Raging Bull

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Raging Bull
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Robert Chartoff Irwin Winkler
Written by	Paul Schrader Mardik Martin
Starring	Robert De Niro Cathy Moriarty Joe Pesci Frank Vincent Nicholas Colasanto Theresa Saldana
Editing by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	November 14, 1980
Running time	129 min.
Language	English
Budget	$18,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Raging Bull is a 1980 film directed by Martin Scorsese (Academy Award nomination - Best Director) adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from the memoir Raging Bull: My Story. It stars Robert De Niro (Academy Award - Best Actor) as Jake LaMotta, a temperamental and paranoid but tenacious boxer who alienates himself from his friends and family. Also featured in the film are Joe Pesci (Academy Award nomination - Best Supporting Actor) as La Motta's brother and manager, Joey and Cathy Moriarty as his abused wife. The film features strong supporting roles from Nicholas Colasanto (who was eventually to play the character "Coach" on the TV sitcom Cheers), Theresa Saldana and Scorsese regular Frank Vincent.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Plot 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Analysis 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Overview

The film was distributed by United Artists; studio executives were initially reluctant to finance the project as they feared that the extreme profanity and violence in the screenplay would draw an "X" from the MPAA ratings board. However, Scorsese and De Niro reworked the script and were able to proceed. Because of his lifelong asthma, accompanied by depression (due to the critical and commercial failure of his big-budget musical New York, New York and a serious cocaine addiction that he had only recently overcome prior to making the film), Scorsese was convinced that he would never make another movie and therefore, he put his heart and soul into making Raging Bull the best film he could.

Robert De Niro won the Academy Award for Best Actor, his first for a leading role (and only, to date). The film also won the Academy Award for Best Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker, whose revolutionary style was far different from fight scenes in other boxing films, such as the Rocky series. Raging Bull was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Director and Best Picture.

In a memorable scene in the film, Jake La Motta quotes "I could've been a contender..." from On the Waterfront. Coincidentally, both Raging Bull and On the Waterfront received Academy Awards for Best Actor.

The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It is 24th on the AFI's list of the 100 greatest American movies and listed 5th on the Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. A two-CD soundtrack was released in 2005, long after the movie was released, because of earlier difficulties receiving permissions for many of the songs, which Scorsese selected from his childhood memories growing up in New York.

[edit] Plot

The film begins with Jake LaMotta late in his life practicing his stand-up comic routine and then flashes back to his early boxing career. LaMotta (De Niro) is a strong, tenacious vicious fighter from the Bronx and his brother Joey (Pesci) is his manager. LaMotta slowly climbs the ladder to the top of the boxing world as he courts a relationship with Vicki (Moriarty) a girl he meets in his neighborhood. After his first wife leaves, he starts a relationship with her which eventually leads to marriage and children. However, after his marriage he becomes increasingly paranoid and obsessive about his wife and ultimately suspects her of infidelity.

Later, he believes that his brother has had a relationship with his wife behind his back and acting out on his explosive rage, he lashes out violently on his brother who leaves him. LaMotta finally loses his title to his arch-rival Sugar Ray Robinson and retires from boxing a few years later due to his weight problems and becomes a stand-up comedian and night club owner. However at this point, his wife finally arranges her affairs and divorces Jake, taking custody of his children while LaMotta ends up in jail for allowing minors to drink alcohol.

Later on, after being released from jail, Jake meets Joey and hugs him in apology. The film ends at the opening with Jake practicing his routine in front of the mirror beginning his path to redemption.

[edit] Production

Raging Bull was a project brought to Martin Scorsese by his friend and collaborator Robert De Niro. De Niro discovered the book upon which the film is based and wanted to play the title character. The initial screenplay adaptation was written by Scorsese's friend Mardik Martin, who had co-written Mean Streets. It was reportedly a Rashomon-style drama with many different points of view being presented. In the end, this approach was abandoned in favor of a more straightforward narrative written by Paul Schrader, who had written Taxi Driver. The final draft of the screenplay was written, uncredited, by De Niro and Scorsese themselves.

Scorsese has acknowledged that he was deeply involved in drugs before the making of the film. He has stated that Robert De Niro saved his life by insisting on Scorsese's continued involvement in the production. Scorsese has also claimed that the raw emotional quality of the film and its theme of redemption were a result of his struggle to recover his life through the production of the film.

The movie was shot in two parts. The majority of the film, including all the boxing scenes, was shot first. Following this, the production was shut down for several months, during which De Niro gained the weight necessary to play Jake LaMotta in the latter part of the film. De Niro reportedly put on 60 pounds in mid-shooting to turn himself from the young, muscular boxer La Motta into the fat, washed up older La Motta. This is particularly visible in one of the last scenes in the film, where La Motta is sleeping with his shirt open, exposing a sizeable belly. According to Scorsese, these scenes were shot quickly and with a minimum of takes because the physical strain they caused De Niro was so evident. De Niro's extreme method acting would become one of the most famous physical metamorphoses in modern cinema.

Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman decided to shoot the film in black and white, despite initially having fears it would make it seem pretentious. This was done for reasons of period authenticity (Chapman and Scorsese remembered 1940s boxing bouts as black and white photographs in magazines) and to differentiate the film from several other boxing pictures which had recently been released, most especially the Rocky series.

Scorsese disliked the way previous boxing films shot the fight scenes from a spectator's view, hence insulating the audience from the brutality of the ring. Throughout the filming, Scorsese's mantra remained "stay in the ring", he was determined to capture the raw violence of every punch and make the viewer feel everything the boxers did. Each intricately choreographed boxing sequence would have a different style reflecting LaMotta's varying states of mind during the different fights. Scorsese drew every shot of these on paper before the shooting, and both he and Chapman have commented on the difficulties caused by the elaborate setups.

The film was edited in Scorsese's apartment in New York City, mostly at night. Reportedly, Scorsese was obsessively fastidious during post-production. He and his friend, editor Thelma Schoonmaker, labored an unusually long time over the editing and the film's complex soundtrack. The unusual care dedicated to post-production caused considerable friction with the film's producers, who felt Scorsese was being unnecessarily slow.

Scorsese has claimed that he took unusual care during post-production because he was convinced that Raging Bull would be his last film and he did not want to compromise what would be his final project. However, Scorsese has also commented on the film as a kind of cinematic rebirth. He chose to end the film with a personal dedication to his college film professor, Haig Manoogian, "with love and resolution." Manoogian had helped produce Scorsese's first feature film.

[edit] Reception

Raging Bull was initially given a mixed reception. Many critics were repelled by the film's violence and its unsympathetic central character. Although its cinematography and editing were universally praised, some saw the film as an empty exercise in style. Made on a budget of $18 million, the film grossed $23 million.^[1] Its gritty realism seemed out of place in a cultural atmosphere in which the fantasy films of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas dominated the film industry.

Several prominent critics, such as Roger Ebert, declared the film to be an instant classic and the consummation of Scorsese's earlier promise. Ebert would later proclaim it the best film of the 1980s, and in a separate poll, as one of the 10 greatest films of all-time[1]

Although nominated for several Oscars, the film won only for editing and for Robert De Niro's lead performance. Scorsese lost to Robert Redford for best director. United Artists was distracted by its worsening financial troubles in the wake of Heaven's Gate and could not adequately promote the film for awards.

When De Niro won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Raging Bull, he thanked Jake La Motta, "even though he is suing us."

By the end of the 1980s, however, Raging Bull had cemented its reputation as a modern classic. It was voted the best film of the '80s in numerous critics polls and is regularly pointed to as both Scorsese's best film and one of the finest American movies ever made.

[edit] Analysis

Raging Bull is a thematically rich film. Roger Ebert in his Great Movies entry called the film the greatest film to ever deal with envy and even called it an 'Othello for our times'.^[2]

The film as Ebert and many others note has several similarities with William Shakespeare's play Othello. Jake LaMotta constantly suspects Vicki of being unfaithful to him and later in the film suspects his own brother Joey of taking up with her. Unlike the play however, there is no Iago to deceive him. In his place, Jake has his own insecurity, envy and paranoia.

Other critics have seen it as a critique on masculinity. The film deals with boxing which has long been regarded as a man's sport. Jake, and to a lesser extent Joey, are domineering in their marriages. LaMotta discards his first wife and marries a younger and more beautiful woman. He treats Vicki respectfully at first but later constantly questions her fidelity to him. Ultimately, Vicki leaves Jake and Jake even alienates his own brother.

The well-known movie poster was painted by famous artist, Kunio Hagio[2].

Films directed by Martin Scorsese

What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? • It's Not Just You, Murray! • The Big Shave • Who's That Knocking at My Door • Street Scenes • Boxcar Bertha • Mean Streets • Italianamerican • Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Taxi Driver • New York, New York • American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince • The Last Waltz • Raging Bull • The King of Comedy • After Hours • The Color of Money • The Last Temptation of Christ • New York Stories • Goodfellas • Cape Fear • The Age of Innocence • Casino • Kundun • My Voyage to Italy • Bringing Out the Dead • Gangs of New York • The Aviator • No Direction Home • The Departed • Shine a Light

[edit] References

1. ^ imdb.com
2. ^ Roger Ebert, Raging Bull (1980), Chicago Sun-Times, May 10, 1998

[edit] External links

• Raging Bull at the Internet Movie Database
• Fresh Air interview with Thelma Schoonmaker
• Raging Bull review at Reel Film Reviews