The movie Taxi Driver features Travis an ex-marine residing in New York. Travis is diagnosed with insomnia and hence takes a job as a night taxi driver in the city. Travis is an opinionated man who has a strong sense of right and wrong. In the course of his work, Travis meets Betsy one of the workers for the presidential campaign. After an incidence with Betsy, Travis decides he has to do everything in his power to make change New York for the better. The first act of Travis towards saving New York is by saving a young girl Iris who is caught up in prostitution. In the film, there is a scene where Travis has breakfast with Iris and another where he has breakfast with Betsy. This analysis will compare the two views considering the dialogue and cinematography in each scene.
In the breakfast with Iris, The subject of their dialogue is Iris’s way of life. Travis tries to show iris that she is living a wrong and dangerous experience for her age. Travis tells Iris that she should be in school doing what normal kids her age are doing. Iris tries to defend her habit and her employees. The scene exposes the audience to different kinds of cinematography. One of the shots taken are mid shot that focus on Iris revealing Iris attitude through her body. Another shot is an over the shoulder shot that partially shows Travis shoulder as he speaks to Iris which serves to enforce Travis’s point of view (Scorsese, 1976).
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In the breakfast with Betsy, the dialogue involves both politics and Travis expressing himself to Betsy. Betsy does most of the listening and only responds to Travis statement. Travis shows his dislike for the presidential candidate in whose campaign Betsy works. Travis also tries to express his feelings for Betsy though Betsy responds coldly to his attempts. In the scene, the camera focuses on Travis at some point as he conveys his feeling towards Betsy. The focus takes Betsy out of view letting the viewer concentrate on Travis. The viewer is hence able to see Travis struggle to express himself and to find the right words. The camera focuses on Travis face which shows the inability to communicate well. The camera then shifts to bring the two into focus and Betsy can be seen looking and listening to Travis without much of an expression on her face (Scorsese, 1976)
In conclusion, the details of the dialogue in the two cases represent the relationships of the characters in the film. In Travis and Iris case, Travis has seen Iris as a young girl who needs saving and treats her as such. In Travis and Betsy case, Travis admires Betsy, and the talk is calm and almost awkward. The cinematography in both scenes serves to emphasize the dialogue allowing the viewer to focus on what is relevant in the specific line.
References
Scorsese, M. (Director). (1976). Taxi Driver [Video file]. United States. Retrieved December 12 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ve57l3c19g.
