Considered by many to be the best film of the 1980s, "Raging Bull" falls short of that extremely high standard. Perhaps you can only go so far with a character study of a brutish man, his selfish wife, and his loudmouth brother. However, it is still a great film, with excellent performances from Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, and glorious black and white cinematography.
"Raging Bull" tells the story of middleweight
boxer Jake La Motta, from relatively early in
his career to about a decade after his retirement.
This covers the years 1943 through 1964. La Motta
is the scourge of his division, with only Sugar
Ray Robinson able to defeat him. La Motta, an
argumentative and violent man, is managed by his
equally querulous brother Pesci. La Motta leaves
his hostile first wife for blond beauty Cathy
Moriarty, but his obsessive jealousy towards her
threatens their marriage as well as his
relationship with his brother.
Eventually, La Motta's career fails due to age
and corpulence. He becomes a night club
entertainer, falls on hard times, but he is no
quitter. "Raging Bull" isn't for everyone. There
is much violence and "adult" language. The film
should appeal to men more than to women. Men will
be more likely to sympathize and even admire La
Motta, while women will be more likely to condemn
him for his violence and self-destructive ways.
De Niro put on nearly fifty pounds in order to
better play the older, heavyset La Motta. This is
acting beyond the call of duty. De Niro is cool
and intense at the same time, but Pesci also
gives a great performance. The dialogue between
De Niro and Pesci is great, and the flood of
obscenities is admittedly entertaining.
"Raging Bull" is a relentless character study,
but there is some comic relief. La Motta buys a
newfangled television set, and is unable to get a
picture on it. One scene has him staring
blankfaced at a scrambled signal.
"Raging Bull" won Academy Awards for Best Actor
(De Niro) and Film Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker).
The editing award was undoubtedly due to the
boxing sequences, with their unusual slow motion
and close-ups. The film was also nominated for
Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Pesci) and
Actress (Moriarty), as well as Director (Martin
Scorsese) and Cinematography (Michael Chapman).
(89/100)
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