Taxi+Driver-Martin+Scorsese

Martin Scorsese is one of the most well known directors of our time. He has established a modern era of film making, while still connecting with his own stylistic choices that define his films. Through music choice, time period, acting, and cinematography, each one of Scorsese’s films are a masterpiece.

Music Martin Scorsese is known for his music. He uses music to help enhance the theme and story of the movie. He also uses music to set the tone and usually has theme music to help portray a certain feeling. In Gangs of New York he uses drums and high flutes as the theme to demonstrate the distaste between the Dead Rabbits and the Natives (also this usually comes on when there is a battle on screen). The light guitars of The Departed represent the search for self-identity and the double-crossing lives of our two main characters. The big bass and deep violins of Shutter Island portray the surreal and sudden exposure of the islands true colors. This theme also plays when we take a look inside our main character’s mind. Martin Scorsese is very meticulous to detail and most of the music used in the film will have only been around during that time period.

Time Period Martin Scorsese is fascinated with time periods. All most all of his movies take place in and around the New York and Boston area and range between many decades. From 1840’s New York, to the early 1900’s in L.A. Martin Scorsese loves timepieces and is meticulous to detail. In The Aviator, the color of the movie changes depending on what time period it’s in (i.e. Technicolor in the very beginning giving off a very blueish green tone).

Cinematography Long Tracking shots, this is a very iconic thing that Martin Scorsese is known for. They are used to portray the magnificent sets and worlds he is able to emulate, as well as the often-lonesome protagonists (Travis in Taxi Driver and Billy Costigan in The Departed). In Taxi Driver Travis is on the phone with Betsy trying to mend their relationship, as he is talking and asking for another date, the camera tracks right and shows an empty corridor leading outside. According to Martin Scorsese, this was the most important shot in the movie. It emulates Travis’s isolated personality and lifestyle. The camera moves away to show an empty corridor because the phone conversation is too painful and pathetic to bear. The “Copacabana Shot” in Goodfellas is often said to be the “King of all Tracking Shots.” It is being used on a steadicam ‍(used very uniquely for its time)‍ to allow a smooth transition between the outside world and the world Henry lives in. It is set at a medium shot, which is still a very personal shot and we feel like we are following them, like they are taking us in with them. It also allows us to seamlessly flow through each level and every hiccup that Henry runs into and how he pays them all off. In fact it could be said it is through the eyes of Karen, and how she experiences the transition between her world and the new world of the mafia.

Themes and Motifs A common theme throughout Martin Scorsese’s movies involve finding oneself, or self-identity, and we follow the main character as he tries to fit into the world around him. In Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle is a lonely man who is sort of an outcast from society. He tries to fit in and become apart of the world around him, but is disgusted by all the “scum” that he says crawling through the night. Henry Hill in Goodfellas is trying to fit into this mob; only he doesn’t really fit in because he isn’t as monstrous as the rest of gang. In both Gangs of New York and The Departed the movies focus on self-identity and fatherhood. Bill the Butcher a fatherly figure (or at least tries to be one) to Amsterdam, and Frank Costello trying to be a fatherly figure to Billy Costigan. Both movies focus on self-identity. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead in both movies and he puts on a fake persona in order work his way into Bill the Butcher’s and Frank Costello’s gang.

Other Things He is Noted For:
 * Voiceovers (Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, Goodfellas)
 * Tracking Shots (Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Departed)
 * Begins his films with scenes from the middle or end of the story (Goodfellas, and I looked these two up, but Casino and Raging Bull).
 * Slow-motion techniques (Gangs of New York-fighting scene, Taxi Driver-taxi scenes)
 * Diegetic Music, as in you can see the source of music on screen (The Departed-Frank Costello’s Apartment, Shutter Island-Teddy’s apartment and Dr. Crawley’s lounge area)
 * Freeze Frames (Goodfellas, The Departed, and again I looked this up, but Raging Bull)
 * Cameo appearances of himself or his family (His parents in Taxi Driver, His mom in Goodfellas, himself in Taxi Driver)
 * Frequently uses the setting of Boston or New York
 * Very realistic and graphic violence
 * Many of his films have an ambitious criminal main character whose pride is ultimately his downfall (Bill the Butcher, Frank Costello, Henry Hill, Tommy Devito)
 * Often encourages improve scenes (Taxi Driver, The Departed, Goodfellas)
 * Also I read that his movies are cut to the beat of the music.