Fanspot
737 8th Ave
Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars… sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There’s no escape. I’m God’s lonely man.
Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro)
It is in the prolific imagination of the scriptwriter Paul Schrader that the story of Travis Bickle was born, this Vietnam veteran at war with modern society and its excesses, lost in a New York that appears to him like a hostile jungle in which he has no bearings. Schrader wrote the screenplay for Taxi Driver in just five days. The film was quickly proposed to several directors and actors. Robert Mulligan was initially slated to direct, but then the project fell into the hands of Brian De Palma and Jeff Bridges was approached for the lead role. Paul Schrader however does not give up and insists that Martin Scorsese be hired, with Robert De Niro to play Travis. Already known for applying the precepts of the Actor’s Studio to the letter, the actor obtained a real taxi license and began to roam the seedy streets of New York. The city held the sad record for the highest number of homicides at that time. One reason among others having encouraged Paul Schrader to relocate the plot of the feature film, initially planned in Los Angeles.
Robert De Niro even brings his own touch to the dialogue. His most famous line, the famous “You talkin’ to me?” (was, for example, inspired by a Bruce Springteen concert in Greenwich Village. A line that Paul Schrader loved. He later said, “It’s the best thing in the movie and I didn’t even write it.”. Also counting on actors like Harvey Keitel and Cybill Shepherd, Taxi Driver can also rely on Jodie Foster. The actress, then only 12 years old, playing Iris, a young prostitute whom Travis intends to save, was dubbed by her older sister, Connie, for scenes that were too explicit or violent…
An emblematic work of the New Hollywood, Taxi Driver was a great success on its release, accumulating awards including the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Tackling sensitive issues such as the reintegration of Vietnam veterans, prostitution and mental illness, the feature film is important in more ways than one. A monument of the seventh art in the form of a snapshot of a bygone era but also of a city in full revolution. The crossroads visible on the poster is probably the best example of this: the adult cinema seen in the background has since given way to the very respectable and splendid Riu Plaza Hotel. The Big Apple has changed its face since 1976. Even if a taxi ride, at night, to the sound of Bernard Herrmann’s mythical soundtrack, at the level of 737 8th Ave, can quickly put you back in the mood of this cinema staple.
Travis Bickle, the character played by Robert De Niro, ranked 29th in AFI’s top 100 greatest movie heroes and villains.
737 8th Ave
Once known for its adult cinemas, sex shops and sultry atmosphere, this intersection at 737 8th Ave is now one of the most frequented by tourists in New York…
The starting point of Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs’ novel And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, 8th Avenue is one of the original arteries of the 1811 Commissioner’s Plan. The intersection with W 46th Street at 737 8th Ave, meanwhile, has changed a great deal over the years, as has Times Square as a whole. The neighborhood was at the center of the rehabilitation policy initiated by the New York City Council in the 1970s.
The Fantrippers Buying Board
Fanspots Stories New York
Discover the secrets of the cult places of the greatest masterpieces of pop culture in New York!
The world capital of pop culture, New York embodies unbridled creative freedom. The city that never sleeps has been the muse of a large number of directors, actors, screenwriters, singers, musicians, cartoonists and writers…
Many have passed on their fascination for the city to the general public and made some of its places famous worldwide, making them into the legend of pop culture. These are the secrets of a hundred of them revealed in this first volume of the Fanspots Stories collection.
Did you know that?
Did you know that the filming of Rage Against The Machine’s Music Now in the Fire caused Wall Street to shut down for the first time since 1929?
Fanspots Stories New York is also
Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Superman, Leonard Cohen, Led Zeppelin…
Directed by a team of pop culture specialists and embellished with many anecdotes, Fanspots Stories New York tells more than just a story: these are some of the most fascinating stories in pop culture.
Fanspot Stories New York
100 pop cults
a unique and new concept
224 pages of fun
a beautiful large-format book 24 x 30, round back slicefil
Content quality
Interest for fans
Value for money
Discover all the places Taxi Driver on our map
By Gilles Rolland
Passionné de cinéma, de rock and roll, de séries TV et de littérature. Rédacteur de presse et auteur des livres Le Heavy Metal au cinéma, Paroles de fans Guns N' Roses, Paroles de fans Rammstein et Welcome to my Jungle : 100 albums rock et autres anecdotes dépareillées. Adore également voyager à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture.