I have watched this quite a few times, but not recently.
No one can simmer quite like Deniro, and then project that inner tension into the relationships he builds with the characters around him.
Watching these early films, which are amazing — an example of Deniro and Scorsese firing on all cylinders, you wish for that same energy and chemistry in his later films. It does happen sometimes, but not so frequently.
Travis Bickle is iconic — I forget whether I found the connection between him and The Clash before I watched the film, but that seems likely, even though I was watching pretty out there movies from early on. Red Angel Dragnet adds a whole other layer of cool to Bickle’s monologue.
Jodie Foster as Iris is amazing. Harvey Keitel is a creepy fuck.
Watching it the first time you don’t know where the whole thing is headed, but you can’t help but sense it. It loses the novelty, of course, on other runs through, but the tension is still there.
It still feels fresh and relevant. Travis Bickle could be an incel, Pallantine is like any other politician. There are still hookers and pimps. The film sits right at the heart of a very American problem. It could be made today, and how much of it would need to change? Not a damned sight.