Taxi Driver

The Use of Music in Taxi Driver

One of the things that stood out to me the most in this movie was the use of music and sound. Throughout the entire film, the audience hears a musical theme that is consistent in the whole movie. The tune is always the same, and usually played by a saxaphone in a smooth, jazzy arrangement. This is the first thing heard by the audience in the movie, which instantly puts them into a mood of pleasant relaxation. This is quite ironic because the rest of the movie is about a psychotic man who has the wish to murder someone. The music is in large contrast with the violent events that happen in the rest of the film. 

Another interesting aspect, later evident in the movie is the fact that this very same theme is used but played in a completely different arrangement. When Travis Bickle kills the bouncer, "Sport," and the mafioso who is about to have sex with Iris, and the camera tracks with a bird's eye angle, the jazzy tune is played as if it was a war march. This was probably done to create a sense of uneasiness in the audience, for Scorsese took something already familiar and pleasant and distorting it to the point that it is scary. This aided something that was already scary and horrific just witnessed by the audience - the scene in which Bickle kills everyone except for Iris and, fortunately, himself.