Raging Bull is not a boxing movie. It’s a movie about an incredibly troubled man who happens to be a boxer. The same story could be told about a teacher, an accountant or any office drone. The fact that he’s a boxer adds some emotional resonance. A boxing movie would be about the process leading up to The Big Fight which the hero would win. Jake LaMotta, the main character in Raging Bull, is not a hero, and there is no The Big Fight. LaMotta is a man whose paranoia and rage leads him to alienate himself and everyone around him. The movie does not end with rousing music as he stands before an adoring crowd, but instead it ends with an overweight LaMotta about to perform bad stand-up comedy, as he shadowboxes in front of the mirror, perhaps playing this usual clichéd ending in his head.
Scorsese had nearly died of a drug overdose when Robert DeNiro finally came to him in his hospital room. DeNiro had been fascinated with the character of Jake LaMotta, and was trying to convince everyone around him that this was a film worth making. Scorsese finally agreed, seeing as his life could go nowhere but up. And up it went, my friends. Raging Bull is as close to perfect as movies get. In its day it was seen as merely very good, but by the end of the 80’s many critics selected it as the best film of the decade, and to this day many feel it is one of the best movies ever made. It is definitely one of Scorsese’s best films, and since I find Scorsese to be one of the best American directors of all time, by the transitive property it must be so.
There is no real plot to Raging Bull per se, but instead it acts as a character study of an incredibly disturbed man. The opening credits show Robert DeNiro’s Jake LaMotta in an empty boxing ring, the music making it feel more like a ballet than shadowboxing. After beginning with LaMotta practicing his comedy routine, we are thrust into the middle of a fight against Jimmy Reeves. This ends up being LaMotta’s first loss, and a riot ensues. He’s in the middle of a collapsing marriage, but soon he meets a young girl named Vickie. Jake begins to worry that Vickie is not being faithful to him, and after she makes a comment about the attractiveness of one of Jake’s opponents he destroys him in the ring.
Jake’s brother Joey (Joe Pesci) also works as Jake’s manager/agent/whateveryoucallit. He is the only person in the movie willing to stand up to Jake, and the only person Jake cares for. This makes it all the more heartbreaking for Jake when he accuses Joey of sleeping with Vickie. Jake does not use reason when it comes to women. He sees women as beautiful objects, but if the women are willing to sleep with him they must be willing to sleep with other men, at which point they are monsters. Many see Raging Bull as an incredibly accurate portrayal of what causes men to beat their wives, and he vents much of his frustration in the ring.
The performances are perfect all around, but then again so is the film. The most obvious is DeNiro, who at one point put on 70 pounds to portray a post-boxing LaMotta. DeNiro in his best years committed to his roles as no actor ever has. Part after part DeNiro completely immersed himself in the universe and personality of his characters. Just watch him work in Raging Bull for 5 minutes and at no point will it occur to you this is the same guy who did Travis Bickle, the young Vito Corleone, or the dad from Meet the Parents (a film just a notch below Raging Bull). Many actors can adapt to their parts, but few can transform like Robert DeNiro once did.
The film is stuffed to the brim with the usual Scorsesian energy and brilliance. The dialogue comes out of the characters’ mouths with the usual and realistic clumsiness. There are few poetic lines, but many that ring true. Raging Bull was filmed in black and white for several reasons. One was to set the film apart from the color film pack, another was to give it the feel of the period, and the last because of all the blood that would have been onscreen during the fight scenes. Black and white makes it all the more primal, but much less graphic. In these scenes Scorsese never focuses on the audience. We’re not here to be a spectator to the boxing, but to witness the life of LaMotta. The editing by Thelma Schoonmaker, Scorsese’s longtime collaborator, nearly spins our heads off as if we had just been hit by a right hook.
No words I write on this film can do it justice, which is why you may find it to be one of my less descriptive posts. All I can do is get on my knees and beg you to see this movie. There is so much I could talk about, but instead I will merely end it here. See it, and admire its energy, its passion and its tragedy. Admire DeNiro give another performance the likes of which you may never see again. This is a film that will be around for a long, long time. At least for as long as we have taste.
Summer of Scorsese
Original Post
Goodfellas
Taxi Driver
After Hours
Gangs of New York
Mean Streets
Casino
Raging Bull
The Departed (My Favorite Movies)
Shutter Island (Review)
Up next: Bringing Out the Dead
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