Friend or Foe?: Audience-Character Identification in Taxi Blues

Taxi Blues represents a daring post-Soviet film venture, breaching the “Jewish question” in a subtle, yet important, way. The characters Chlykov and Lyosha represent the opposite sides of the so-called spectrum between Russians and Jews, and the movie details the events following these characters’ inevitable clash. One aspect of disparity involves the extremeness of each of the characters: it is rather impossible to completely identify with the stoic, all-business Chlykov, or with the artistic, tortured-soul Lyosha. Indeed, there are also technical elements of the film that prevent audiences from getting too close to or too far away from the characters. Taxi Blues incorporates clever uses of shot perspective to moderate the audience’s identification with the main characters.

The opening scene provides the basis for audience identification with both Chlykov and Lyosha. There are several general proximity (they are in the same shot but not physically close) shots of Lyosha and Chlykov inside the car. From these shots, the audience has no particular closeness to either character and can judge objectively. Later on, though, there is a shot/reverse shot sequence, shifting back and forth between the points of view (p.o.v.) of Chlykov and Lyosha as they hold a dialogue. This technique allows the audience to see the world from each character’s eyes; thus, the story begins to become more subjective. This process in reinforced two scenes later, in the club bathroom where Chlykov confronts Lyosha and takes his saxophone. There is a series of p.o.v. shots, again shifting back and forth from the eyes of Chlykov to they eyes of Lyosha. This forces the audience to have a relationship with both characters. This aids the viewer in identifying personal traits that they (the viewers) have in common with each character, and sympathizing with each character’s personal predicament.

From this point onward, however, perspectives limit complete sympathy or animosity towards either character. This is displayed in a replacement of p.o.v. shots with individual close ups. When Chlykov is forcing Lyosha to wash his car, there are a series of individual close ups. These are disturbing because they are neither completely objective nor completely subjective. The viewer’s attention is forcibly focused on a specific character, but they are not given the luxury of a point of view from which to view that character. The audience has already established the similarities between themselves and each character, and they must watch as these same qualities are exploited and associated negatively. They are forced to view the face of the hard-working Chlykov after he has viciously beaten a group of teenagers. They are forced to see gifted Lyosha after he has wrestled his girlfriend into the bathroom for drugs.

Possibly the most uncomfortable perspectives, however, are close proximity shots (the characters are both in the shot and physically close to one another). Often the two men are touching (when Chlykov is rouging up Lyosha or when Chlykov carries and cares for the sick Lyosha) or in close quarters (when Lyosha strips for Chlykov to pay part of his debt). These types of shots create a fair amount of discomfort on the part of the audience; the viewer longs to identify with one character or the other, but is forced to view them in tandem, as if they are two parts of one whole. This idea is especially disturbing because it forces the audience not only to identify with parts of both characters, but also to recognize that, in having a connection with the characters, they also have a connection with everything good and bad about each character.

In sum, the variety of shots in Taxi Blues limits and forces audience identification with the main characters. P.o.v. shots allow the viewer to make positive and negative connections with the characters. Individual close-ups emphasize the established connections between audience and character, while preventing the audience from withdrawing from the relationship. Close proximity shots force the audience to recognize the necessity of identifying with both characters at the same time. The combination of these three types of shots creates an inescapable but also limited connection between the audience and both of the main characters.