Martin Scorsese's brutal character study incisively portrays the true rise and fall and redemption of middleweight boxer Jake La Motta, a violent man in and out of the ring who thrives on his ability (and desire) to take a beating. Opening with the spectacle of the over-the-hill La Motta (Robert De Niro) practicing his 1960s night-club act, the film flashes back to 1940s New York, when Jake's career is on the rise. Despite pressure from the local mobsters, Jake trusts his brother Joey (Joe Pesci) to help him make it to a ...
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Martin Scorsese's brutal character study incisively portrays the true rise and fall and redemption of middleweight boxer Jake La Motta, a violent man in and out of the ring who thrives on his ability (and desire) to take a beating. Opening with the spectacle of the over-the-hill La Motta (Robert De Niro) practicing his 1960s night-club act, the film flashes back to 1940s New York, when Jake's career is on the rise. Despite pressure from the local mobsters, Jake trusts his brother Joey (Joe Pesci) to help him make it to a title bout against Sugar Ray Robinson the honest way; the Mob, however, will not cave in. Jake gets the title bout, and blonde teenage second wife Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), but success does nothing to exorcise his demons, even as he channels his rage into boxing. Alienating Vickie and Joey, and disastrously gaining weight, Jake has destroyed his personal and professional lives by the 1950s. After he hits bottom, however, Jake emerges with a gleam of self-awareness, as he sits rehearsing Marlon Brando's On the Waterfront speech in his dressing room mirror: "I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody." Working with a script adapted by Mardik Martin and Paul Schrader from La Motta's memoirs, Scorsese and De Niro sought to make an uncompromising portrait of an unlikable man and his ruthless profession. Eschewing uplifting Rocky-like boxing movie conventions, their Jake is relentlessly cruel and self-destructive; the only peace he can make is with himself. Michael Chapman's stark black-and-white photography creates a documentary/tabloid realism; the production famously shut down so that De Niro could gain 50-plus pounds. Raging Bull opened in late 1980 to raves for its artistry and revulsion for its protagonist; despite eight Oscar nominations, it underperformed at the box office, as audiences increasingly turned away from "difficult" films in the late '70s and early '80s. The Academy concurred, passing over Scorsese's work for Best Director and Picture in favor of Robert Redford and Ordinary People, although De Niro won a much-deserved Oscar, as did the film's editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. Oscar or no Oscar, Raging Bull has often been cited as the best American film of the 1980s. Lucia Bozzola, Rovi
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Frank Adonis, Bernie Allen, Floyd Anderson (II), Rita Bennett (III), Joseph Bono. New. 1980 Run time: 129. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
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De Niro, Robert, Pesci, Joe. New. 2015 Run time: 129. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
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Mario Gallo, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto, Theresa Saldana, Frank Adonis, Joseph Bono, Frank... New. 2011 Run time: 129. 100% of this purchase will support literacy programs through a nonprofit organization!
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Martin Scorsese has directed many films showing the grit and passion found in the underside of American life. Among the best of his movies is "Raging Bull" (1980) which tells the story of middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta, played in a stunning performance by Robert De Niro. I loved the movie when it was released and have finally seen it again. The movie received little fanfare upon its initial release, but it soon achieved the stature of a classic.
Filmed in black and white, "Raging Bull" consists of brutally realistic fight scenes of LaMotta's tough fights with the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Tony Janiro, and Marcel Cerdan that may be famous to boxing fans. The film centers around a fight LaMotta threw at the behest of his Mafia handlers to a fighter named Billy Fox. Throwing the fight plagued LaMotta for the rest of his life. LaMotta himself coached DeNiro in the fight scenes. LaMotta proved himself hard, tough, and vindictive in the ring.
LaMotta's brutality in the ring is mirrored in his life outside. The film develops LaMotta's relationship with his brother, Joey,(Joe Pesci) who served as his manager, and with his wife Vickie (Cathy Moriarty). Pesci and Moriarty were unknowns and both turned in stellar performances. Jealous, paranoid, and violent, Jake LaMotta was his own worst enemy as he abuses and groundlessly suspects both his wife and brother throughout the film. For most of the film, LaMotta is portrayed as a brutal, bullying,and unstable.
The film captures the raw world of professional boxing, with its pervasive criminal element. It is difficult not to be fascinated. Scenes of shabby streets and rooms alternate with scenes at posh night clubs and with the anger unleashed in the ring. The music score, which ranges from Italian opera to 1940's standards, to the doo-wop song "Lonely Nights" by an early girl group called the Hearts is integrated seamlessly into the film.
After he retires from the ring, LaMotta gets in serious legal difficulty and is imprisoned. But the film shows an individual who has a degree of ability to reflect on his life and to achieve a measure of redemption. A Biblical passage at the end of the film suggests the possibility of forgiveness with time and repentance.
"Raging Bull" is a story about the harder parts of American life combining an unsparing message with the possibility of hope. I enjoyed revisiting the movie at last and remembering why I loved it when seeing it many years ago.
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