Review of Raging Bull (1980) by Bradley W — 15 Jul 2012

Raging Bull is a masterpiece from Martin Scorsese that is about the tragic tale of Jake Lamotta. Jake is a truly incredible character to watch, his life is twisted by his own undoing as he sends himself through hell trying to be the best boxer and in effect he deals with his pain on his wife and brother.

We watch Robert DeNiro live this role, I mean he truly embodies the character and becomes this man in every way, and it really proves Robert DeNiro is one of the greatest actors ever in cinema. He gives the character so much depth an evil in him, and makes him a very unsympathetic man.

Joe Pesci is such a perfect actor in this film, I mean he is the one I feel sympathy for and he really is the films closest thing to light. This entire story is a tragedy, I mean Lamatta's is a sad and tragic thing to witness and Scorsese captures this brillianly.

Martin Scorsese has crafted a film that perfectly shows how a mans life can truly be taken away from him. You could consider this a sports film, but I see this more as a movie about the athlete more than the sport, and how is obsession with being the best made him lose everything.

It's a film that gets better with each viewing, and is one of the definitive Scorsese films. Raging Bull is a masterpiece that dares to be perfect, and it succeeds.