Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: De Niro in a cult role.
It was in the early 1970s that Robert De Niro made the decisive encounter with filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Trust is quickly established between the two men from the Little Italy district of New York. They began their collaboration in 1973, on Mean Streets, in which Robert De Niro played the fiery gangster Johnny Cervello.
Three years later, the duo found themselves on Taxi Driver. A figurehead of New Hollywood, this fevered thriller – partial autobiography of screenwriter Paul Schrader – portrays the paranoid climate of a post-Vietnam America, where social inequalities contribute to an increase in violence in big cities.
At the top of the bill, Robert De Niro slips into the skin of Travis Bickle, a veteran of the Vietnam War, who has become a taxi driver in New York. His nocturnal encounters, as well as the daily violence he witnesses, gradually drive him out of his mind, until he undertakes to save an underage prostitute from her pimps.
Very involved in his role, the actor notably obtained a taxi driver’s license, spent time on a military base to perfect his accent and practiced handling firearms.
Blindly trusting him, Martin Scorsese let him deliver his own score, thus giving birth to legendary scenes, such as the famous “You talkin’ to me?”completely improvised.
Robert De Niro’s performance earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. But the precious statuette is won by Peter Finch for the role of Howard Beale in Network: Main Basse sur la Télévision.
It was not until 1981 that Robert De Niro won it in turn, thanks to his interpretation of boxing champion Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, also directed by Martin Scorsese.
On AlloCine, Taxi Driver holds a solid viewer rating average of 4.3/5.
Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel…
From 12 years old
Tonight on Arte at 8:55 p.m.