The world is enveloped in smoke as pale as burning corpses as the ghostly taxi swipes from right to left. The timpani, bass and cello sounded together, the notes soaked into the coldness deep into the bone marrow, the rain outside the window slowly fell, and the shadow of the dark cloud slowly passed through the United States in 1976.
And then there's your eye at first sight - the unfocused eyes of Robert De Niro's Travis, left, right, left, right, wobbly, never looking directly at the camera. Don't look at the camera -- don't look at the screen -- don't look at the audience -- don't look at the world -- don't look at God. The object you stare at is out of this world - the bones of the night, the color of love, the chilling nakedness, only a lonely saxophone sings for you. Red, purple, cyan, red, still red, the wonderful lights flashed from the face one by one, like the footnotes of life, like a dream, cloudy and sunny, there is no eternal existence, except for the dim red of blood.
Push open the noisy office door, push open the entrance to another world, this world is chaotic, dirty, and money is paramount. When asked about your education, you smiled shyly: "You know, just mess around a little bit with that." It's okay kid, being a cab driver in New York in 1973 no one cares you want a college degree or above . When you flattered about your experience of being discharged from the Marine Corps, the bespectacled man in charge of recruiting raised his head and looked at you for the first time, and said, "I also worked in the Marine Corps." I understand how two lives that were strangers for a second suddenly had an intersection, and then how this intersection evaporated in the dirty air of the recruitment office. You've all watched the fireworks of incendiary bombs in the tropical jungles of Vietnam, you've all bathed in the monsoon rain on nameless corpses, but you left the jungles of Vietnam and reunited in your office in the most prosperous city on the planet, you stand Then, he sat and said nothing to each other.
At the beginning of the night, plump New York, thin New York, dancing together. The plump body and the thin soul embrace the neon silhouette together tightly, burning the shell of the lonely warm night. The foreground of the camera is a lonely taxi, and the background is a dreamlike night in New York. Our eyes move forward silently with the camera, listening to the silent dialogue between the taxi and the city, the gentle silence. Travis drove slowly in the arrogant roar of the saxophone, watching from the sidelines, the dirty street corners, the beasts who came out of their nests, walked upright, sanctimonious, surging with the loneliness that surrounded Travis, you were deeply soaked In the essence of the night without being stripped a shred. You love New York too much, so the promiscuous New York doesn't love you; you know everything about New York too well, so New York doesn't know how to face you.
In the small theater showing pornographic movies, facing the naked body the size of the wall, dear Travis sat awkwardly with snacks and crown cola. When you walk through the door, you just want to know the name of the ticket lady, she doesn't want to tell you, let your smile be sincere and kind, she is an iceberg. You are not looking for physical solace, your heart is aching from loneliness, you are still tired after 12 hours of work, you can't sleep, you can't forget - it always dances sadly in the big empty hole in your chest. Allowing the woman to exaggerately shout and tease the increasingly cold hardness between her legs is a little bit less honest than going to the street corner and embracing an unfamiliar body. When we are really alone and can't help ourselves, we would rather choose a 16:9 big screen - let the dust return to the dust, the movie to the movie, the obscenity to the obscenity, and the numbness to numbness. Our souls, longing for each other's solace, looked coldly at Travis who had accosted you—forget about the woman who rejected you thousands of miles away, she wasn't ugly enough for you.
The logic of encounter does not have to exist, a glimpse is to let us understand that the purpose of a movie is not just to tell a story believably, just as in addition to "Story Club", this world also has gorgeous seats for prose and poetry ——It seems that the text begins: "One sunny morning in April, I met 100% girls." Betty, Betty, you don't know her name yet, but you have told everyone in your monologue that it is an angel who descended from earth. , you swear to each of us listening that no one can touch her. For your goddess, you took off the jacket you wore until the end of the film and put on a glossy plaid shirt and red coat. You rushed into her office without changing your face, and said to her, "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met." "You are a lonely person. I pass by your door every day, and you are called by countless people and phone calls. Surrounded, but I can see from your eyes that you are not happy." The goddess listened with interest and smiled noncommittally: "Will you be my friend?" You raised your strong arms and said yes Protect her outside the door. She and you both laughed. At ten o'clock in the morning in New York, Broadway was just waking up, Wall Street was hoarse, and the sun was swaying gently through the floor-to-ceiling glass. She didn't say anything, her eyes were saying: she doesn't need your protection, smart and beautiful women are good at protecting themselves.
She promised to meet you at the coffee shop at four o'clock in the afternoon. The warm atmosphere was slightly drunk, and you gently admired her eyes: "I have never seen such beautiful eyes as yours." Apart from being a good driver, you have become a The potential of a big nose lover. You say to her, "When you work with him, I don't feel a connection between you, but when I walk in your door, I feel a connection between us, and if it doesn't, I don't I will come to you, you know, I didn't have that courage." Not a single statement was abrupt, decent, and gentlemanly, so none of it was insincere. Your language and demeanor are out of tune with the logic enacted in our world - and finally, curiosity and obsession appeared on Betty's face: "I've never seen someone like you." Angels also succumb to a sincere embrace, because such a confession is not heard in heaven. Looking at your beard (clean shaven) and the corners of your mouth full of smiles, I can only sigh at what an unreal planet I live in.
Because you wanted to take her to a "couples love to watch" porn movie, and she ignored you since - Travis, you changed back to your favorite jacket, and you went to the ruthless man without a second thought The angels discuss the argument. The angel didn't say a word, and you cursed. When demeanor becomes synonymous with deception, there is no such thing as a good gathering in the world. Love abandons you, life goes on, at night, an almost crazy bearded man climbs into your car, he wants you to sit with him in the car, don't turn off the meter, he pays you to accompany him to watch the street Windows on the third floor. The shadow in front of the window is his wife, that's not his house, his wife is waiting for someone else. I am reminded of that same bleak night in Kieslowski's "White", is it a process that a man betrayed by his lover has to go through? After the betrayal, what Kieslowski waited for was sadness and helplessness, and what Martin Sykoses waited for was roaring and catharsis. Taxis are the eyes of New York. Every passenger pays to force the driver to watch
Travis, the tragicomedy of his own life. The conversation between you and the wizard is like a hand-to-hand battle between ideal and reality. Sykoseth chose an exquisite arena for the duel - a bustling street at the beginning of the lanterns, black prostitutes and gangsters vying for the first, the ambiguous red neon flashes on the wizard's bald head and your sparkling eyes at the same time. The wizard supported his heavy body on his taxi, which was his material territory, his spiritual support. You stop talking, there is no support or support behind you, only the blurred neon sign in the background like a phantom. You have stated your ideals - you want to go outside and have a go. I think your embarrassed smile is because of the fearful instinct at the moment when the inner armor is removed. In your bright eyes, it was written "No one understands me." But you couldn't say it after all. When the wizard expresses his high opinion on life on his own, the shadows under your slender eyes flicker, and you smile: "I've never heard anything more stupid than this." The wizard replied with some annoyance: "I'm not Russell, I'm just a driver, what can I know." And who do we know? That is God's responsibility.
"Loneliness is with me all my life, everywhere, I have no way to escape, I am a loner created by God."
Buying a pistol from a salesman was undoubtedly the most wonderful arms deal I've ever seen, no intrigues, no fights, no joints hiding in a dark, abandoned warehouse, no police cars whizzing through the window. This sale reminds me of visiting a military museum in a small town with a long history. The tour guide is amiable, he knows everything, and he tells everything about the advantages of each murder weapon. It is precise and detailed, without losing love and warmth. Go back to your seat at the porn movie theater, let alone orgy, and forget about sex in the flattering exhibition. You are facing the screen of men's love and women's love, pointing your finger in the air and pulling the trigger again and again, the woman's ambiguous voice is the footnote of the emotion at that moment - "it is gradually hardening, it is beating" The world is in Harden, our hearts harden; desire beats, and our loneliness beats. I don't know if the moan of indulgence drowns out the voice of the soul struggling under the naked body.
I just remembered the senator getting into Travis' cab. When getting out of the car, the senator reached out to you and said, "Travis, it's a pleasure to talk to you." You shook your hand cautiously and tightly: "Thank you sir, you are a good man, you will The campaign was successful." I think at that moment you broke your precepts. After all, that's what a taxi driver is - you should be a bystander, keep your distance, lock your emotions in the trunk, put your heart on your seatbelt, and stay home. Not anywhere in the city, it's wandering, hitting the road, in the deepest part of your soul labyrinth. When you see the senator's face in the rearview mirror, you chat with him cheerfully, you're only twenty-five, too young to know that politics is the decomposer of innocence, and that politicians are the natural enemies of taxi drivers. The object of revenge after a broken love is not necessarily the angel you loved, but it can also be the presidential candidate for whom she is dead. Lyon taught every good kid who grew up watching movies: No wemon No kids. After each paragraph of the film, let me watch you exercise your muscles day after day in silence; watch you practice using the weapon hidden in your sleeve; share your madness and sobriety as you prepare to assassinate that trash senator step by step ; As soon as the camera showed the panorama of the Senator's speech, I began to look forward to your ignorant and fearless new hairstyle. You foresee the tragic fate of being isolated by this hypocritical world - "I can only keep going in one direction, I see, I have no choice", you long to understand each other with everyone, and everyone has no choice. I never thought about getting to know you, but point the gun at the liar on the podium who is enjoying the adoration of all the people. At least let us see the real drama of the idealists fighting hard - the liar is not dead, the world believes that they are right, right is eternal. You have also escaped pursuit, as long as you live, time will one day prove that what is right is wrong.
Jodie Foster, Jodie Foster, you still don't see on your face the grit and determination to fight a psycho killer so many years later - you were young then, short Robert De Niro It's just her head, scratching her head and making a pose, dark circles and eyeshadow, just like a 12-and-a-half-year-old prostitute. On a dirty street corner in New York at night, occasionally looking up, you can also see the stars over Hollywood shining brightly. First encounter with Travis, he parks his car quietly on the side of the street, you rush into the back seat of his cab and ask him to take you away, wherever you want - you later explain that it was drunk , prostitutes only want to live a new life when they are drunk. Your pimp, your lover, then catches up, hauling away the wares he depends on without any suspense, and throwing a crumpled note at Travis from the car window. The camera repeatedly focuses on the fabled five dollars in close-up, descending from the hands of the pimp, and finally back to the hands of the wretched boss who runs the hotel for the pimp. The second encounter with Travis, in a dark alley, he almost hit you who was driving across the street, looked at you through the windshield, you didn't recognize it under the dim streetlight The man you were free, he drove you to the corner of the street, and he didn't leave until you took the arm of a stranger again. The third time we met, Travis put on clean and smart clothes to come to you for "activity", when your pimp laughed and called him a cowboy, the focus was very close, the blurry background, I couldn't see your expression, You lead him to your room, and through the gaudy beaded curtain, Travis' face has a timid expression for the first time. He asks your name, and takes the trouble; he doesn't want you to undress or untie his belt. He pushed you away, he swears for the first time, he asks why you still don't understand his intention, you once jumped into his car, at that moment God heard your prayer - you once begged him Take yourself away, the purpose of his arrival today is to give you the promise of freedom. You have never met such a guest, he doesn't want your youthful body, he just wants to talk to you. You promised him to have breakfast together at 1 o'clock tomorrow, and he touched your face: "Lovely Alice", he turned and left with a smile, you were at a loss, the swaying bead curtains were sparkling and warm.
Your best performance is at the breakfast the next day, judging the constellation from what other people say, it turns out that American children in the 70s also liked this set of tricks - Libra can't be a killer, Cancer is the best lover, afraid of being with Travis who gets along with people is a lonely Scorpio. Your blonde hair doesn't make me feel dusty anymore, maybe it's because they hang down naturally instead of weirdly curly. Travis offered to give you money to move out and live away from this corner of the betrayal of flesh. What else could his money be used for? What else can the world sell besides freedom? You didn't answer his request, you were still hesitating, in the next scene you forgot about the freedom to come, and fell back into the pimp's arms, his sweet words twisted you, the love songs of the vinyl records and the ambiguous lights confused You, but also confused me - why is happiness not at this moment? In the embrace of a lover, the world is spinning in vain, and the world is weighed down by the weight of freedom. Love and freedom, you involuntarily gave up the latter.
Travis, you lose, your shocking hairstyle can't help you, you fail to assassinate a senator, you run away in a hurry, driving the only yellow cab that will always be loyal to you. You are alone, so your arms and every effort are so pale. From the beginning until now, you've been failing - the love that Betty gave you, the friendship that the wizard gave you, the political promises orchestrated by the senator, and you couldn't find the sincerity and communication you were looking for. There is only freedom, and you are willing to exchange your life for Alice's freedom. From the moment you step into the door of the spooky hotel, the color of the world changes, the narrow corridors are swallowed by the colors of the new wave, the fireworks of the left bank of the Seine bloom in the air, it is rough, dark, more than life. More real and more distorted. There is no white dove shootout, you go all the way to kill, stumble, scarred and bloody. Pimps and whores huddled at your feet like dead dogs, and Alice shivered behind the sofa. You win, you celebrate the victory wantonly - pick up the gun at your jaw and pull the trigger, but the magazine is empty! You slumped down on the sofa, facing the late policeman, laughing unrestrainedly, pointing your bloody finger on your forehead, on a generation, and on the entire film history. The camera took no time to look down from the top of the head, slowly passing the bloodstains along the way. It was God who had been watching, but God said nothing.
There is no story that can tell a more ironic ending than this - you were going to die without hesitation! You are ready to use your blood to write an unwritten letter, let the world hold your corpse, and hope that people will finally cut open your heart that longs for understanding. However, they are so ruthless, they are not even willing to give you the right to die - not only did you not die, but in the media's wonderful writing, you became a hero of righteousness and courage. Alice's parents found their beloved daughter, and their gratitude came from the bottom of their hearts. They were very happy to write to them, saying that they had found a way to prevent Alice from escaping again - both in essence and in means, family affection is also a captivity . Travis, my Travis, what did you risk your life for? In exchange for you, you are cheerful and gregarious, and you have a common topic with your colleagues, standing on the street, talking and smiling. Even if the heart is still lonely, is this still the original you? Betty chooses your car at the end of the video. You smiled and said hello to her, generous and decent, after the adventure of fighting the underworld prostitution group, you are more mature and handsome, even wearing that unsophisticated jacket, it (should) be enough to make her sit in the back seat, dumped for the year You are so sorry. The night in New York is full of brilliance, stroking the rearview mirror like a dream, the two of you are silent for a while, your smile is still so gentle, but you can't hide the haggard eyes. She got out of the car and stood by the window, hesitating to speak. You smiled and shook your head, rejected the car money she handed over, reset the meter to zero, "goodbye", the parting voice was so deep. She stared at you blankly, the melodious saxophone resumed, still the melody, the night was flowing, turbulent, drowning something, your eyes were silent in the brilliance of the night, start the car, and move forward slowly, Lightly do everything behind you.
I think that taxi will pass by your world and mine, but there is only the film that carries the projection in the middle. In your world, no one understands you, and you will eventually dissolve in the surging crowd, and have lived the kind of life that belongs to every ordinary person—a quiet, peaceful, lifeless life; in my world, finally there is People know you, and for this understanding, I even wrote a text to explain it to you, but you can only be silent on the other side, smiling occasionally, and you can't hear what I say to you in tears.
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