Taxi Driver is wildly accepted as Martin Scorsese's cinematic masterpiece. It's a psychological thriller jam packed with pulse pounding shots that are designed to keep the viewer guessing. The main character, Travis is a strange individual shrouded in mystery, so his story is very unpredictable. It changes from minute to minute; Scorsese designs the frames to confuse and mix up the viewer. One shot in the movie really stands out from the rest in its unusualness, though. After Travis manages to snag a second date with Betsy, Taxi Driver's object of desire, he mistakenly assumes that she would be fine with going to see a dirty movie, rather than a 'normal' one. Upon her anger, he is very apologetic towards her. He wasn't trying to imply anything- he really doesn't see dirty movies as shameful or disgusting. Travis even states that they are the only movies he watches. The conversation between him and Betsy sours, and she leaves him perplexed outside the cinema. The next shot- the titular tracking shot- is very different from the flavor of the rest of the …show more content…
There's been a time skip between the scenes, because he mentions sending her flowers. The conversation goes about as well as the one at the theatre. During the talk, Travis is notably barely in the screen frame, signifying his vulnerability at that point. He can't understand what he did that was so wrong. The camera then pans to the right, but Travis doesn't go with it, like in previously mentioned shots. This definitely signifies a change in the story. The camera stops on a symmetrical view of a hallway. There are taxis and pedestrians walking by, and the conversation Travis is having is still audible. It ends, and the viewer is left with a brief moment of silence. When Travis does reenter the shot, it's a different man than the one at the start of the movie. This scene propels the story into unknown