TAXI DRIVER (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
So much has been written about this film that it almost seems impossible to write about at all, but I’ll try. I first saw TAXI DRIVER around 1995, when I was a university undergrad and it was re-released on VHS. But, before I even saw the movie, I had an idea of it in my head. This is mostly because of Roger Ebert’s very enthusiastic review, which was included in his annual collection of film writing. Although he is no longer a favorite of mine amongst film critics, in the pre-internet age Ebert was definitely the cinephile’s gateway drug. And the pop culture familiarity of phrases like “you talkin’ to me” made me feel like I had seen this story already. When I finally saw it, I was well-prepared to love it, and like most 20 year old males, especially the introverted type, I did. No other artistic experience had ever portrayed loneliness as well. As I started to study cinema, and then research Scorsese in particular, I started to re-examine it. Negative reviews that I had initially dismissed, such as Manny Farber and Patricia Patterson’s take in FILM COMMENT, began to make more sense. When Jonathan Rosenbaum reviewed the film for its 20th anniversary re-release, I found myself very sympathetic to his negative take on the movie’s ideology. Watching it again today, for the first time in the theatre in more than ten years, both the strengths and weaknesses come to the fore with more vividness. The location shooting and the capturing of street life remains very impressive, and Scorsese’s use of sound and image is extremely seductive. The city is seen as a hell, but it is also somewhat understandable how the devil could lure you to this place. The montages of Travis driving through the streets really only work with the large film image. Whatever else TAXI DRIVER is, it is certainly the work of a director with amazing talent, which makes the films he has made in the past decade all the more disappointing. One can also appreciate many small details that would be missed on the small screen, especially the scenes in Travis’s apartment and its disorganization. The scenes that continue to resonate are the anti-classical borrowings from European art cinema: the alka seltzer into the glass, the camera movement away from Travis and down an empty hall, the skipping of the image as Travis rants against the world. But as a popular American movie (which it unexpectedly became), maybe it shouldn’t surprise us that it remains incoherent, or that the problem it cannot really deal with is the problem of race. Intellectually, TAXI DRIVER cannot compete with the earlier 60s masters who its makers obviously admire. It is without a doubt a great piece of “pure” cinema: maybe that purity is part of the problem.

HIERRO (Gabe Ibanez, 2009)

A very beautiful and elegant looking film from director Ibanez, who clearly has talent as a filmmaker. Unfortunately, the story here is just too familiar, and the narrative fails to keep interest and remain compelling until the final act. The film begins with a car crash late at night involving a mother and son. We then cut to another woman and her son, and after his disappearance the two narrative strands meet up on the Hierro. This is another atmospheric thriller with a female protagonist who may or may not be psychologically sound. Ideally, this type of movie will engage you enough with the characters that you will follow its contrived set-up (see THE SIXTH SENSE). But that is not the case here, and by the middle of the second act I had lost interest in how the plot resolved itself. That said, fans of these type of films may enjoy it, and I certainly appreciated the attempt at a non-bombastic style in a genre that tends to bring out the worst in directors. Hopefully Ibanez will direct a stronger story next time out.

I ended up only seeing two films today. I planned on viewing the Korean film CAFE NOIR at the press video center, but the “sample” copy was literally that: it had a large “sample” sign watermarked through the entire film. Such is life in the age of piracy. And by the time I discovered this, nothing I wanted to see was still available. Surprisingly, PIFF has remained busy past the weekend. Perhaps because of the size of Busan as a city and the amount of press the festival generates, it is still very active here, quite unlike the Jeonju festival, which changes dramatically after the opening weekend. Thus, be prepared to get tickets at least somewhat in advance, although it is still easier now than the weekend.

All screening times and locations are posted at the PIFF website.

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