Martin Scorsese on Robert De Niro: "Only Bob had a sense that the movie might be more sucessful that we thought. When he put on that Mowhawk wig, he realized we had something special.

Paul Schrader's screenplay came from many sources. In 1973, Paul Schraderwas an unknown writer trying his luck as a screenwriter in Hollywood. He had just gotten divorced from his wife, broke and with nowhere to live, he would sleep in his car. When he wanted to sleep a little better, he would spend 50 cents and sleep inside porno theaters. "It was a lonely and miserable time in my life." remembers Schrader. The cab was a metaphor for Schrader's own loneliness. The screenplay was inspired by "The Searchers" John Ford's 1956 film. The hero is obsessed with rescuing women who may not, in fact, want to be rescued. Also Paul had been reading about Arthur Bremer who tried to assassinate Senator George Wallace. Bremer also kept a diary like Travis does.

The buried message of the film is that an alienated man, unable to establish normal relationships, becomes a loner and wanderer, and assigns himself to rescue an innocent young girl from a life that offends his prejudices.

There are several undercurrents in the film that you can sense without putting your finger on them. Travis implied feelings about the city, which according to Travis is inhabited by the "Scum". His ambivalent feelings about sex (he lives in a world of pornography, but the sexual activity he observes him with loathing.

Travis makes several attempts to connect with different people, every one of them hopelessly wrong. He asks Betsy on a date which ends badly, He sucks up to a political canidate, and ends by alarming him, He tries to make small talk with a secret service agent, which fails, then he wants to save a child prostitute, all of these attempts fail.

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