Raging Bull
★ ★★★★
Tense is the best way to describe Raging Bull. Although this isn’t a film that would get lumped into the suspense category, you are constantly on the edge of your seat throughout this boxing journey. I don’t remember the first time that I watched this film, but it made enough of an impression on me that I went out and bought the two-DVD set from Best Buy. For whatever reason, I haven’t watched it since then, but as soon as the operatic first frame shoots up on the screen, you immediately know that you are in the hands of a master film director. Although the journey is beyond rough and bloody, it somehow perfectly embodies the paranoia that lives deep inside of ourselves.
Raging Bull is not a complex film in the way of its plot or characters. It follows the rise and fall of legendary real-life boxer Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro), whose violence and temper was the source of success in the ring, but also the destruction of his life outside of the squared circle. Although we meet some supporting characters here and there, LaMotta’s life revolved around his relationship with his brother Joey (Joe Pesci) and wife Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), and we get an inside look at how their chaotic ups and downs lead to LaMotta's ultimate isolation.
In watching Raging Bull, I would liken it to a stage drama, especially with New York City set as the backdrop, standing in as much as a character as Jake, Joey and Vickie. As well as the boxing ring which serves as a ballet stage to a flurry of black and white blood. There have been a lot of boxing films and I don’t think any are a match to the staging and camera movements to these battles. Thelma Schoonmaker has always been the master of editing, but she truly was innovative in the way that she uses audio and the flashes of press cameras to transition between the boxing rounds. Martin Scorsese does an amazing job of getting us in and out of the fights quickly, so even if you are in dismay of the cuts and bruises, you won’t be a spectator for long. Each fight says a lot of where LaMotta is in his life, and even though the fights are technically a marvel to look at, the scenes outside of the ring are the ones that really stick with you.
Paranoia and unpredictability swarm the personality of LaMotta, and like the people that are closest to him, us as an audience don’t know what to expect. I could watch De Niro and Pesci act together all day long. Their dialogue and how they react to one another is fascinating. Moriarty’s performance is also stunning and it’s a shame that her career never matched her role from this film. She could have easily been dwarfed by the bravado of De Niro and Pesci, but she plays Vickie with veracity and strength. The love (?) triangle between the three of them is fascinating and so much is said in the unknown. Even when LaMotta tries to make amends to the ones he loves, we all know that it lacks sincerity. LaMotta has to be one of the most unlikable characters to grace the silver screen, and Scorsese isn’t even attempting to make him an anti-hero. Everyone has come across a LaMotta in their own lives and Scorsese forces us to face one of the hardest things to grapple with in life…forgiveness. Is LaMotta worth forgiving despite all his misgivings? Everyone is, right? But more than anything, LaMotta should be a lesson learned to never let one’s personal ambitions dominate the relationships you cherish.
It’s really a travesty that this film didn’t win Best Picture. I recently saw the winner from that year recently, Ordinary People, and it was a good film at best. I’m not adding anything to the discourse by saying this. Raging Bull’s Oscar snubs have always been looked upon as a cinematic travesty. That said, I am surprised that this film is rated so high on the AFI list. Not because it’s a flawless film, but because it is so brutal in nature. I’m anxious to see where this ranks at the top of my personal list, because this isn’t my personal favorite Scorsese film. If I was introducing someone to Scorsese, this wouldn’t be my go-to. Raging Bull is so raw and stark, its brilliance may be overlooked by a casual movie fan.
I give Raging Bull five out of five stand-up comedy routines.
