The storyline of ‘Taxi Driver’ was not crafted from a beautiful story arc but the depths of writer Paul Schrader’s personal turmoil.

Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver tells the story of a loner in New York City and the streets of the city from the 1970s. This movie is a reflection of urban alienation and violence where people grappled with their own identities, following the Vietnam War. Robert De Niro gave a masterful performance as Travis Bickle, a depressed young war veteran.

Martin Scorsese. Credit: Apple Music Podcast

Scorsese was brilliant in showing the real picture of New York City. Along with the urban decay in the 1970s, he kept the city as the backdrop to mirror the societal decay as well. Apart from Scorsese, another person who was so vital in the film’s success was screenwriter Paul Schrader, who went beyond giving just some typical dialogues. In an interview, Schrader shared how he got the metaphors.

How a Health Scare to Taxi Driver‘s Writer Gave Birth to the Movie?  

The iconic film Taxi Driver might not have been made. The storyline was not crafted from a beautiful story arc, but the depths of writer Paul Schrader‘s personal turmoil acted as the catalyst.

Schrader was going through a crumbling marriage, a professional fallout with the American Film Institute, and the loss of his reviewing job that left him adrift, financially and emotionally. He found solace in the neon-lit shadows of Los Angeles, drifting in his car, drinking a lot, and sleeping in the Pussycat Theater which was kept open all night.

A still from Taxi Driver

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Schrader stated:

“Between the drinking and the morbid thinking and the pornography, I went to the emergency room with a bleeding ulcer. I was about 27, and when I was in the hospital, I realized I hadn’t spoken to anyone in almost a month. So that’s when the metaphor of the taxi cab occurred to me.”

After he returned from the hospital, he went to his ex-girlfriend’s home and there he started writing.
“So after I got out of the hospital, I crashed at an ex-girlfriend’s place, and I just wrote continuously. The first draft was maybe 60 pages, and I started the next draft immediately, and it took less than two weeks. I sent it to a couple of friends in L.A., but basically there was no one to show it to [until a few years later]. I was interviewing Brian De Palma, and we sort of hit it off, and I said, “You know, I wrote a script,” and he said, “OK, I’ll read it.”

And that’s how the script grabbed the attention of Martin Scorsese and a classic was born.

The 1958 movie Murder by Contract Inspired Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver

Martin Scorsese, the legendary filmmaker cemented his place with the greats in Hollywood following his masterpiece Taxi Driver. Talking about the inspiration he derived to make this psychological noir drama, Scorsese mentioned one 1958 movie- Murder By Contract.

Earlier, Scorsese revealed that The Wrong Man and A Bigger Splash are two films that hugely influenced him to make Taxi Driver starring Robert De Niro. However, after joining Letterboxd, he added Murder By Contract.

A still from Murder by Contract

Talking about the Murder By Contract, Scorsese mentioned:

“I saw this low-budget independent picture about a hired killer on a double bill with The Journey by Anatole Litvak…The spareness, the single-mindedness of the killer (played by Vince Edwards), the ritualized quality of his preparation and his actions… it haunted me and came directly to mind when I made Taxi Driver.”

Directed by Irving Lerner, this crime film explores the story of another existentialist, a hitman contracted with killing a woman.