scenes that feel reworked from Schrader ’ s script for Scorsese ’ s finest film : the protagonist ’ s humiliation by an angelic female love interest ; a violent political cause adopted by someone who doesn ’ t fully understand what he ’ s striking out against ; a plea for guidance from a father figure with no good advice to give ( Cedric Kyles ’ hucksterish Abundant
He may be of a Protestant faith , but with his stern haircut , flowing black gown and gaunt features , it ’ s impossible not to compare Hawke ’ s Toller with the Catholic priests played by Montgomery Clift , Claude Laydu and Michel Piccoli in Hitchcock ’ s I Confess , Bresson ’ s Diary of a Country Priest and Buñuel ’ s Death in the Garden respectively . It ’ s Bresson ’ s
First Reformed is a spiritual sequel to Taxi Driver , and I ’ m sorry if that sounds like an unintentional pun .
Love pastor filling in for Peter Boyle ’ s veteran cabbie , advising Toller not to spend so much time in ‘ the garden ’); and a protagonist with a diet of alcohol poured on corn flakes . There isn ’ t a figure like Jodie Foster ’ s teenage prostitute that Toller naively attempts to save ; rather there ’ s Mary , who wants Toller to save her , but he ’ s too blinded by his fundamentalism to realise it . film that casts the largest shadow . Schrader heavily borrows its cancer subplot , along with the idea of a larger Church establishment straying from its core principles . There ’ s a touch of Daniel Day Lewis about Hawke ’ s performance here , and if Schrader ditched his film ’ s main plot and simply gave us two hours of Toller pottering about his church it would still be a contender for the