The first image is right away in the beginning, and it’s an above shot of the cab dispatcher’s desk as Travis gets his paperwork he needs to fill out. The first thing noticeable about this shot is that it appears to be Travis’s point of view, but it is directly about the desk, and impossible to be his point of view with the big angle difference. This shot is significant because Travis is getting his job as a cabbie, and this job is what causes all of the following events in the film to occur. Without this job, Travis remains a lonely man with no real purpose in life. He would continue to spend his days going to porn theaters and riding the subways at night. In beginning his search for meaning in his life, getting the taxi job is really the start of him finding his purpose. The directly above shot is too extreme to be ignored and just passed by as a way to view the scene. It stands out and practically screams at the viewer that the following event is very important to the film. At this point in the film, Travis is only thinking about himself, he is getting this job to give him something to do during the nights he can’t sleep, and giving him extra money. When he first goes for the job, the only person he is worried about is himself.
The second instance of the direct overhead shot is when Travis meets with Easy Andy to buy his guns. By this point in the film Travis has been driving his cab for some time now, and has a very good grasp of the scum in the city that needs to be cleaned up. Betsy has rejected him, and that was really the event that caused him to stop trying to have what society views as a “normal” life. He had his run in with Martin Scorsese’s character. During that scene judging by Travis’s facial expressions he had never really thought to take matters into his own hands, and do his part to clear the streets. Before then when he had Palantine in his cab, he told him that someone needed to clean up the streets. This is the point where Travis begins to realize that he is the one that needs to clean up the streets. Then the most important event that had transpired was that he saw Iris again. He hadn’t forgotten about her because he still kept the twenty-dollar bill Sport gave him, but he hadn’t thought about her since their first run in. Now since he has decided to take matters into his own hands, she is going to be the ticket to doing the right thing. The overhead shot of the guns, immediately reminded me of the shot of the desk, and the sense that we were watching this scene from the eyes of a higher power. Travis is taking the next step in his plotted out life plan. He is getting the means to take care of his business. Without the guns he will be unable to clean up the streets. Gilberto Perez’s article Toward a Rhetoric of Film: Identification and the Spectator says a lot about how this shot makes the viewer feel. “One way of putting the difference would be to say that we identify ourselves with the young man in Nosferatu, whereas the young man in Vampyr is identified with us.” (64) I know that this is talking about different films, but the same is true with Taxi Driver. The viewer isn’t identified with Travis, he is too different and alienated to be a true hero, but rather he is identified with the viewer. He is being shown to the viewer as doing the right thing. What Travis is doing, even though it is technically murder, it is what needs to be done. Travis is being made an example of, and this is the point in the film when I get the sense that there is a God watching, and Travis is the Christ figure. Now Travis’s reasons have changed. Instead of only thinking of himself, he buys the guns for himself, but for him to do something greater. He is buying the guns to do his part in cleaning up the streets and getting rid of the scum that makes him so sick and disgusted. Travis has taken the next step in his transformation.
The third example of the direct overhead shot signifying an important point in Travis’s journey is right before he goes to assassinate Palantine. It is of the envelope containing money he leaves to Iris. This is his last deed he needs to take care of before he can fulfill his duty and purpose. By leaving Iris the money he is giving her a chance at having a normal life that he himself was never able to have. He is giving her a chance to get out of the city that he hates. He is giving all he has to Iris because he is fully expecting to not come out of what he is about to do. His journey as Christ is almost complete. All that is left is that he needs to give his life for his cause. Even though he goes to apparently try to assassinate Palantine first, the way he runs away and doesn’t give that much effort to actually kill him, I think that he really wanted to kill Sport the entire time. Palantine is talking about reaching a turning point, a crossroads, and it is time to take matter into their own hands. Travis doesn’t make his move towards Palantine until he says that it is time for the people to rule. I think Travis just decides then to kill Palantine and be an example of the people ruling. When the guy spots Travis he gives up on his quick plan and goes back to his original, to kill sport and give Iris no other choice but to retreat to a better life. The shot of the money connects it to the first two, and that Travis’s only function is to carry out his purpose. This also shows Travis’s full circle in terms of his reasons. First he only thought of himself, next he thought of other people and a greater good, but still had some selfish reasons for his actions. This time he is thinking solely of Iris, and helping her out. The only thing Travis will gain from this is presumably death.
Travis’s only purpose to give Iris the life he is unable to have relates a lot to The Searchers and Ethan’s only purpose to give Martin the life he was unable to have. Travis is portrayed as a modern day cowboy, willing to do anything to help another person. The difference between the two is that Travis was expecting to die to fulfill his purpose. More than a cowboy Travis is portrayed as a Christ figure. Travis has no other purpose besides doing his part to clean up the streets. Throughout the film even though he is hard to relate to, Travis is portrayed as doing the right thing, and the viewer is supposed to recognize that. Three overhead shots of certain events in the film signal turning points in Travis’s life even through the other overhead shots in the film represent a higher power watching down on Travis with the viewer. The three shots also document Travis’s changes in state of mind. In the beginning he did things just to gain from them himself. He didn’t think of anyone else and no one else mattered to him. Next he still thought of himself and that had a great deal to do with decisions, but now he was considering other people, and wanting to do something to help other people out. Finally as Travis has come completely around as a person, he only thinks of other people and wanting to give literally everything his has to help another person out and give them a better life.
Since Travis has not died, and he continues his journey, it is assumed that he will continue on his path until his mission is fully completed. That mission is to completely clean up the streets, and be a harsh rain that washes away all the filth of the city. The slight glitch in the end signifies that the whole process will repeat itself, but judging by Travis’s character changes from the first set of events, it will happen again, just in a different way. He will find someone to help and give them a better life, but this time he will not let another person get in the way of things or distract him. Even thought Betsy appeared to be better than everyone else, she was just like everyone else, and Travis won’t let those distractions get in the way. Taxi Driver is a documentation of a man’s journey to be Christ-like, and Travis has succeeded in that regard, and will continue to do what is right.
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