that attracted the most attention from the media and film fans was the director’s analysis of the film “Taxi Driver”, which is considered his debut film and tells the story of the man Travis Bickle (played by Robert DeNiro) whose loneliness drives him completely crazy .
Scorsese assured that it was really difficult to portray such an “uncomfortable” character as a protagonist, but now, almost 50 years after its release, it is really complicated to see how Travis’ life has become a reality for many people around the world.
“We couldn’t stop thinking about the character, his loneliness and the way he acts. We didn’t approve of the way he acted, but acted and empathized with him, which is really difficult.” What stuck with us in the end was the psychological and emotional state of the character. As we now know, being like Travis Bickle is tragically normal for everyone elseScorsese admits.
Martin Scorsese regretted that the life of the protagonist of “Taxi Driver” became a reality (Apple TV+)
However, Travis is just a brush stroke on a larger canvas. Martin Scorsese confessed that he enjoys creating protagonists who wrap themselves in lies to justify their actions, something that both he as a creator and the public in general can relate to.
“All the films I make have a lot to do with trust and betrayal. (…) People say, “When this event happened in your life, did you have a certain feeling?” And if it’s really important to me, I can look for it and take a look at it and I’ll probably be embarrassed about what I wrote. Or even see my own rationalizations or my own lies. Or I try to live with what I do. Do you understand me?” Martin reflects in the interview.
Martin Scorsese assures that many of his protagonists have a relationship with lies and try to justify their actions with them Portal/Sarah Meyssonnier
And one of Scorsese’s most personal films was Raging Bull, a film that chronicled the famous boxer’s life and work. Jake LaMotta. Once again, Robert De Niro was the actor responsible for giving life to a character as controversial as LaMotta, who, as Scorsese claims, caused a lot of concern on the shooting set but also made the director feel strongly identified.
“We put everything we knew into it without knowing how it would be received. We knew that people didn’t like him, and even the team asked themselves – I didn’t find out until later – “Why are we making a movie about this guy?” He’s a horror. This man may be like that, but he is still human. It has heart. It has soul. In the end he finds a kind of peace with himself and perhaps also with those around him. “I think I went there to try and find a piece of myself.”
Martin Scorsese assured that he identified most with the character Jake LaMotta
It is worth mentioning that thanks to this performance, Robert De Niro won his second Oscar for Best Actor.
In the last few days, Taxi Driver has once again had a lot to talk about after rumors started circulating Robert DeNiro He would return to play the character in an Uber commercial. This caused great displeasure, including from the film’s screenwriter, Paul Schrader. However, the travel app assured that De Niro would indeed star in a commercial, but the actor’s agent, Stan Rosenfield, assured that he had no relationship with De Niro.
The commercial was filmed in the UK and will be released in late 2023.
Despite rumors, Robert De Niro will not be returning to the role of Travis Bickle in his next collaboration with Uber 162