ajejebrazorf

I mean, why did you like it? Because it is or was "innovative"? Do you really want to make people believe that? I mean, you watch *Citizen Kane* (I assume not at 41) and say "wow, how innovative"?

take a look at a washing machine then. but what the hell, technique first of all.

The importance and innovation after sixty years and more are no longer innovative. And for me, it remains a nice film, not the revolutionary film that was seen in '41. On the other hand, Poletti delivered a well-known monologue. About the film, he hasn't said a word.

Poletti, but aside from its historical importance (so without caring about innovations and all the excited mentions of directors), do you have a reason why this should be, FOR YOU, the greatest film in the universe? By the way, I align with "I have the penis" (even though Macbeth is in front), I also prefer other Welles films, without denying that this one is very beautiful.

Nick, I would go for the ridiculous translation instead. I understand that the original title is much cooler & trendier, especially if "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" becomes "se mi lasci ti cancello," but in the end, if I don't know what it's about and the review piques my interest, I still have to go on IMDb, look up the title in Italian to buy/rent/stole/download it. Or I see the original title, I don't recognize the movie that I actually watched, and I don't even enter the review to pontificate. I get that these are issues, but still, it's a bit more convenient.

mmm, I don't see it as a love tragedy, after which there’s a crisis and "that's it, I’m breaking everything." He's a veteran, returns to America, lives alone, writes letters filled with false happiness for his parents, has not a single friend, is ignorant and can't even process his situation well; he can only realize that he’s alone. And on top of that, he’s alone in a shabby and degraded environment. For me, that's why the shepherd is "the tipping point," even if the encounter with the girl doesn’t lead to significant transformations in Travis; it’s just one of the stops in his ordeal that begins before the film and doesn’t get resolved at the end. And that’s why I find the film to be quite solid and... "motivated." Well, I know I won’t convince you, and you won't convince me.

sure it lives in Travis's mind! :) he sees her, doesn't know who the hell she is and convinces himself that she's an angel, saying bullshit like she's "different," and stuff like that, when he doesn't even know who's in front of him. She is his idea of redemption: once that fails, he tries to reinvent himself as a champion of the foster, but in reality, in the end, he’s back alone in his taxi. Why on earth would he have needed to delve into her character in this context? What would it have served?

Well, a movie isn't just "character description"; Shepard is an idea living in Travis's mind, she's a face, she's pure background, the rejection of the world if we want to use strong words. In my opinion, the psychological depth of her character is deliberately absent because that’s not the goal; in fact, portraying her superficially helps to convey the idea of the hostile environment in which Travis moves (and his view of the world). To draw a parallel with a film I think is close to Taxi Driver, like in Kafkaesque "The Conversation" by Coppola. If the character of Shepard had been more developed, the film would probably have lost a lot in terms of what Scorsese was clearly trying to show. At the very least, it would have been a completely different movie.

Of course they're lurking! Anyway, come on, the "love story" between the two is just a backdrop, she's an absolutely secondary figure. Just like Jodie Foster's character. That's not what Scorsese aims for. The film is about De Niro's character. It's a film about loneliness (without sentimentality, the director doesn't take sides for his character, he certainly doesn't make him a hero), and in my opinion, Travis is perfectly characterized. You see when he looks into the glass, you see when he sees himself from behind trying to contact the Shepherd on the phone, still in absolute loneliness (the scene that Scorsese considered the most successful in the film), you see the beautiful (and very sad) scene of the "dialogue" with the colleague (the recently deceased Peter Boyle) who should give him advice but is just a stranger, and it ends up with them talking about nothing.

no enè, I disagree, that's just the last straw, Travis has been alienated from the very beginning of the film. For me, it's the masterpiece of Scorsese and De Niro.