We Love Martin Scorsese
Wednesday, November 8, 2023, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm
Instructor: Andrew Owen, Ph.D., Lebanon Valley College
A meditation on isolation and loneliness derived from screenwriter Paul Schrader’s own experiences, Taxi Driver (1976) is an unflinching examination of the post-industrial urban environment, ultimately becoming a searing indictment of the perverse belief in the existence of the American Dream amidst the squalor and decay of late-twentieth century society.
Haunting the peep shows, grindhouses, and adult cinemas of a Times Square reeling from the disillusion of Vietnam and the failure of Johnson’s “Great Society,” populated by characters doomed to exist on the fringes of an apathetic society, Martin Scorsese captures a corrupt and fetid landscape teetering on the brink of apocalypse. This is New York as Inferno, in which life is nothing more than a monotonous, poverty-ridden hell, where violence and nihilistic hedonism serve as temporary refuges for the desperate.
This seminar explores how an existence defined only by its meaninglessness creates a desire to rise above the masses, to be remembered and revered, where the perpetration of violence may serve as the catalyst for immortality—a state of being that came to define both the late twentieth century and early twenty-first.
Are you interested in “just” seeing this movie? Visit the public screening page here.
Cinema Classics Seminars offer an entertaining and engaging way to learn more about some of the true classics of world cinema. All students receive an introductory lecture before the film and a guided discussion after the film. In addition, those in attendance receive a ticket to see it on the big screen, as well as popcorn and a drink. Please note: the screening associated with this seminar will be open to the public, as well.
Please email BMFI Programs and Education Coordinator Jill Malcolm with any questions.
$25 for members, $35 for non-members
Schedule