Continuing in its fast-evolving tradition of showing classic films, The State Theatre will present Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver on Sunday.

This is the first of nine films in which Robert DeNiro acts under director Scorsese.

The film also stars Cybill Shepard, the late Peter Boyle, Jodie Foster and Harvey Keitel.

Taxi Driver tells a story through the eyes of Travis Bickle (DeNiro), a cab driver and Vietnam veteran whose insomnia personifies the "city that never sleeps."

Seeing New York City through his cab's windshield, Bickle disapproves of what the city has become and claims that one day the streets will come clean in one fell swoop.

His disgust turns to violence as he attempts to bring justice to his world in all the wrong ways.

Though the film's initial release was met with mixed reviews because of the brutal violence and realistic portrayal of violence and mental illness in everyday life, it still stands as a triumph in direction, acting, editing and score.

Taxi Driver is among many of the benchmark films of the 1970s and has garnered critical acclaim since it's release.

With 4 Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Robert DeNiro, Taxi Driver also won The Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival and started the careers of many of the individuals involved in the production.

DeNiro's fiery yet equally low-key performance is said to this day to be the precedent for current award-winning actors.

Jodie Foster's role as a 12-year-old prostitute who Bickle attempts to take out of the streets brought her an Oscar nomination, starting her career as an award-worthy actress.