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Wie ein wilder Stier (1980) Online

Wie ein wilder Stier (1980) Online
1980 Robert De Niro Cathy Moriarty Joe Pesci Martin Scorsese
Original Title :
Raging Bull
Genre :
Movie / Biography / Drama / Sport
Year :
1980
Directror :
Martin Scorsese
Cast :
Robert De Niro,Cathy Moriarty,Joe Pesci
Writer :
Jake LaMotta,Joseph Carter
Budget :
$18,000,000
Type :
Movie
Time :
2h 9min
Rating :
8.2/10

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The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring destroys his life outside of it.

Wie ein wilder Stier (1980) Online

When Jake LaMotta steps into a boxing ring and obliterates his opponent, he's a prizefighter. But when he treats his family and friends the same way, he's a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment. Though LaMotta wants his family's love, something always seems to come between them. Perhaps it's his violent bouts of paranoia and jealousy. This kind of rage helped make him a champ, but in real life, he winds up in the ring alone.
Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro Robert De Niro - Jake La Motta
Cathy Moriarty Cathy Moriarty - Vickie La Motta
Joe Pesci Joe Pesci - Joey
Frank Vincent Frank Vincent - Salvy
Nicholas Colasanto Nicholas Colasanto - Tommy Como
Theresa Saldana Theresa Saldana - Lenore
Mario Gallo Mario Gallo - Mario
Frank Adonis Frank Adonis - Patsy
Joseph Bono Joseph Bono - Guido
Frank Topham Frank Topham - Toppy
Lori Anne Flax Lori Anne Flax - Irma
Charles Scorsese Charles Scorsese - Charlie - Man with Como
Don Dunphy Don Dunphy - Himself - Radio Announcer for Dauthuille Fight
Bill Hanrahan Bill Hanrahan - Eddie Eagan
Rita Bennett Rita Bennett - Emma - Miss 48's

When the real Jake LaMotta saw the movie, he said it made him realize for the first time what a terrible person he had been. He asked the real Vicki LaMotta "Was I really like that?". Vicki replied "You were worse."

In 1978, when Martin Scorsese was at an all-time low due to a near overdose resulting from an addiction to cocaine, Robert De Niro visited him at the hospital, and told him that he had to clean himself up and make this movie about a boxer. At first, Scorsese refused (he didn't like sports movies anyway), but due to De Niro's persistence, he eventually gave in. Many claim (including Scorsese) that De Niro saved Scorsese's life by getting him back into work.

The reasons why the film was made in black and white were mainly to differentiate it from Rocky (1976), as well as for period authenticity. Another reason was that Martin Scorsese didn't want to depict all that blood in a color picture. Also, in the book, Jake LaMotta says "Now, sometimes, at night, when I think back, I feel like I'm looking at an old black and white movie of myself. Why it should be black and white I don't know, but it is."

In preparation for his role, Robert De Niro went through extensive physical training, then entered in three genuine Brooklyn boxing matches and won two of them.

When Martin Scorsese visited some boxing matches, he was immediately struck by two images: the blood-soaked sponge wiped across the fighter's back, and the pendulous drops of blood hanging off the ropes.

Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are really punching each other in the famous "hit me" scene.

Robert De Niro did as many as one thousand rounds, when training with the real Jake LaMotta. He thought De Niro had what it took to become a professional contender.

Robert De Niro accidentally broke Joe Pesci's rib in a sparring scene. This shot appears in the film: De Niro hits Pesci in the side, Pesci groans, and there is a quick cut to another angle.

To achieve the feeling of brotherhood between the two lead actors, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci lived and trained with each other for some time before filming began. Ever since then, the two have been very close friends.

Sound effects for punches landing were made by squashing melons and tomatoes. Sound effects for camera flashes going off were sounds of gunshots. The original tapes were deliberately destroyed by the sound technician Frank E. Warner, to prevent them being used again.

To show up better on black-and-white film, Hershey's chocolate was used for blood.

Martin Scorsese shunned the idea of filming the boxing scenes with multiple cameras. Instead, he planned months of carefully choreographed movements with one camera. He wanted the single camera to be like "a third fighter".

The scene where Vicki LaMotta is first introduced to Jake LaMotta by the chain-linked fence was completely improvised by Cathy Moriarty and Robert De Niro.

The film was edited in Martin Scorsese's New York City apartment every night after filming for the day had finished.

Martin Scorsese had trouble figuring out how he would cut together the last fight between Jake LaMotta and Sugar Ray Robinson (in particular when he is up against the ropes getting beaten). He used the original shot-list from the shower sequence in Psicosis (1960) to help him figure it out. Scorsese later commented that it helped most in that the scene was the most horrific to him.

Robert De Niro gained a record sixty pounds to play the older Jake LaMotta, and Joe Pesci lost weight for the same scene (De Niro's movie weight gain record was subsequently broken by Vincent D'Onofrio, who gained seventy pounds for his role as Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence in La chaqueta metálica (1987)).

The real Jake LaMotta was partially deaf for most of his life, so most of his anger came out of not understanding what people were saying. He had a thirty percent use in his right ear, and seventy percent in the left.

The Biblical quote at the end of the film ("All that I know is that I was blind, and now I can see") was a reference to Martin Scorsese's film professor, to whom the film was dedicated. The man died just before the film was released. Scorsese credits his teacher with helping him "to see".

United Artists was very frustrated by the amount of time Martin Scorsese took during post-production, thinking he was unnecessarily slow. Scorsese took unusual care, as he genuinely believed that Toro salvaje (1980) would be his last film, and so he didn't want to compromise his vision. Conversely, as he neared completion, he also felt that the film was a form of cinematic rebirth for him. For this reason, he dedicated the film to his film professor (from New York University) Haig Manoogian "with love and resolution". Manoogian had helped Scorsese get his first film produced.

Robert De Niro read the autobiography of Jake LaMotta while filming El padrino: Parte II (1974) and immediately saw the potential for a film to make with his collaborator, Martin Scorsese. It took over four years for De Niro to convince everyone, including Scorsese, to get on-board for this film.

Joe Pesci, at the time a frustrated, struggling actor, had to be persuaded to make the film rather than return to the musical act he shared with fellow actor Frank Vincent.

Jake (Robert De Niro) asks Joey (Joe Pesci) "Did you fuck my wife?" Martin Scorsese didn't think that Pesci's reaction was strong enough, so he asked De Niro to say "Did you fuck your mother?" Scorsese also did not tell Pesci that the script called for him to be attacked.

To visually achieve Jake's growing desperation and diminishing stature, Martin Scorsese shot the later boxing scenes in a larger ring.

On March 31, 1981, Robert De Niro's Best Actor Oscar win created a rarity in the Academy's history, in that the real-life Jake LaMotta was in the audience witnessing the victory. That same evening, Sissy Spacek won her first Best Actress Oscar for playing singer Loretta Lynn (Quiero ser libre (1980)) who was also in the pavilion audience, making the gala event unique.

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #4 Greatest Movie of All Time.

This differs radically from other boxing movies like Rocky (1976) and Cuerpo y alma (1981), in that the camera was inside the ring for the fight scenes, not outside the ropes.

No original music was composed for the film. All of the music was taken from the works of an Italian composer named Pietro Mascagni. Martin Scorsese selected it because it had a quality of sadness to it that he felt fit the mood of the film.

Martin Scorsese was, at one stage, so startled by Robert De Niro's weight gain that he shut down production, fearing for the actor's health.

Most of the fight scenes were shot through an intense light source to obtain a slight mirage within the image.

Jake LaMotta's brother Joseph sued the production for two and a half million dollars, for the film's alleged unflattering depiction of him.

When Paul Schrader was working on the script, he put in numerous shocking moments, such as Jake LaMotta masturbating and dipping his penis into a bucket of ice. Schrader later admitted that the film held less personal significance to him than it did for Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese and he added the shocking material just to see what he could get past the studio. Ultimately, the masturbation was cut and, instead of putting his penis into the ice, LaMotta poured the ice down his underwear.

The majority of the film, with Jake LaMotta as a younger man, including the boxing scenes, were shot first. Then production shut down for several months, giving Robert De Niro enough time to bulk up for his role as the older, and much fatter LaMotta. In those months, De Niro gained sixty pounds, practically eating his way through Europe with big meals. De Niro, at one point, would eat a dinner heavy in pasta, and drink it down with a vanilla milkshake before going to bed. It was his idea to do it this way. These scenes were generally shot with the minimum of takes, as De Niro would become exhausted much more quickly.

It was claimed in this film that Jake LaMotta was never knocked down, but in real-life, LaMotta was knocked down by Danny Nardico, in a fight in Coral Gables, Florida.

Paul Schrader was directing Hardcore: un mundo oculto (1979), when Robert De Niro talked to him about needing help with a script. The first thing Schrader did was drive down to Key West and check the archives of a local newspaper. It was there that he learned that there were two LaMottas, something which is not referenced in Jake LaMotta's autobiography. That was when Schrader knew he had found the hook for the screenplay.

The original script was vetoed by Producer Steven Bach after he told Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro that Jake LaMotta was "a cockroach". De Niro and Scorsese took a few weeks in Italy to do an uncredited re-write of the script, during which time, the two found some sympathetic aspects of LaMotta, which eventually satisfied the producers.

Cathy Moriarty's hair was set with corn syrup, which caused problems in the exterior scenes, because bees were attracted to it.

According to Martin Scorsese, the script took only two weeks to write on the island of St. Martin in the Caribbean.

Ranked #1 on the American Film Institute's list of the ten greatest films in the genre "Sports", in June 2008.

The boxing scenes amount to barely ten minutes of the film's running time.

LaMotta's color family house movie sequence was personally scraped by Martin Scorsese with a coat hanger to ensure a rough, naturalistic feeling.

Of all of the great dramatic films in history, it was the great Buster Keaton's comedy El boxeador (1926) that was one of Martin Scorsese's biggest inspirations in getting the "feel" of the boxing scenes just right, particularly (and most likely) from Keaton's surprisingly realistic, climactic fight. As quoted in the book "Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull" edited by Kevin J. Hayes (Cambridge University Press. Copyright 2005), Scorsese called Keaton "the only person who had the right attitude about boxing in the movies" for him.

Mardik Martin wrote the most traditional, linear script for the film (more of a traditional Jake LaMotta biography), but backed off on the project, due to exhaustion after several months of research. Paul Schrader made several changes to the script, including making, Joey LaMotta, Jake's brother, the second most prominent character (by combining his actions with that of Jake's friend, Peter Savage) and starting the story in the middle of LaMotta's career, rather than at the beginning. Although they kept Schrader's overall structure, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro spent five weeks re-writing his version of the script until they had exactly the film they wanted (Scorsese and De Niro are uncredited as screenwriters for the film).

This marked the first time since his first film ¿Quién llama a mi puerta? (1967) that Martin Scorsese was able to work with his film school friend Thelma Schoonmaker, due to her having been denied membership in the then all-male Motion Picture Editors Guild.

Thelma Schoonmaker's husband, Director Michael Powell, was consulted about the weight gain scenes. In Powell's Vida y muerte del coronel Blimp (1943), the lead character gets significantly bigger during the course of the movie. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro were curious how Roger Livesey had achieved that effect. Powell informed them that Livesay had gotten bigger through careful use of camera angles, shaving his hair to make his head appear larger, and judicious use of padding. Scorsese and De Niro felt that the film was too realistic to get away with that kind of effect, so the decision was made for De Niro to physically bulk up through overeating.

Although only a few minutes of boxing appear in the movie, they were so precisely choreographed that they took six weeks to film.

While preparing to play Jake LaMotta, Robert De Niro met with LaMotta and became very well acquainted with him. They spent the entire shoot together, so De Niro could portray his character accurately. LaMotta said that De Niro has the ability to be a contender, and that he would have been happy to be his manager and trainer.

Cathy Moriarty's film debut.

According to Martin Scorsese on the DVD, when first screening some test 8mm footage of Robert De Niro sparring in a ring, he felt that something was off about the image. Michael Powell, who at that time had become something of a mentor and good friend to Scorsese, suggested that it was the color of the gloves that was throwing them off. Realizing this was true, Scorsese then decided the movie had to be filmed in black and white.

Meeting resistance from United Artists about making a boxing film with a dark anti-hero, producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff refused to tolerate making Rocky II (1979) until Toro salvaje (1980) was approved.

Neither Director of Photography Michael Chapman nor Martin Scorsese could get the right look for the amateur LaMotta home movies that comprise the only color sequences in this movie. Both men gave in to their natural instincts for camera placement and framing, which was the antithesis of what they wanted to achieve. They solved the problem by asking Teamsters working on the set to handle the camera, in order to give the 16mm film the appropriate feel of amateur home movies.

The rooftop wedding scene was directed by Martin Scorsese's father Charles Scorsese after he fell ill while filming.

According to Director of Photography Michael Chapman, the actual fight scenes were filmed at the normal rate of twenty-four frames per second. For scenes where Jake retires to his corner between rounds, Chapman gradually overcranked his camera by "ear", from twenty-four up to forty-eight frames per second as Jake walked away (simultaneously adjusting the diaphragm to maintain exposure consistency), and then reversed procedure as Jake emerged from his corner to resume fighting, all in one shot. For the scene where Jake is doused with water in his corner, Chapman overcranked anywhere from ninety-six to one hundred twenty frames per second.

The opening sequence, in which Jake prances around a ring in slow motion, featured the lighting from photographers' flashes. There was only person setting off the flash bulbs, and that was Director of Photography Michael Chapman running around in the ring in a black velor tracksuit.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK (Martin Scorsese): (beating): In each Scorsese movie featuring both of them, Frank Vincent and Joe Pesci beat one another. In this movie and Uno de los nuestros (1990), Pesci's character beats Vincent. Vincent finally gets revenge by beating Pesci in Casino (1995).

United Artists was unable to actively promote this movie for awards consideration, as it was then embroiled in serious financial trouble following the La puerta del cielo (1980) debacle.

Jodie Foster didn't audition for this movie. Producers didn't find her suitable for the character of Vickie, and considered her as too young and tomboyish. Despite that, she still wanted to get the role. Most likely because of her admiration for Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese's work. Her mom thought about a way to convince the producers that Jodie was no longer the girl from Viernes loco (1976) or Taxi Driver (1976) anymore, but a young woman. The result was a session with photographer Emilio Lari at a rented estate in Los Angeles in the Summer of 1978, when Jodie Foster was fifteen-years-old. The pictures taken here later found their (unauthorized) way to adult magazines during the John Hinckley aftermath.

Was voted the 4th best film of all time in AFI's 10th anniversary of the 100 Years... 100 Movies series.

Martin Scorsese was worried about the La ley del silencio (1954) recitation because he knew he'd be inviting critical comparison between the scene in this film and the original film's scene. Robert De Niro read it in various ways. Scorsese chose the take in which the recitation is extremely flat, specifically to mute the comparison, and to suggest that it is simply a recitation, and not indicative of how Jake LaMotta felt about his brother.

According to Producer Irwin Winkler, he and Robert De Niro didn't have many creative disagreements on the film, save for when De Niro wanted to gain the weight to look like the older Jake LaMotta. Winkler, fearing for the actor's health, had objected and suggested the use of prosthetics and make-up, as they had money in the budget. But as a method actor who wanted to stay true to the real-life subject, De Niro opted to gain the weight required.

It was based on the strength of their performances in the low budget The Death Collector (1976) that Martin Scorsese decided to cast Joe Pesci and Frank Vincent.

The home movie sequences were in color, to make them stand out from the rest of the film. Another reason was the feeling of reality, because at that particular time, represented by the home movies, 8mm color home movie cameras were very popular.

Martin Scorsese claims that nothing should be read into his using the La ley del silencio (1954) quote. Jake LaMotta, in his declining years, used to appear on stage reciting dialogue from television plays, and even reading William Shakespeare. According to Scorsese, he'd planned to use something from "Richard III" (because in the corresponding real-life event, LaMotta used it), but Michael Powell suggested that "Richard III" wouldn't work in the context of the film, because the film in general, and LaMotta in particular, are inherently American. Scorsese picked the lines from "On the Waterfront", which was a favorite recital source for LaMotta in real-life.

Sharon Stone also auditioned for the role of Vicki LaMotta. She would eventually work with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro in Casino (1995).

Jake LaMotta's autobiography, co-written with friend Peter Savage, omitted mention of his brother, as did Mardik Martin's original screenplay. Unhappy with the result, the producers hired Paul Schrader to restructure it, and in the course of doing research on LaMotta, the writer came across an article on the relationship between Jake and his brother Joey. Schrader incorporated the relationship into the revised screenplay, co-opting the Savage character, and creating a composite of the two men in the person of Joey LaMotta. That relationship became the central plot theme in the revised screenplay, and one of the primary reasons for the film's success.

As of October 2015, Cathy Moriarty has still never seen the film in its entirety. According to an interview in the Guardian, she has only seen parts of it. It's not just this film, she's never seen most of the films she's been in.

Cinematographer Michael Chapman drew inspiration for his monochrome camerawork from the famous Weegee snapshots of 1950s New York City.

Michelle Pfeiffer auditioned unsuccessfully for a supporting role with Robert De Niro in Los Angeles.

Was voted the 5th Greatest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

DIRECTOR CAMEO (Martin Scorsese): Asking Jake LaMotta to go on stage.

The first of three movies where Editor Thelma Schoonmaker won an Oscar for a Martin Scorsese movie. The others being El aviador (2004) and Infiltrados (2006).

According to Martin Scorsese on the DVD commentary, this was going to be one of eight boxing movies to come out in 1980.

The cross that once hung over Martin Scorsese's parents' bed can be seen hanging over Jake LaMotta and Vicki LaMotta's bed.

The first of seven movies Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci made together. The others being Érase una vez en América (1984), Uno de los nuestros (1990), Una historia del Bronx (1993), Casino (1995), El buen pastor (2006), and The Irishman (2018).

Robert De Niro kept a copy of Pauline Kael's scathing review of the film with his penned in retorts such as "So?", "That's the point!"

Robert De Niro's performance as Jake LaMotta is ranked #10 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

The word "fuck" is used one hundred fourteen times in this film.

Nicholas Colasanto's character, Tommy Como, is based on the real-life mobster Frank Carbo, who basically ran all boxing in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. He eventually was sent to prison for conspiracy and extortion after being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

The La ley del silencio (1954) monologue, recited by Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta, was originally spoken in its respective film by Marlon Brando. Brando and De Niro are the two actors to have portrayed Vito Corleone in El padrino (1972) and El padrino: Parte II (1974).

John Turturro makes his film debut as the man at table at Webster Hall. Turturro and Robert De Niro have played characters named Billy Sunday. De Niro as Master Chief Leslie W. "Billy" Sunday in Hombres de honor (2000), and Turturro as Coach Billy Sunday in Una mala jugada (1998).

The role of Jake LaMotta's wife was the last to be cast.

Joe Pesci is six months older than Robert De Niro, despite playing his younger brother.

Frank Vincent also played a character named Batts in Martin Scorsese's Uno de los nuestros (1990).

Irwin Winkler raised money for this movie by getting people in assisted living homes to be extras in the fighting scenes, and auctioning off radios and other props to them between takes.

Executives at United Artists were very reluctant to finance the film, as they were perturbed by the extreme profanity and violence in the screenplay. With some justification, as it transpired: at one point, it was doubtful whether the film would be released in the UK at all, due to its extreme nature.

Was voted the third greatest sports movie of all time after Rocky (1976) and Los búfalos de Durham (1988) by ESPN.

The first film from the 80's to be inducted into the National Film Registry.

Robert De Niro gave Martin Scorsese the book Raging Bull in 1974, during the time, Scorsese was working on Alicia ya no vive aquí (1974).

The scenes of the younger Jake LaMotta begin with his first professional loss in a fight against Jimmy Reeves. That fight took place on September 24, 1941 when Jake LaMotta was just 19 years old. At the time these scenes were filmed, Robert DeNiro was 35.

Beverly D'Angelo auditioned for the role of Jake's wife, Vicki LaMotta. She also auditioned for the role of Patsy Cline in Quiero ser libre (1980) at around the same time. Martin Scorsese chose Cathy Moriarty (whom the producers saw before D'Angelo), freeing D'Angelo to appear in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980).

Producer Irwin Winkler first became involved in the film in 1975. It took roughly five years for the script to be finalized.

According to the book "The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History" by J. Piazza and G. Kinn (2008), "All the action on the set of Toro salvaje (1980) was shut down for four months so that Robert de Niro could keep it going in his digestive system. He gained fifty-six pounds."

The film takes place in 1941, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1964.

Part of a cycle of ring fighter movies, mostly boxing, some wrestling, initiated by the box-office and critical success of the Academy Award Best Picture winning boxing movie Rocky (1976). The films include Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), El hombre más duro (1983), Title Shot (1979), Toro salvaje (1980), Campeón (1979), Super Rocky (1978), Combate de fondo (1979), The Prize Fighter (1979), Yo, el mejor (1977), Cuerpo y alma (1981), La cocina del infierno (1978), Chicas con gancho (1981), Soy único (1978), Duro de pelar (1978), and La gran pelea (1980).

This was the first of three times Martin Scorsese worked with Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Frank Vincent in the same movie. The others being Uno de los nuestros (1990) and Casino (1995).

The boxing scenes were originally scheduled to be filmed over a period of five weeks. However, because of the way that Martin Scorsese designed to film them shot by shot, the filming of the fight scenes went over twice the length to ten weeks.

Jake LaMotta was childhood friends with Rocky Graziano, whose life was also made into a movie, "Somebody Up There Likes Me", starring Paul Newman. LaMotta and Graziano attended reform school together.

This was the first Martin Scorsese film edited by Thelma Schoonmaker.

Martin Scorsese taught Spike Lee film directing at New York University. Spike's first movie, Nola Darling (1986), was filmed entirely in black and white, except for one scene in color. This film was also filmed entirely in black and white, except for one scene in color.

Robert De Niro and Cathy Moriarty appeared in Analyze That (2002).

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

Another well-known film to feature "Cavalleria Rusticana - Intermezzo" on the soundtrack, was El padrino: Parte III (1990).

Joey LaMotta first appears in the film during the scenes from the September 1941 fight between Jake LaMotta & Jimmy Reeves. At that time, Joey LaMotta was just 16, more than 20 years younger than the actor portraying him, Joe Pesci.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

This is the second time Robert De Niro has worked with Cinematographer Michael Chapman. The first time was on Taxi Driver (1976).

This film was selected into the National Film Registry in 1990 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"

Included among the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the Top 100 Greatest American Movies.

Joey LaMotta's phone number is 555-2463.

Charles Scorsese: Martin Scorsese's father is one of the mob wiseguys crowding the LaMotta brothers at a Copa nightclub table.

The television commentary during Jake LaMotta's last fight with Sugar Ray Robinson, when he loses the title, is the real broadcast of the bout.

In his DVD commentary, screenwriter Paul Schrader expresses a very different analysis of Jake La Motta from the one held by Scorsese and De Niro. While they thought of Raging Bull as a redemption story (as expressed in the closing bible passage), Schrader, in his own words "did not think that La Motta had achieved any redemption". In reference to the bible quote, he adds: "I thought Marty [Scorsese] was trying to get somewhere with that quote that he hadn't gotten to in the text of the film itself."


User reviews

Fhois

Fhois

"Raging Bull" isn't the average, stereotypical underdog boxing movie, because it isn't really about boxing at all. Like most great movies, its focus is much deeper. It came out in 1980, earned Robert De Niro a Best Actor Academy Award, and was marked down as another solid triumph by director Martin Scorsese, whose previous 1976 outing with De Niro earned them both critical acclaim (and for De Niro, an Oscar nomination, although he would actually earn an Oscar for "Raging Bull" four years later).

It dwindled in production hell for quite some time, with Scorsese's drug use halting production and only the duo's strong willpower that kept the project moving ahead. It was after De Niro read boxer Jake LaMotta's memoirs that he knew he wanted to make the film, so Scorsese and De Niro turned to Paul Schrader for a script. Schrader, who had previously written "Taxi Driver" (1976), agreed, and wrote the screenplay for them. The rest is history.

"Raging Bull" has often been regarded as the greatest film of the 80s. To be honest, I'm not so sure about that, since various genres offer different feelings and emotions (comparing this to a comedy might seem rather silly). But to say it is one of the most powerful films of all time would be no gross overstatement -- it is superb film-making at its finest.

De Niro gained 60 pounds to play LaMotta, which was an all-time record at the time (later beaten by Vincent D'Onofrio, who gained 70 pounds for Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket"). His physical transformation is on-par with any great screen makeover, especially the most recent, ranging from Willem Dafoe in "Shadow of the Vampire" to Charlize Theron in "Monster." In addition, co-star Joe Pesci also lost weight for his role of Joey, LaMotta's short, eccentric brother. The greatest scene in the film is when LaMotta accuses his brother of having an affair with his wife. The tension is raw, the dialogue amazing, and the overall intensity electrifying.

The film is most often compared to "Rocky," more than any other, apparently because they both concern a certain level of boxing. As much as I absolutely adore "Rocky," "Raging Bull" is a deeper, more realistic film. But whereas "Raging Bull" is raw, "Rocky" is inspiring, and that is one of the reasons I do not think these two very different motion pictures deserve comparison, for the simple fact that they are entirely separate from one another. The only connecting thread is the apparently central theme of boxing, which is used as a theme in "Rocky," and a backdrop in "Raging Bull." They're entirely different motion pictures -- one uplifting, the other somewhat depressing -- and the people who try to decide which is better need to seriously re-evaluate their reasons for doing so. They both succeed splendidly well at what they are trying to do, and that's all I have to say about their so-called connection.

De Niro, who could justifiably be called the greatest actor of all time, is at the top of his game here. In "Taxi Driver" he displayed a top-notch performance. He wasn't just playing Travis Bickle -- he was Travis Bickle. And here he is Jake LaMotta, the infamous boxer known for his abusive life style and somewhat paranoid delusions during his reign as world middleweight boxing champion, 1949 - 1951. Throughout the film, he beats his wife (played expertly and convincingly by the 19-year-old Cathy Moriarty), convinced that she is cheating on him, and that is more or less what the film is truly about. The boxing is just what he does for a living, and could be considered as a way to release some of his deeper, harbored anger.

LaMotta has a close relationship with Joey, his brother, and their interaction is often what elevates the film above others of its genre. The dialogue is great, close to the perfection of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," rich in that rapid-fire filthy language and brutal insults. Pesci, who was on the verge of quitting showbiz at the time of pre-production, was spotted by De Niro in a cheap B-movie named "The Death Collector" (1975), a.k.a. "Family Business," a truly horrid film that nevertheless showcased an early sign of things to come for Pesci. De Niro wanted him for the movie and his premonition was either very lucky or very wise -- this is one of the best performances of Pesci's entire career.

Scorsese shot the film in muted black and white, portraying a certain era of depression and misery. To make the blood show up on screen during the occasional fight scenes, Scorsese used Hershey's Syrup -- which is an interesting tidbit of trivia for any aspiring film-making planning on filming a violent movie in black and white. But how often does that happen?

This is certainly one of the most intense films Scorsese has directed, and one of the most important of his career. Along with "Taxi Driver," it is an iconic motion picture that will stand the test of time for years and years to come.

Scorsese and De Niro's partnership over the years has resulted in some of the most influential and utterly amazing motion pictures of all time: "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver," "The King of Comedy," "Goodfellas" and "Casino" come to mind almost instantly. But perhaps the one single title that will be remembered as their most daring effort is "Raging Bull," a motion picture so utterly exhilarating that it defies description. It is simply a masterpiece for the mind and senses, leaving you knocked out cold after its brutal one-two punch. If I had to assemble a list of required viewing, this would be up there towards the top.
Venemarr

Venemarr

The first surprising thing about Raging Bull as a film is its black and white photography, with the only colour footage being the short home video sequence of La Motta's wedding. Originally, the decision to shoot the film in black and white was based specifically on cinematographer Michael Chapman and Martin Scorsese's memories of 1940's boxing bouts, which they remembered as black and white flash photos in magazines. People's memories of Jake La Motta's fights would have been black and white ones and therefore it seemed right to shoot in black and white, even though at first they had fears this would be seen as too pretentious. The particular visual intensity of the fight scenes, however, was partly due to financial difficulties rather than directorial choices. In an attempt to keep the picture on schedule, two separate lighting styles had to be adopted. Jake's life outside the ring would be kept as simple as possible, and this meant that the scenes in the ring could be concentrated on more. They would be shot entirely in the Los Angeles studio and would be highly stylised. This is how the dazzling visual nature of the fight scenes was allowed to come about. Scorsese, suffering from a low point in his career, was convinced this film would be his last and wanted to go out with a bang. Hence he decided to give the fighting scenes all he could, since he had nothing to lose anymore.

What Scorsese disliked about the previous boxing films he had seen was the way the fights were shown from ringside, adopting a spectator's view, which protected the audience from the brutality inside the ring. For Raging Bull, Scorsese was determined to get as close as possible to the raw violence of the fights. He would film inside the ring and make the audience feel every punch. His plan was to shoot the fight scenes as if the viewers were the fighter, and their impressions were the fighter's, and never to insulate the audience from the violence in the ring. The viewers would think, feel, see and hear everything the boxers would. Aside from the opening fight, La Motta's first professional defeat against Jimmy Reeves, there would be no cuts to the baying of the crowd. For the Reeves fight Scorsese chose to include some chaotic backlash from the crowd showing their disapproval of the judge's decision, but apart from this scene, Scorsese's mantra throughout the film was 'Stay in the ring'. Each intricately choreographed fight would have a different style in order to reflect La Motta's different states of mind at the time of the fights.

Jake La Motta was consultant for the film, and the fights were depicted as he remembered them. For example, in his second fight against Sugar Ray Robinson, the ring is wide and brightened by the radiant white of the canvas making the scene feel free and open, and a relatively comfortable atmosphere. This is because La Motta won this fight, a great victory against his great rival. In contrast to this, the ring in his next fight against Robinson, which he lost on a controversial decision, was designed by Scorsese as a 'pit of hell'. In the opening shot of this fight, Scorsese has made everything look unclear and indistinguishable. This time, the ring is very dark and smoky which increases the blurred, unfocused feel of the fight. Often during this fight, faces are out of frame. For example when the two men are boxing La Motta's face is often blurred out by smoke or hidden by his opponent's body. This is seen once again when he is in his corner for the break in between the rounds; the shot has his face completely covered by one of the ropes of the ring. This was how La Motta himself remembered it; these events will remain unclear in his mind since he could not work out why he had lost. This sequence depicts a particularly upsetting part of La Motta's memories, and perfectly illustrates how he was feeling at the moment of the fight.

Just as important as the look of the film was the sound. As with the cinematography, two different styles were adopted to differentiate between La Motta's life in and out of the ring. The fight scenes were recorded in Dolby Stereo with heightened, often animalistic sound effects and a striking use of silence. This contrast with the dialogue in the film, which was recorded normally, was used to emphasise La Motta's heightened sense of awareness in the ring. The most memorable use of sound in the film, in particular the use of silence, is in La Motta's fourth fight against his great rival Sugar Ray Robinson. The rounds are punctuated by eery silence, giving an impression of slow motion and evoking the idea of what would be running through the boxers' heads. Just as memorable was the decision to use an animal's breathing for Robinson's final attack on La Motta. Everything is standing still, there is a striking silence throughout and all that can be heard is the bestial breathing building the suspense, as if Robinson was a lion about to strike on its prey. The next sequence is an extremely fast montage of cuts showing La Motta being badly beaten by Robinson. This scene moves between Robinson and La Motta at a rapid pace to suit the lightning fast boxing of which La Motta is on the receiving hand. This was carefully planned out and storyboarded beforehand by Scorsese and then skilfully brought to life by editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who won an Oscar for her work.
Hugifyn

Hugifyn

Easily one of the most powerful films I have ever seen. I have watched it at least ten times, and it only gets better and better with each viewing. Martin Scorsese is absolutely the greatest filmmaker of the last quarter century, and this film is his best. The story of how boxer Jake LaMotta watched his career and marriage crumble under the weight of his violent temper and deep-rooted misogyny is told with no punches pulled (excuse the bad pun), as Deniro (in what may be his best performance) and Scorsese unflinchingly explore what drove this man over the edge, and what ultimately may have pulled him back. The boxing scenes easily rank with the most brutal and violent moments ever put on film, shot in stark, unadorned black and white and utilizing unlikely sounds including shattering windows and animal cries to great effect. Thelma Schoonmaker's jarring, discordant editing in these scenes also deserves special mention. The scenes of domestic violence are not for the faint of heart, but there is really no other way to tell this story. If there is a more perfect exploration of why as men we act the way we do, then I'd love to see it, because this movie made me re-evaluate my life. 10/10
Foxanayn

Foxanayn

"Raging Bull" is a cinematic masterpiece which pulls no punches. Based on a true story, Robert De Niro (in his second Oscar-winning role) stars as Jake La Motta, a middle-weight prize-fighter from the late-1940s and early-1950s, who basically destroys himself and those around him because of an uncontrollable temper and poor decision-making. Instead of going down as one of the greatest boxers of all time, La Motta ruined his career because he was unable to see the "big picture". He threw bouts, he got involved with low-life underworld crime figures, he beat his wife (Cathy Moriarty, in her Oscar-nominated role), he abused all those closest to him, and he had relationships with young girls who were still considered minors. Even his strongest tie, his younger brother (Joe Pesci, in an Oscar-nominated, star-making part), gets cut during the course of his untimely self-destruction. La Motta goes from middle-weight champ to a washed-out stand-up comic at a local club. He gains weight uncontrollably and ultimately just becomes another face in the crowd by the end of the film. By the end, La Motta proclaims that he: "Could have been a contender....", quoting Marlon Brando's famous line from "On the Waterfront". "Raging Bull" is one of those films that is masterfully crafted in all possible departments. The screenplay is one of the best in the history of film. Martin Scorsese's direction is superb and so is the cinematography (shot almost entirely in black-and-white). The film delivered De Niro an Oscar and also won for its editing. "Raging Bull" is one of those films that is very close to "Citizen Kane". They both deal with men who desperately want to be great, but ultimately destroy themselves and those around them. This film is often rated the best film of the 1980s. I cannot argue with that opinion. I also think that this is the best work that Scorsese and De Niro have ever done. The fact that this film lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Ordinary People" in 1980 is probably the biggest disappointment since "Citizen Kane" lost to "How Green Was My Valley" in 1941. Excellent. 5 stars out of 5.
Cogelv

Cogelv

The story of boxer Jake La Motta from his rising star in the 1940's through to his own downfall and his eventual living on the cabaret circuit in the present day.

Scorsese and De Niro – nobody needs say any more. Whether it be media satire (King of Comedy), small time thugs (Mean Streets) or real gangsta s**t (Goodfellas), the two rarely miss. This was one of their best to date (and probably for ever). The story is fascinating in itself but as an examination of masculinity it excels. The film allows us to watch a man who goes along with all the things he thinks make him a man – even when those characteristics and habits begin to destroy everything he has – his marriage, his realtionships and his career. Combine this with the gripping boxing tale of ups and downs and you have a film that never outstays it's welcome.

Scorsese is on top form – the use of black and white any have been a quality issue, but he uses it well. The fight scenes are other worldly – exaggerated to the extent that it is breathtaking and more shocking than previous boxing scenes in other movies. My favourite effect is the sound editing in the fights where silence and calm seem to descend just before key moments…..amazing. The relationship stuff is also gripping and Scorsese handles he human cost just as well as he shows us the physical beatings.

De Niro is amazing – the method stuff alone is great, but his whole performance is intense. Similarly Moriaty, Pesci and Frank Vincent are excellent – however they all stand in De Niro's shadow.

Overall – an excellent film on so many levels, as a story, as a examination of masculinity, as a sports film, as a lesson in direction and editing…..this excels in so many ways – may it never drop out of the top ten from the twentieth century!
Thohelm

Thohelm

Raging Bull is one of Martin Scorsese's best films and with out a doubt the best film of the 80's. It follows the career of middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta as his career progresses but his emotional problems worsen.

The most notable feature in Raging Bull is the colour. All but the home Video footage is shot in black and white. This was a huge risk on Scorsase's part but it defiantly pays off, the film wouldn't feel the same had it been done in colour.

Throughout the entire film acting is simply impeccable. De Niro and Pesci are both stunning. The script is amazing, you really feel like you understand every character, none of their actions seem out of character no matter how outrageous they may be.

Scorsese's directing is stunning. He really is a very talented director and in Raging Bull it shows. The fight scenes are famous for their brutal realism and it's easy to see why. He puts you right in the ring with the fighters and you cant help but admire their technical brilliance. However, the most stunning aspect of all is Thelma Schoonmaker's editing. Its some of the best editing I've ever seen especially during the fight scenes where it's positively breathtaking.

No matter what happens you always find yourself sympathising with La Motta, even during his most outrageous moments. Not only is Raging Bull the greatest film to come out of the 80's but is one of the greatest this century that's highly underrated and defiantly worth owning.

10 out of 10
Dagdatus

Dagdatus

From the story of a one time middle weight champion of the world and his apparent necessity for internal conflict and self destruction, America's greatest director in the history of cinema has carved a masterpiece of a feature, teaming up with the greatest actor of his generation in order to establish what will no doubt go down in history as one of the most powerful films of all time. "Raging Bull", directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert deNiro in the brilliant performance that ensured him a well deserved Academy Award, is a raw feature film that will have you stunned at its conclusion and leave you reeling in your theatre, couch or bed until the final credit has finished rolling off the screen.

The film, adapted from another source, revolves around the rise and fall of Jake LaMotta (deNiro), an ambitious middle weight fighter who has struggled for years along with his manager brother (an unforgettable Joe Pesci) to get a shot at the title for the middle weight champion of the world. Frustrated with himself and the life that he's had to lead, LaMotta presents the complex mind of a self destructive man who's inhumanity and self-destructive nature push him away from all the people in the world that love him and ultimately transform him from a prize fighter into an overweight sleaze with nothing but the clothes on his back. From the flawless and gripping boxing scenes to the raw yet accurate portrayal of his abusive habits towards both his brother and wife, "Raging Bull" succeeds on absolutely every level.

DeNiro's performance in the film is unquestionably his finest piece of work in his own personal career, if not throughout the history of cinema altogether. Completely believable as a boxer, he furthermore went on a diet to put on 60 pounds for his scenes situated in the latter half of the film when he has hit rock bottom which is testament to both his dedication and his unparalleled skill of establishing a believable character. Joe Pesci is absolutely brilliant as his portrayal of Jake's brother, Joey LaMotta, and considering the fact that was one of his first feature films in the spotlight, he completely delivers a character who loves his brother unquestionably but who also has internal struggles regarding his own nature and his methods of dealing with his brother. I fell in love with Joe Pesci due to his performance here, and he is clearly one of the more talented and gifted actors within Hollywood.

Scorsese is also in top form, and you can feel his presence, his brilliance and his uncompromising dedication to showing you the real life and times of Jake LaMotta in every single piece of footage presented to you on the screen. Martin Scorsese illustrates the reason why he is considered by many to be cinema's greatest film director of all time as he takes you on a journey of Jake LaMotta's personal and public existence. Scorsese doesn't leave anything out, and his brilliance obviously lies within the fact that he can illustrate everything about a character in the simplest of scenes to make you empathise but simultaneously make you comprehend the various fundamental layers of such a despicable character in cinema history. And on top of that, he can make you like the character and hate the character at the exact same time - a brilliance unprecedented throughout Hollywood and surely testament to Scorsese's superiority to directors such as Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood who, despite having tremendous talent, cannot realistically present characters to the extent that Scorsese can.

Further supporting cast members, Cathy Moriarty and Frank Vincent deliver completely credible characters with Moriarty well deserving of her Oscar Nomination for her performance as Vickie. The editing was completely flawless and top notch throughout the entire feature with Scorsese's other partner - Thelma Schoonmaker - bringing Scorsese's incredible vision to life once more without a single complaint in the world. Brilliant cinematography ensured a visually compelling piece of work, exemplified further by an Oscar Nod towards this element of the picture also.

All in all, this is arguably the finest achievement from the Scorsese-DeNiro partnership, and it delivers everything that you would predict from our beloved Martin Scorsese. Love, deceit, hate, an underlying theme of violence, some of the best acting ever put on film as well as some of the most brutal and compelling sequences of boxing you'll ever see: all are shown with flamboyance and an honest brutality that we've come to accept as the trademark of Martin Scorsese in this poignant tale of one man's annihilation of self. And who is the only director who could realistically bring this to life? We all know the answer.

Well done, Mr Scorsese. Regardless of what the pretentious fools responsible for the decisions that the Academy makes, the people are fully aware of who the best director in town is.

"Raging Bull" is flawless and perfect. 10 out of 10, all the way.
Malaunitly

Malaunitly

Whoever is dissatisfied by Raging Bull, I'm sure they watched it with expectations of watching a sports movie, like Rocky. Despite the AFI chose Raging Bull as the #1 sports movie of all time, you can't expect to see the most breathtaking boxing match nor to witness the best crochet of boxing history. Raging Bull can only be classified as a drama/biography. Director Scorsese chose to go with black&white cinematography only to keep the young viewers away from this masterpiece of art. It's not fair to compare Rocky with Raging Bull. Rocky was a populist movie mostly for young viewers, and Raging Bull is a cinematic masterpiece. From a wide point of view, for instance, if you look at one of the Michelangelo's paintings; at first you see a nude woman, if you look longer and deeper you realize that her nudity expresses some thought, if you look continuously and give a life to it in your imagination you discover that the women are not just their bodies. Accordingly, like it is not enough looking once to a painting to understand what opinion does it defend; it is not reasonable and not fair to watch Raging Bull so as to see a sports movie. Also it is not reasonable to see Raging Bull only once. Raging Bull is one movie that, every time you watch it you get a better taste, every time you watch it you discover something new.

Raging Bull taught us that even if you are the best at some skill, even if you are the best of all; you need to create witnesses, admirers and supporters of your skill. It's the only way to reach the top. Moreover, it is harder to stay at the top than to reach the top. Not because someone better than you can defeat you, it's just because of the need to be accepted on every authority; like the Council of Judges, the Media and the Admiration of People. Director Scorsese draws benefit from the hypocrisy of fame. He empowers Raging Bull to make people ask to their conscience if the popular values that people choose can really cherish their values.

In Raging Bull, Jake La Motta was the best boxer of all, but people didn't like him. He was disrespectful, he was uncivilized, he was very ugly, he was arrogant, he was irritable and he didn't care; 'cause he believed himself. Despite the fact that he is the best, everybody disliked him. Soon, he was left alone; and in a very short time he lost everything he possessed. When he opened his eyes back to life, he found himself in prison. The scene that he is punching and butting the wall facing him is one of the most heart rending memorable scenes of the whole cinema history.

At the end, he finally throws in the towel of believing himself, he loses his faith and becomes to learn what he never wanted to learn: The Fame. He starts running his own business at a night club under his name, working as a stand-up comedian at the stage. People laugh at him for the jokes he made out of his memories, the jokes paraphrasing the bitter facts of life; including the very famous joke of the British King Richard-III which he said in the year 1485 just before dying: "A horse, a horse... My kingdom for a horse!". There we understand truly: For every joke there lies a share of a fact underneath.
Vichredag

Vichredag

Jake La Motta's story is no doubt the best movie about boxing of all times together with Robert Wise's The Set-Up. Besides the legendary performance of Robert De Niro, there are many things in this film that will remain in my heart forever: the splendid black & white, the contrast between the slow moving scenes and the frenetic ones, the choice of the music and the sense of loss which entangles the whole movie. De Niro faces another "born loser" role (after Travis Bickle, John Rubin, Johnny Boy) and strikes again; Martin Scorsese is the most poetic director of the last 30 years.
spacebreeze

spacebreeze

Raging bull is my favorite film. Robert de Niro's performance in this film is truly amazing and the direction from Scorsese and the script from Paul Schrader are flawless. The fight scenes are the most brutal that I have ever seen on film even though theres only like 12 minutes of them and the editing is simply brilliant. It should have earned Scorsese a best director oscar but at least they had enough sense to award de Niro the best actor oscar.

I'll come back to this film forever.
Arabella V.

Arabella V.

From my understanding, before this film was made, Martin Scorsese, arguably America's greatest filmmaker, was at the end of his rope. He was about to call it quits. His good friend, arguably America's greatest film actor, Robert De Niro, approached him with a book he had read. The title of the book was Raging Bull. After some coaxing, Robert finally convinced his friend to do the film, and it resulted in a MASTERPIECE!!!!!

"Raging Bull" is the story of former boxing middleweight champion Jake La Motta, and his penchant for self-destruction. La Motta is not in the least a nice guy. He is well, a jerk, who eventually drives any and everyone who has ever cared about him out of his life. He evolved from a lean, trim boxer to an overweight loser who owns a night club.

This film currently ranks on AFI's 100 Greatest Movies at #24, and for very good reason. It contains arguably THE GREATEST acting performance in the history of cinema, by arguably the greatest actor in the history of cinema, directed by arguably the greatest director in the history of cinema. But together, nothing needs to be argued, they are the greatest tag team in the history of cinema. Robert De Niro is flawless, superb, excellent, amazing, any positive adjective is warranted by his performance. There is a reason why they call him the greatest actor. This is it. (also "Taxi Driver") Naturally, Scorsese's direction is flawless, and Thelma Schoonmaker's editing will pretty much speak for itself. The black-and-white(or tinted monochrome) was an ingenious touch, similar to William Friedkin's gunshot at the very end of "The French Connection". It is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen, if it were a woman I could only beg to drink its bathwater. Joe Pesci is excellent as Jake's brother Joey, as is Cathy Moriarty as Jake's long suffering wife. It is sad when you realize that De Niro will never act that great again, but you find solace in the fact that he once did. He is maybe my favorite actor, Scorsese maybe my favorite director, and I only hope to have a millionth of the impact they've had on film. Far superior to "Rocky", even though Rocky is very good and contains maybe the most inspirational theme song ever.

This film was criminally robbed of 1980's Best Picture and Best Director Academy Awards, by "Ordinary People", another one of those dysfunctional family drama's. The Academy has since lost a huge amount of credibility, but I find solace in the fact that they honored De Niro with an award for Best Actor, in a performance that warrants two of them and makes me want to shine his shoes.

The film gets nothing less than a 10. It was voted the film of the 1980's decade. I agree wholeheartedly.

Scorsese and De Niro forever.
Uthergo

Uthergo

Bringing the life story of one of the roughest brawlers to ever step into the boxing ring, Raging Bull finds director Martin Scorsese & actor Robert De Niro teaming up once again to deliver yet another quality work but just like their other collaborations, it left me cold & indifferent to whatever it had in store and while I respect the legacy of this sports drama, I'm no fan of it.

Raging Bull chronicles the life of Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxer whose rage, jealously & bouts of violent outbursts helps propel him to the top of the division but his inability to keep those vicious tendencies in check outside the arena leads him on a path of self-destruction, as he destroys his relationships with his wife & family over the years and wounds up all alone in his later life.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film is incredibly faithful to its source material and recreates the events with accuracy. Shot in black & white, which gives the picture a timeless quality, it illustrates the good, bad & ugly side of LaMotta with finesse and his arc is undeniably compelling. But he also comes off as an insufferable persona whose problems are of his own making which makes his downward journey all the more deserving.

What also affects the experience is that the story remains a monotonous ride for the entirety of its runtime. There is no escalation whatsoever whether we are witnessing LaMotta's boxing bouts or personal life. It's just a similar set of events repeated time n again for 125 minutes and that's not enough to keep the interest alive. It's brutal & violent in the ring but it fails to deliver the desired emotional impact because we are just not invested in his journey.

However, from a filmmaking standpoint, Raging Bull is an outstanding piece of work. The staging of events, the era-appropriate set pieces, the boxing choreography, the controlled camerawork, all of it exhibit an exactness that's quite commendable. And as for the performances, Robert De Niro leads the show from the front and delivers a smashing showcase as Jake LaMotta, and he is brilliantly supported by Joe Pesci & Cathy Moriarty who play his brother & wife respectively.

On an overall scale, Raging Bull is impressive in its craftsmanship but the narration is lacking in flavour and becomes repetitive after a while. Scorsese's direction & De Niro's commitment to his role certainly stand out but the longer it goes on, the more wearisome it becomes. Painting a faithful portrait of a character with no redeeming characteristics, Raging Bull is significant from a filmmaking viewpoint but there isn't much to gain by investing in someone who refuses to learn from his own mistakes.
WOGY

WOGY

The routine use of black-and-white film to make movies seems to have ended in the mid-sixties, probably killed off by the advent of colour television. Since then black-and-white has been used very sparingly; even Polanski's `Chinatown', obviously conceived as homage to the films noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, was shot in colour.

`Raging Bull'- a biography of the boxer Jake La Motta who for a time held the world middleweight championship- is one of the few exceptions. The use of black-and-white seems to have been inspired by the fact that the film depicts real-life events that occurred in the forties and fifties. Scorsese has tried to capture the look of both the films and the newsreels of that period. This is remarkably effective for the boxing scenes, which have a raw, brutal power and graphically depict the aggressive nature of the sport. The other remarkable thing about the film is the performance of Robert de Niro, for which he won a well-deserved Best Actor Academy Award. De Niro actually learned to box for the film, and did all the boxing scenes himself without using a stunt double, but his portrayal of La Motta's private life is equally effective.

Some boxers- Henry Cooper comes to mind- are hard-hitting inside the ring but gentlemanly and restrained outside. La Motta, as portrayed in this film, did not fall into this category. De Niro portrays him as a man with a very short fuse, seething with anger and violence. Unlike his great rival Sugar Ray Robinson, an elegant practitioner of the art of boxing, La Motta tries to overpower his rivals with brute force rather than relying on skill. His aggression is not something confined to the ring, but rather an inherent part of his personality, and comes out in his dealings with others. He treats his beautiful wife Vicki particularly badly, frequently (and irrationally) suspecting her of infidelity and subjecting her to both verbal and physical abuse. Besides De Niro's dominating performance, there are also very good contributions from Cathy Moriarty as Vicki and from Joe Pesci as La Motta's loyal brother Joey, another frequent target of abuse despite his loyalty.

For me, this is a very good film, yet one that falls just short of the classic status that some have claimed for it. At times it is enthralling to watch, but at others, particularly in the first half, it seems to lack structure, as La Motta takes on a series of opponents without the significance of these fights ever becoming clear. More could have been made of the gambling-inspired corruption that infested the sport at this period and which may well have contributed to La Motta's sense of frustration- at one time it is made clear to him that his getting a chance to fight for the world title depends upon his taking a dive in a non-title fight. The main weakness, however, is a sense of emptiness at its centre, resulting from the lack of a character who can engage our sympathies. As I said, it is De Niro's performance that dominates the film, but for all his fine acting, even he cannot make us sympathise with a drunken, self-pitying, paranoid, violent wife-beater. As a character study of an unpleasant character it is excellent, but it can go no further than that. I cannot agree that this is the greatest film of the eighties; indeed, for me it was not even the greatest sporting film of the eighties. (I preferred both `Chariots of Fire' and `Eight Men Out'). It is an easy film to admire, but a difficult one to love. 7/10.
Dianalmeena

Dianalmeena

Certainly a contender for the most overrated film ever made. I like some of Martin Scorsese's work, but I have never understood the near hysterical reactions elicited by critics and his die-hard fans over his contributions to cinema which, much like Steven Spielberg, range from wonderful to embarrassing. To them, every Scorsese film is "brilliant." However, despite the reassurances of various critical associations and hero-worshipping fans all too willing to declare this the greatest film made in the last 30 years, most viewers may well wonder what all of the hoopla is about. The film is a biography of boxer Jake LaMotta and documents his volatile, tempestuous nature both in the boxing ring and in his personal life. There is no doubt that Robert DeNiro hurls himself heart and soul into this role, but much of the accolades heaped onto his work center on the arduous physical labors he endured to get himself into fighting shape for LaMotta at his prime and then make himself fat to depict LaMotta having gone to seed. One must admire his dedication, but it was hardly the first time an actor had gone to such efforts – people quickly forget the weight gains of actresses such as Elizabeth Taylor for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf or Lynn Redgrave in Georgy Girl more than a decade prior to DeNiro in Raging Bull. Ironically, other than the physical, there is nothing to recommend LaMotta as a character around whom a movie should be centered. He greets every obstacle in his life, either person or event, by trying to batter it into bloody submission. There is no range to him and he is most certainly not a charismatic person. I certainly would not wish to spend more than a few moments in his presence much less the duration of this film, which ultimately depicts LaMotta as little more than a not especially intelligent, violent pugilist. The profane dialog is anything but memorable and the people who surround LaMotta are little more than ciphers. The film is brutal and often hard to watch, more so because of its pretense rather than brutality. Scorsese films the whole thing in stark black and white and choreographs some of the boxing footage with mournful classical music. All of these touches seem to indicate a serious subject of near biblical importance – but that subject most definitely is not seen on screen in the guise of LaMotta. Joe Pesci pretty much contributes his stock Joe Pesci performance as Jake's brother. The film's biggest attempt at humor comes at the expense of Cathy Moriarty, a whiskey-voiced actress who resembles a 30-year-old vamp but who the film initially tries to pass off as a virginal 15-year-old(!). To her credit, she gets past that initial hurdle and makes Vickie LaMotta the only sympathetic character in the film. Raging Bull is by no stretch a bad film, but it is a criminally overrated one done in by ostentatious pretentiousness and an unsympathetic central character who (no matter how amazing the actor's physical transformation) is nothing more than a one-dimensional thug.
Kulalas

Kulalas

Well, I don't think I've ever been more disappointed in my entire life, but there it is.

I realize that this film lost to "Ordinary People," a film I love. I am not an idiot - I know that Martin Scorcese is a great, very gifted artist who puts powerful images on the screen. I agree that he has been cheated out of the Academy Award many times, which makes one realize they don't count for much.

For DeNiro, this stands as one of the greatest performances of all time. DeNiro is one of a handful of American actors who has earned his place at the top - he's there with Brando, Pacino, and Newman. "Raging Bull" helped put him there. As far as the rest of the acting, Cathy Moriarity epitomizes the '40s blond and a Bronx woman, and Joe Pesci is perfect as LaMotta's brother.

Scorcese presents here the turbulent life of Jake Lamotta with all its brutality, sparing us nothing in his fights, his anger against his wives, his brother, no one. His obsessive nature, his jealousy, his - well, hey, his rage - does not make him a likable character. LaMotta himself was disturbed by how he came off on screen, but then had the honesty to admit that he was a bastard.

Scorcese creates the Bronx and the bloody horror of the fight ring in a way no one else ever has. The first shot of the lone boxer in the ring is stunning, as is the real LaMotta's own practicing of a speech in a dressing room. Everything about this film evinces the aura of a special era, especially the color home movies - a brilliant touch.

The only problem I had with the film was that it was boring and unwatchable. I finally got so sick of all the screaming and yelling and watching this unlikeable, obnoxious character that I turned the set off. I thought if he tortured his wife one more time asking her if she slept with his brother, I was going to put my fist through the set.

This is the age-old question - you know something is great art but it doesn't speak to you. You like something that's very well done but a little less artistic better - does this means you are one of the masses for whom mediocrity has become your idea of what's good? I don't know. I like to think I can appreciate a beautifully made film. But I think what I can appreciate more than that are complicated characters I understand on some level - or want to understand, real emotions, real heartache - probably more than magnificent film-making. When there is both, it's magic. For me, "Raging Bull" was not one of those times. "Godfather I," "Godfather II," yes.

I really hate writing these comments.
Karon

Karon

Okay, let me explain where I'm coming from. I'm a movie fan. I mean a really big movie buff. My favorite directors are Chaplin, Keaton, Kubrick, Fellini, Tarkovksy, Malick, Wilder, Kurosawa, Welles, Reed, Lean, Bergman, Gilliam, Coen, Vidor, Ford, Benigni, and Cocteau, to name a few. But I had never gotten around to even seeing a movie by Scorsese, although I'd heard great things about him. You can imagine how excited I was to see that Raging Bull was number 2 on the Sight and Sound director's poll, and ranked the best movie of the 80s. I was gung ho. I was hoping to add Scorsese to my list of favorites. But then, I actually saw Raging Bull. I cannot for the life of me understand the glowing praise about this movie. Is it a bad movie? No. It's just nothing special. Scorsese's technique is, if anything, showy. De Niro and Pesci are wonderful actors, there's no denying that. But the movie as a whole just isn't particularly good. I can find nothing about this movie that would bring it even close to the accolades it has been given. Believe me, I wanted to like this movie. I thought it would be great and then some; equal to the Searchers or 2001, from the praise it got; but it was uninteresting. It was like the type of movie arthouse theaters show that is competently made but lifeless and boring, like Shine. I'm sorry. Call me an idiot. I did not like this movie.
post_name

post_name

Spoilers herein.

I'll be right up front. I admit Scorsese's skill but just don't like his films and certainly don't see any art in them.

That's because I disagree with him on what cinematic storytelling is all about. For him, characters are everything, which is why he needs sledgehammers as actors, and spikes (gangsters, etc) as the roles. Then he arranges for them to explode or simmer or steam, or explode again.

Every element of the eye is subservient to the character. He (always he except for his experiment with poor Alice) pulls the camera around. We as bound audience follow. It is all about involuntary submission to manufactured charisma. I don't like this style of storytelling. It ignores the greatest power of the camera's eye: to allow the audience to move in and out of spaces: personal spaces, narrative spaces, time folding, sometimes God, sometimes his victim. There's freedom and imagination when the eye is freed, and this is the real power of the filmmaker.

But with Martin, he ignores this power: the camera is bound. We are the weak sidekick, forced into respect. All the competence (here the editing is superb) is turned to an end which ruins the experience. Scorsese knows this, in fact at this point in his life he was feeling it, and that is why we get what we do. A camera that forces respect.

But alone of his films (I am re-seeing them all), this has a sweet pleasure. In the midst of the obligatory scene where DeNiro takes to himself in the mirror, we get a wonderful reference to Brando. This frames the film and explicitly acknowledges that most films (except those of the real geniuses) are about other films, not life. `Bull' stands on `Waterfront's' structure.

And DeNiro stands on Brando's shoulders. How brave to mouth the lines. Brando was intense, but that was not his innovation, it was an ability to project two performances simultaneously. Here DeNiro tries to equal or best that by playing three characters: himself besting Brando, his character equalling Brando's, and Brando wrestling with his character (which we see in `Waterfront' as a man wrestling with his inner self).

Watch how DeNiro tries. How he pushes too hard (something we can now call the Pacino/Cage error), how he loses control and knows it. Scorsese knows it too, and it speaks highly of them both to put DeNiro's `not world class' broken actor as representative of the broken `not world class' boxer. I appreciate that honesty. It makes this my favorite film of his (Scorsese).
Makaitist

Makaitist

I am beginning to think that Martin Scorsese is the most overrated movie director of all times. Re-watching his oeuvre is a painful experience for me - discovering how pretentious and shallow his movies all are. Take Raging Bull.

De Niro won an Academy Award for gaining 60 pounds for a role in the name of method acting - so what? Does it change this utterly futile waste of celluloid?

I can't see a point watching this way too long story of a boxer, who - at the beginning of the film - is psychopathic, arrogant, sexist and primitive, turns into an unsuccessful boxer, then turns into a nightclub owner, then turns into a prisoner, and gee-whiz! he is still a psychopathic, arrogant, sexist and primitive man.

The moral is? Or is it an allegory? Nope. If anybody says it is, punch them in the face. Is it symbolic? Nope again. Does it reveal anything about anything? Sure, that De Niro is a great actor. And this, my friends, is way to little - we all know that, don't we?

I wish the scriptwriters had had anything to tell. Sometimes there are stories which are worth telling with no hidden agenda, or moral, or any of this stuff. This story isn't one of them. This is the biography of a moron who had no life. Why watch it?

I'm a BA, and still say go watch Rocky (!) instead. Even that's better.
Tisicai

Tisicai

Scorsese's RAGING BULL is rightly up held as a wonderful piece of film making . Robert DeNiro takes method acting to new heights . Yeah we've all heard the story about how he built his physique up by going to the gym and then after these scenes were filmed he did nothing but sit on his butt and gorge himself on junk food so he'd physically resemble the bloated and overweight Jake La Motta in later life , but this story is worth repeating again and again . Look at the scene where DeNiro uses the public phone box , he raises his arm to speak into the receiver and you can subtly see DeNiro's pot belly bulging out from his shirt . All the performances are good but DeNiro totally dominates the movie

It's not just an acting masterclass we see . RAGING BULL is very much an art house movie brought to mainstream cinema by Scorsese . Look at the scenes inside the ring . I doubt if a boxer would recognise these scenes as being realistic as such since everything about them are highly stylised . It's not a film that shows the gritty realism of being inside a boxing ring where two modern day gladiators fight one another , it's a film that paints the pain , poetry and ugly beauty of boxing . On a technical front this is absolutely superlative where editing , cinematography , make up and sound mix all come together

" Hey Theo , if it's such a great movie why have you only given this eight out of ten ? "

True it's a great movie and you didn't need me to point that out and when I say it's a very honest movie this is not meant as a criticism , in fact I do wish more movies would be far more honest when it comes to biopics , it's just that the problem with RAGING BULL can be summed up with the scene that starts with Jake and his brother banging on the TV set wondering why they can't get a picture . It's a scene that's wonderfully structured and built upon by the screenwriters , it's absolutely brilliantly acted by all the cast and superbly directed by Scorsese. It's just that it culminates with some extreme domestic violence and finishes with a haunting , nay heartbreaking scene of two children standing there as members of their family are brutally assaulted by La Motta . Don't be confused by what I'm saying , I don't want want biopics to be revisionist sycophants charters , it's just that for a movie to work perfectly the main protagonist must achieve some sort of empathetic connection with the audience and this is where RAGING BULL fails somewhat
Captain America

Captain America

I suppose I am in the minority, but I do not believe "Raging Bull" is a great movie, or even a particularly good movie.the photography is fine and the acting is very good, but I could find no reason why anyone would make a film about Jake La Mottas' life.There is no question, that Mr. La Motta was a fine boxer, but other than that there is nothing especially noteworthy about him. In fact, Mr. La Motta seems to have been a violent, abusive man.During the film, Mr. La Motta, beats on opponents in the boxing ring, beats on his wife, beats on strangers, beats on his own brother, and beats on cement walls.Jake La Motta isn't the only violent member of the family. Jakes brother Joey(Joe Pesci) commits an extremely brutal assault against a stranger just for talking with his brothers wife. Its fine to make biographical films about less than noble people, but there should be an underlying lesson.All I learned from "Raging Bull" is that Mr. La Motta was a violent, abusive jerk.
Alsantrius

Alsantrius

Maybe if I saw this before Casino and Goodfellas, I would have liked this more, but it sucked in comparison to those two. Apart from Joe Pesci, I thought this movie was damn near unbearable. DeNiro did a great job acting, but it was wasted on this boring character and horrendous plot! DeNiro said all of two things to Vicki and supposedly she wasn't a girl you "F and leave" but DeNiro did it with two phrases. He took a dive and got the championship and self destructed for no apparant reason. Why was this interesting? The story itself wasn't interesting and the movie didn't enhance the true story at all. Cathy Moriarty was attractive and nothing more. The rest of the characters other than the La Motta brothers added nothing and were drab and blah. Goodfellas and Casino had a better plot and the characters had more depth and overall were much better movies. Except for "I heard things" and Joe Pesci, I want the 2 hrs of my life back.
Gralinda

Gralinda

Here's a gritty, film noir-type story of real-life former boxing champion Jake LaMotta, a film that has features some memorable aspects to it.

Perhaps most memorable is the physical transformation of lead actor Robert De Niro, who gained somewhere around 50 pounds to play LaMotta at the end of this film. I hope he enjoyed all the food and drink it must have taken to put on that weight!

The story moves well with few, if any, lulls and each fight scene is fairly credible although a little too brief. I'd like to have seen more boxing but it's better than having to sit through the overdone action as we saw in the "Rocky" pictures. The black-and-white photography is excellent in here. I wish more modern-day films were done in black-and-white.

Usually the Hollywood actresses are a lot better looking than the real-life people they portray but that's not the case here with LaMotta's wife, Vicki. Cathy Moriarity doesn't hold a candle to the real "Vicki," who was a knockout, a voluptuous woman feature several times in Playboy magazine. Also, early on in the film Moriarity is supposed to be 15 years old but she looks closer to 35!

Typical of a Martin Scorcese film, too, is the excessive profanity, which certainly dominates this film. Perhaps LaMotta was this crude in real life but between De Niro and his brother, played by Joe Pesci, it's a very foul-mouthed, loud and abrasive family. If you can stand that constant profane assault on your ears, it's still a very watchable movie until the last 20 minutes where LaMotta is pictured as a pathetic clown, getting tossed in jail, resorting to stupid jokes and just uncomfortably sloppy behavior that is not fun to watch.

Despite all the unpleasant parts of this story, I found this to be one of those films that kept getting better with multiple viewings. Hard to figure, but, Scorcese must have done a few things very well for me to keep coming back. The photography alone, is one thing that keeps drawing me back.
Whitecaster

Whitecaster

I may be alone on this but Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull does not deserve the praise it has garnered recently, best illustrated by its lauded praise for the recently released commemorative double DVD box set.

I hate to be the one to attack Scorsese who just directed the best film in a long, long time, in The Aviator and it pains me to write this scathing review. It is only I have not seen any critic criticize the film's plot holes, jarring dialogue or disparate scenes that do not gel into a coherent portrait.

The film is too redundant, and at times silly, as we watch De Niro's LaMotta transform into a heavy-set monster. It is mainly silly in LaMotta's cell late in the film, in which DeNiro (clearly given the green light by Scorsese to improvise) basically talks in gibberish as a way to pity LaMotta.

Take also for instance the strange editing from DeNiro in the ring against Sugar Ray Robinson, which is juxtaposed by making love to Cathy Moriarity's Vikki. I do not get the montage when DeNiro pours ice water on his genitals with shots in the ring. It is very confusing and also, unintentionally funny.

It is an authentic film for sure, taking much from 1950s boxing films, most notably Bogart's last film, The Harder They Fall.

I have not come across one critic who has put down this film, often cited as the "best film of the decade," and a "masterpiece." Scorsese has directed a lot of films befit for those descriptions, Casino and The Aviator stand out for me.

Yet, Raging Bull hardly is a masterpiece, and yet hardly anyone agrees with me. Maybe someone will… maybe in another twenty five years.
Shezokha

Shezokha

It would be wrong to say this film is rubbish, it certainly isn't, but it's important to remember that a films purpose is to entertain, inform or move you in some way. Unfortunately this film is devoid of all three.

Like a number of films it's technically well made, the acting is fine, but the story and the characters are exceedingly uninteresting. People say that DeNiro's performance is amazing, well, I don't know how you can say that. His character comes across as selfish paranoid psycho, with absolutely no morals and no redeeming qualities. Yet we know he has married twice, so there must have be something people liked about him. Unfortunately the film is too heavy on the negative side, no balance is shown to Jake's character, so the believability and ultimately the interest in the film disappears.

In fact this is rather typical of Scorsese, a very overrated Writer/Director. I liked Taxi Driver and GoodFellas, but most of his films are actually very poor (Casino, Gangs of NY, Cape Fear).

Forgettable and uninteresting, yet technically well made film.

4/10.
Jake

Jake

I'll sum the whole movie up for you: 75% of the movie is wife beating and screaming. 25% is boxing reenactments. Jake lamotta isn't a hero, but more of a villain. I couldn't really connect with his character, because whenever he got a chance to talk, he screamed at everyone. Boxing didn't seem to be a big part of his life either, there were never any scenes where he was struggling with his career, or boxing was affecting his life in any way. You might as well make a movie documentary on joey buttafuco. This movie wasn't any good in my opinion. And when I hoped that he would come to his senses, he doesn't. I guess it's also hard for me to connect seeing as I didn't know who Jake lamotta was until I watched this movie. If you like wife-beating new yorkers who constantly yell. Watch this movie.