Taxi Driver (1976) Written December 14th, 2015 -- "Lonliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. I am God's lonely man." This is one of the many iconic quotes spoken by Robert DeNiro's character, Travis Bickle, in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. A dramatic story that follows a mentally unstable taxi driver that was once a war veteran and his desire the clean the "filth" that pollutes New York City while also trying to save an underage prostitute in the process. Referring back to the quote about "God's lonely man," isolation plays a huge key role within the entire movie spanning from characters to the setting. The entire setting of Taxi Driver takes place within the littered urban streets of New York City which is while heavily populated, is also very isolated as a majority of people who live in the city usually ignore each other and pretend that certain people aren't there at all such as a taxi driver like Travis Bickle. Most of the shots that take place within Travis's taxi either have Travis all by himself or have passengers who pay little to no attention towards Travis. Also in relation to the taxi, it can be considered a personal secluded haven for Travis that provides him protection from the so-called filth of the outside world that Travis greatly despises (that is until a passenger enters the taxi) the taxi's windshield is also a symbol of Travis's warped and limited perspective of the outside world around him due to his mental illness. "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Well, who else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here, who do you think you're talkin' to?" This is yet another popular quote spoken by DeNiro's character which, just like the first quote, centers on the main subject of lonliness. Travis Bickle whom after failed to go on a date with Betsy (played by Cybill Sheperd), has completely isolated himself from everyone else that he is the only character who appears in the entirety of the film, even when he's at the cafe with the other cab drivers we can still sense that feeling of isolation that Travis also feels. In the scene where this particular quote is spoken, Travis draws out several guns in front of his mirror while talking to his own reflection in a tough and threatening manner. At this point in the movie, we haven't really seen anyone truly confront Travis in a violent manner, but talking to the mirror allows Travis to create the illusion that all his life people have talked to him in a menacing manner and that his reflection is actually someone trying to harm him. Doing all of this allows Travis to create a situation he is in complete control of as he often changes his views on whether his destiny is predetermined or self controlled, but in this case Travis believes he is in control of his destiny. However, Travis is not just the only one in New York who claims to be "God's lonely man," the sense of alienation is also apparent among other characters too. The small group of cabbies we sometimes see Travis hang out with all get together at a diner, hinting at the possibility that these men don't share the best relationships with their family or don't even have families to come home to every night. Bob and Betsy to tend to flirt with each other from time to time but there is no deep personal connection between the two like what Travis attempted when breifly dating Betsy for a short time. The sense of lonliness is also felt with Iris as she left her family behind at the very early age of 12 to live a life of her own in New York, and while she does have a relationship with Sport, Sport tends to say quite a lot of crude things about her and their relationship is mostly based around exploitation than true romance.