Martin Scorsese transforms an innocuous New York taxi cab into the beast of a monster movie in his opening shot for Taxi Driver. A white 'fog' (actually the steam from a New York street vent) is our first image proper, interrupted suddenly by a giant, bulbous thing a vintage yellow taxi crashing through it in slo-mo. The cab dominates the screen, monstrous, the camera staring up in awe as the vehicle passes by silently, like a predator on the hunt. As the cab leaves the frame, we're left with the fog again, and a glimpse at the city streets, followed by the opening credits. The cab leaves as quickly as it arrived, but everything, including the muted colour scheme, the shock of its arrival and the ominous use of slow motion, just feels off. It's actually a hint at the man in the cab, who'll spend the remainder of the film leaving you with an identical sense of unease.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
