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Rating: It's 1980, Scorsese already has two masterpieces behind him ("Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver") and attempts the ambitious project of capturing in a film the story of Jake LaMotta, the undisputed boxing champion who won the title in 1949 and lost it in 1951 against Sugar Ray Robinson.
The role of Jake LaMotta is entrusted (just for a change in a Scorsese film) to Robert De Niro, who had to gain almost 30 kilos to portray the "in decline" LaMotta. Alongside him, we find Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci, who in the future will appear in two other Scorsese masterpieces ("Goodfellas," "Casino").
The film tells two stories: LaMotta in the ring (his rivalry with Sugar Ray and his incredible ability to "take punches") and LaMotta outside the ring, an angry man, jealous of his wife, and with a difficult relationship with his brother-manager (Joe Pesci).
One can certainly debate the realism of the fights (anyone who has watched a boxing match knows it's not quite the same thing as the film), but this is a problem with almost all boxing films. From all other perspectives, the film is impeccable, the viewer sides with Jake without really understanding why, given his unbearable character. De Niro is obviously sensational and indeed he will win the Oscar for Best Actor (also awarded was the editing by Thelma Schoonmaker), but the other great protagonist of the film is surely the black and white, which, instead of being a limitation, makes this film even greater than it would have been in color.
A beautiful ending concludes the best boxing movie ever and one of the best dramas of all time.
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Other reviews
By dennigi
"You didn’t knock me down... did you hear, Ray!?!? You didn’t knock me down."
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By Kenny.Club
Raging Bull is the raw and violent mosaic of Jake La Motta, where each tile finds its natural place.
De Niro’s interpretation materializes in an identification with the part that leads him to build a boxer’s physique, to then gain thirty pounds, risking in fact serious breathing problems.
By Rax
A masterpiece on human self-destructiveness.
Making this film saved my life.
By Poldojackson
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