General info:
Director:Martin Scorsese
Year:1980
Genre:Drama
Actors:
Robert De Niro --Jake La Motta
Cathy Moriarty --Vickie La Motta
Joe Pesci --Joey La Motta
Plot:
Raging Bull was based on Jake La Motta's life and boxing career, the screenplay adapted from his biography.
We begin at the end. And it isn't a happy ending. A title card: New York City 1964.
(La Motta rehearses backstage):
I remember those cheers
They still ring in my ears
And for years they'll remain in my thoughts
Cuz one night I took off my robe
And what'd I do
I forgot to wear shorts.
I recall every fall, every hook, every jab
The worst way a guy could get rid of his flab
As you know, my life was a jab...
Though I'd rather hear you cheer
When I delve into Shakespeare
"A Horse, a Horse, my Kingdom for a Horse,"
I haven't had a winner in six months (he lights his cigar)...
I know I'm no Olivier
But if he fought Sugar Ray
He would say
That the thing
Ain't the ring
It's the play
So gimme a stage
Where this bull here can rage
And though I can fight
I'd much rather recite
That's entertainment. That's entertainment.
La Motta is no longer a boxer, but a nightclub performer. This is Jake La Motta, 1964. His entire boxing career is behind him, but not from our point of view. We still get to see him rise to the top, stay there for a while, and fall. We get to watch him fall in love. We get to watch him go to jail. We get to watch him do a lot of things.
But I can't explain the entire plot and ruin it for your poor souls who haven't seen the movie yet, after all, this is a review.
Review
What a wonderful movie.
Scorsese and De Niro can't do the audience wrong. Raging Bull wasn't their first time working together, Mean Streets was seven years previous, Taxi Driver four, New York, New York three. They knew what they wanted, and they knew how to do it. De Niro was the driving force behind the movie, and he actually had to convince Scorsese that this movie had to be made. The entire film (except the title which was red, and a La Motta home movie) is in black and white. This was a gambit, but it did its job. You probably aren't used to seeing a modern movie in black and white. Any humor or brightness that might have been found in the movie is drained with the color. The boxing scenes only take up 10 minutes of the movie's run time, but you'll remember them.
The acting. Robert De Niro acts. Joe Pesci acts. De Niro gives a performance that nobody on Earth could compare with. He was made for the role. He won a Best Actor Oscar for it (his second), and deserved it. He gained sixty pounds for the role and trained with La Motta himself for the boxing sequences. Method-acting at its best. Pesci is Pesci. Of course, this was before Pesci was anybody. He had to be convinced to make this movie, rather than returning to a musical act. I'm sure he's satisfied with his decision.
Critics loved and love Raging Bull. It's one of those movies. You might not love it. In fact, there is a good chance that you'll have a slight distaste for the movie in general. It's a strong movie and not a pleasant one. This ain't no Disney movie. Life isn't always as pleasant, and Jake La Motta doesn't seem to have lived the happiest life on Earth.
But if you haven't seen it, you really must. It's one of those movies.
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