216. Raging Bull; movie review

 

RAGING BULL

Cert 15

129 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, domestic abuse, sex references, very strong language

Have I really reached the age when I am prompted to write "They don't make them like this any more"?

Nowadays, no major studio would take a chance on a troubled director, making a film about a long-forgotten wife-beating boxer.

With unknown actors playing two of the key roles.

In black and white!

Martin Scorsese, who had nearly died from a drug overdose, didn't like boxing but was persuaded by Robert De Niro to take on the project.

De Niro is sensational, while Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty are outstanding in their film debuts in Raging Bull but it had a lukewarm box office response and Scorcese feared his career was over.

Until it received eight Oscar nominations, including two wins.

Forty-two years on, it not only passes the test of time but it is miles ahead of any movie made in the past few years.

Raging Bull stars De Niro as Jake LaMotta, a middleweight boxer with a giant chip on his shoulder and a fiendish temper.

His early bouts in the 1940s are little more than brawls with him coming out on the winning side most of the time.

Recognising his talent in the ring, city gangsters offer to sign him in exchange for making sure he has a shot at the world title.

But despite the encouragement of his manager and brother Joey (Pesci), he refuses, insisting on "going his own way".

Meanwhile, he marries a 16-year-old (Moriarty) and goes on to treat her appallingly.

Raging Bull is brutal in and out of the ring - LaMotta is portrayed as being jealous and paranoid as well as having a short fuse.

He is also ill-disciplined, so his time at the top is short-lived as is his post-boxing career as a nightclub host and comedian.

Nevertheless, despite unpromising content, Scorsese's movie is a classic.

The fight scenes are shatteringly realistic and the acting of all of the cast is out of the very top drawer.

I was delighted to revisit it.

Reasons to watch: Scorsese classic

Reasons to avoid: Bloody violence

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 10/10

Did you know?  To prepare for the role, De Niro went through intense physical training with the real LaMotta for a year. LaMotta estimated that during the first six months, the pair boxed a thousand rounds, working half an hour every day. De Niro also entered three boxing matches in Brooklyn and won two of them. 

The final word. Martin Scorsese: "Here’s a man who is methodically destroying himself, who is pulling others down with him, who falls into the deepest hole—and who pulls himself up again. Pulls him up again toward what? It doesn’t matter." Scraps From The Loft

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