This year’s inductee is the
second in consecutive years in the Hall of Fame for Martin Scorsese, this for
his unforgettable psychological thriller Taxi Driver. Fronted by Robert De Niro
in one of the all-time great screen performances, Scorsese’s film is a dark and
twisted exploration of Travis Bickle’s view of a world gone mad and his quest
to do something about it. The dark tones of Michael Chapman’s photography and
moodily appropriate jazz-inspired score of Bernard Herrmann are tinkered with
in the editing suite, elevated beyond their status: Chapman’s work is shrouded
in a veil of murk while Herrmann’s score becomes a sound of sonice dissonance.
A violent film, transgressive and highly controversial upon release, not least
because of some of the interpretations that could be made of the film’s ending,
it is left open-ended because of Paul Schrader’s superlative script. Finally,
although he had made great films beforehand, this is the picture that truly saw
Martin Scorsese make his definitive stamp upon the world stage.
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