Classic Film Review #27: Raging Bull
In selected cinemas now
This brutal, blood-soaked biopic of boxer Jake LaMotta, otherwise known as 'The Bronx Bull', arguably represents a career high point for director Martin Scorsese and leading man Robert De Niro. Following on from the glorious psychosis of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull not only documents the life of the aforementioned brawler, but also offers a pertinent commentary on sexual insecurity and man's penchant for violence.
It's been well documented that Raging Bull was De Niro's pet project, with Scorsese only agreeing to direct following a drug relapse that landed him in hospital. And it’s inarguable that the film would not work without its star, who completely owns the screen from beginning to end and demands that you invest in LaMotta’s story – to be repulsed by his brutal treatment of the women in his life, exasperated by his unrelenting and self-destructive paranoia and, more than anything, feel the pain associated with every punch that is landed on his hardened face. Such intensity and dedication to his craft is what made De Niro the single greatest actor of his generation and what lends Raging Bull its greatest quality.
Scorsese's choice to film in monochrome also serves to differentiate this picture from the plethora of boxing films that have long populated mainstream cinema. To see La Motta stalk his opponents in elegant black and white is completely at odds with his abrasive and unnerving demeanour, but is something that, along with its gorgeous musical accompaniment, transcends the film beyond a mere biopic.
Similarly, the fact that the film is as preoccupied with La Motta’s deep seated, but painfully familiar, psychological issues as it is his boxing prowess makes Raging Bull a far more emotionally ambiguous film than one would first presume it to be. The crescendo, best known for the dramatic weight gain endured by De Niro, is arguably as galling to watch as some of the fight scenes – a once fine athlete left destitute and physically bloated as a result of his personal misdemeanours. Truly, it’d be a shocking story if it wasn’t so commonplace.
