Please feel free to share any comments or questions about Taxi Driver and/or the recommended screening this week:  John Ford’s The Searchers (1956), available on reserve at the Hunter library or to rent on Amazon, etc. (You can also check out Scorcese’s talking about his first impressions of the film.)

In addition to the assigned readings this week—Chapters 17 and 19 from Sklar’s Movie-Made America and the excerpt from Amy Taubin’s Taxi Driver—I also wanted to pass along some additional reading on Scorcese’s film and this period in American cinema. In particular, I’d recommend Todd Berliner’s Hollywood Incoherent: Narration in Seventies Cinema (which includes this chapter on Taxi Driver), and this article on Scorcese’s use of cinematic intertexts. Those interested in learning more about some of the industrial, as well as aesthetic, contexts for the film might also want to consult Justin Wyatt’s chapter, “From Roadshowing to Saturation Release: Majors, Independents, and Marketing/Distribution Innovations.”

Finally, those eager to delve more deeply into this era in American filmmaking might be interested in this installment of the documentary series, The Story of Film, on American Cinema in the 70s (streaming on Kanopy). And of course, there are any number of other films from this period you might want to screen. In addition to touchstones like  The Graduate, Easy Rider,  and Bonnie and Clyde, check out this great BFI list highlighting “One great New Hollywood film for every year“(1967-1982).