Tea at Trianon: The Religious French Drama That Directly Influenced ‘Taxi Driver’

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

The Religious French Drama That Directly Influenced ‘Taxi Driver’

From Far Out:

It’s difficult to categorise precisely the themes of Taxi Driver; it’s part a complex character study that delves into the masculine male psyche, part a political commentary on post-war America and racism within society and a thrilling exploration of violence and eroticism. Many of these issues are addressed through Bickle’s rambling, deranged entries in his diary, which Scorsese brilliantly uses as narration throughout the film.

Interestingly, Scorsese was heavily inspired by Robert Bresson’s brilliant film Diary of a Country Priest and its use of narration for Taxi Driver. Made in 1951, Diary of a Country Priest follows a young French priest, played by Claude Laydu, who arrives in the country village of Ambricourt as the new parish priest. However, his arrival in the village is met with hostility and disdain from the local villagers and churchgoers, leading the young priest to question not only his purpose in the village but also his relationship with God.

The priest articulates his emotions by penning them in his journal every evening, a practice Bresson transforms into a continuous stream of consciousness, narrating a voiceover throughout the film. This became a profound influence on Scorsese, who implemented the very same approach when depicting Bickle’s daily diary entries.

Interestingly, the writer Schrader has said that the idea for Bickle to write in a diary each day was inspired by another Bresson classic, The Pickpocket. The film has some striking similarities to Taxi Driver, essentially following a lost and desperate young man who turns to crime in a desperate search for redemption. The master French filmmaker has clearly had a huge impression on both Scorsese and Schrader and has helped shape Taxi Driver into the magnificent film it became.

Today, revisiting Taxi Driver, cruising the sleaze-ridden mean streets of New York and voyaging into the terrifying psyche of Travis Bickle is still as visually arresting and gripping as ever, a true testament to the brilliance of its three creators. (Read more.)