Review of Raging Bull (1980) by Norman B — 12 Dec 2013

Good ol fashion boxing back in the day. In 1964 we meet a bloated looking LaMotta practicing his words in the dressing room before he goes out to entertain the people of a club. But things quickly switch back to 1941 and the fight against Jimmy Reeves in Cleveland which ended in crowd violence when LaMotta got robbed by the horrible judges. What follows on from there is a look at LaMotta's life his relationship with his brother Joey who is also his manager and his relationship with Vickie who he's attracted to despite already being married. The constant theme of Raging Bull is LaMotta's destructive tendencies both in and outside of the ring. Outside we watch him become paranoid that Vickie is cheating on him this then leads to violent outbursts both physically beating Vickie and also Joey. But we also see his destructive power in the ring as well, purposefully disfiguring another boxer because Vickie had mentioned he was good looking and in doing so provoking LaMotta's jealousy.

Martin Scorsese never really glorifies LaMotta and bravely delivers one of the most truthful in depth biopics you will ever see. You get a very clear picture of how violent LaMotta could be both inside and out of the ring. But while never glorifying LaMotta Scorsese also gives us a picture of a boxer with great heart. The scenes in the ring are fearsome with destructive power as we watch him destroy his opponents, taking the punches and then exploding in their faces. Speaking of the boxing scenes there is no denying that Scorsese gets across the destructive power and when you see blood spurt from a face following a punch it grabs your complete attention you may even oooh and ahhh. The boxing scenes are like art, beautifully constructed so you can feel the atmosphere, the smoke from the crowds, the steam rising off of bodies as blood drips from wounds all the time delivering the ferocity of punches flying straight at you in a tirade of quick blows. Scorsese has basically constructed some of the best boxing scenes you will ever watch, stylish, atmospheric and brutal.

Raging Bull has three stars Joe Pesci as Joey LaMotta, Cathy Moriarty as Vickie LaMotta and Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta. Both Joe and Cathy deliver top performances in my opinion, with Joe himself shedding the pounds to play the role it is Robert De Niro's selfless performance which makes it great. There is of course the physical side, the fact in the scenes which take us back to the early 1940's he looks young and lean in peak shape, but then he piles on the pounds like around 60 pounds in weight to play LaMotta when he retired and just the realism of De Niro's body looking bloated makes it convincing. Then there is the depth of character, the anger and the paranoia, the ability to suddenly snap which he also gets across which is so impressive. It is such a full on performance from De Niro that it never feels like you are watching an actor but a man whose own self destructive nature will be his ultimate downfall.

Raging Bull is easily one of the greatest boxing movies ever made. You could also go as far as saying it is one of the great biopics because it's truly in depth, not the pretty storylines which usually dominate the biopic genre. As such it may not be what you expect, but it will impress and leave you with plenty of memories, be it De Niro's performance or the stunning cinematography all in classic black and white. This is a classic that everyone should see.