Raging Bull Analysis

Raging Bull is considered to be Martin Scorsese's masterpiece and won Robert DeNiro his second Best Actor Oscar in 1981. The film tells the tale of boxer Jake LaMotta, an inarticulate man accustomed to using anger and brute force to deal with his problems. Finding himself in a lose-lose situation of an unhappy marriage and no real prospects in life, he pursues a championship bout with his brother Joey beside him, dealing with Mob bosses, crooked promoters, and the decline of his relationships and physical prowess. Fueled by the brilliant, visceral cinematography of Michael Chapman and the muscular direction of Scorsese, Raging Bull stands as an unflinching look at the unglamorous life of a boxer, a man ruled by his instincts, and the cult of masculinity itself.

Raging Bull begins with a man alone, dressed in a hooded robe, boxing trunks and gloves, dancing by himself in a boxing ring. As he shadowboxes with himself, camera flashes go off in the crowd. We can make out a few dim figures here and there in the smoky arena. But the boxer keeps dancing, bouncing on his toes in slow motion under the opening credit sequence. When the credits end, we cut to an aging and decidedly overweight Jake LaMotta (played by Robert DeNiro) practicing his comedy act in a dressing room mirror. It's 1964, and as director Martin Scorsese moves in closer to his face, we see that it's pitted and swollen, bearing the signs of repeated beatings.

Raging Bull then moves into an extended flashback. We cut to 1941, and LaMotta is again in the ring, taking punches from a fighter named Jimmy Reeves. Jake's brother Joey (played by Joe Pesci) and his corner guys try to get him ready to finish the fight. LaMotta comes out of the time out and finishes Reeve with a series of brutal punches. Reeve goes down several times, but he's saved by the bell and goes on to win the fight on points.

It's LaMotta's first loss as a professional fighter, and the mostly white crowd begins throwing popcorn and chairs in protest. Later on at home, Jake's wife makes him dinner, and they fight about how she's cooking his steak. As he chases her around the apartment, we see flashes his dangerous anger. He even threatens to kill her. Later, Jake and Joey talk about trying to win the championship bout. But Jake's anger even spills out onto Joey. He cajoles and finally demands that Joey hit him until Joey finally wraps his hand in a dishtowel and throws a few punches. Jake accuses his brother of fighting "like he's taking it up the ass" and smacks him back. Finally, Joey asks what Jake is trying to prove.

Jake then meets teenaged Vickie (played by Cathy Moriarty) at the neighborhood swimming pool. Interested, he inquires about her availability, but Joey tells him she is only fifteen. Jake pursues her despite his existing marriage, fixating on her at a nightclub and offering her a ride in his new car the next day. Meanwhile, Jake takes on more opponents, defeating Sugar Ray Robinson in 1943, and then losing by a technicality in a rematch three weeks later. Though he and Joey believe that Robinson has really won because he is enlisting in the U.S. Army to fight in WWII, they are unable to sway the judges. This fuels Jake's anger even more.

Jake marries Vickie in 1947, and they start a family. But before long, he becomes paranoid, accusing her of pursuing other men. When she mentions Jake's next opponent in passing, Jake beats him up in front of Mob boss Tommy Como, Vickie and others. Joey finds out that Vickie has had enough of Jake's paranoia. Believing that it is Mob connection Salvy's fault, Joey beats him up outside the club but is later forced to apologize to Como and his men for it.

Joey breaks the news that Jake will have to take a dive on his next fight, which Como controls, in order to get his shot at the championship bout. Jake doesn’t even bother to put up a show in the ring and gets suspended by the board for throwing the fight. In 1949, Jake finally manages to win the championship bout against Marcel Cerdan. But when he asks Joey if he fought Salvy because of Vickie, he accuses his brother of having an affair with Vickie, too. Insulted, Joey leaves. Jake tries to attack Vickie, but she locks herself in the bathroom until he breaks down the door. Sarcastically, she says she's had sex with the entire neighborhood, but this does nothing to calm Jake down. Jake savagely attacks Joey in front of his family.

Jake's career begins to decline without Joey by his side. He's able to defend his title in 1950 but finally loses in 1951 to Sugar Ray Robinson. Jake moves to Miami with his family, opening a nightclub there. But one night after Jake stays out late, Vickie tells him she wants a divorce. Jake is arrested for soliciting underage girls for the men in the club, tries to bribe his way out of a conviction, and eventually serves jail time for the crime. When he's released, he runs into Joey, who forgives him but doesn't want a relationship with his brother. The film ends back in 1964 when a stagehand tells Jake that there's a big crowd waiting to see him. Scorsese has Jake look into the mirror, shadowboxing with his reflection and chanting, "I'm the boss" (1980) over and over

Genre-wise, Raging Bull is a sports biography that takes place in the world of boxing. In classic films such as Body and Soul (1947), Monkey on My Back (1957), The Set-Up (1949) and Champion (1949), the protagonist is fighting for honor as well as success, while navigating a complex universe of underworld players, women, money, and acclaim. Raging Bull ups the ante by presenting an angry, flawed protagonist who relies on his powerful masculine body and the brute force of his fists to make his points. In life and the ring, he's an inarticulate symbol of fleeting masculine power, which can only last as long as his body holds up.

Scorsese is able to take Raging Bull beyond the parameters of the sports biography by making LaMotta a troubled, self-destructive and often cruel person, a rarity in this genre. In examining LaMotta's animal nature, Scorsese shows how what worked for him in the ring made his personal life a nightmare. Unlike Rocky, which was released in 1976, Raging Bull is about an anti-hero who doesn't care how history remembers him. He's not trying to save anyone but himself, and make a name the only way he knows how. Along the way, he torches relationships with his wives and even his brother, who's been his closest friend and ally. Thus Raging Bull introduces the idea that boxing isn't necessarily the realm of heroes, but sometimes a place for violent, paranoid and shame-filled men to exert their dominance for a time.

Scorsese shot Raging Bull in black and white, placing it among the great boxing films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Cinematographer Michael Chapman, who also shot The Godfather (1972), Jaws (1975), and Taxi Driver (1976) and others, uses the high contrast of black and white to highlight Jake's fluctuating moods, his quickness to anger, and his many seeming contradictions as a man. According to a video interview (2004), he had never shot black and white before Raging Bull, not even as a still photographer. But Chapman also breaks boundaries by taking us right into the ring with LaMotta, quickly and adeptly moving the camera as if it's another character. He famously strapped cameras to the actors in Raging Bull, adapting to their movements to capture a cinema verité effect that's as riveting as it is visceral. We feel every punch that Jake takes, even when he seems to be unable to feel pain anymore.

In addition to the Wolf of Wall Street, Raging Bull is considered by many to be one of the best films ever made and is Scorsese's masterpiece. The film took in a modest $23 at the box office, though it cost $18 million to make. A lack of advertising was blamed at the time, though the rare combination of violence, anger and boxing in the film, which was so different from Rocky, may have also played a part. Worried that studios may perceive his films as box office poison, Scorsese even began to fear for his long-term career plans.

Critical reception was mixed when Raging Bull was released on December 19, 1980. But Jack Kroll (Newsweek) labeled the film one of the best of the year, while Vincent Canby (New York Times) touted the ambitious nature of the project. DeNiro's performance was widely hailed, as was Cathy Moriarty's. Critic Roger Ebert (1998) wrote, " It is true that the character never tells us what he's feeling, that he is not introspective, that his dialogue is mostly limited to expressions of desire, fear, hatred, and jealousy. But these very limitations -- these stone walls separating the character from the world of ordinary feelings -- tell us all we need to know," echoing the film's praises.

Raging Bull was nominated for many awards, winning a Best Actor trophy for Robert DeNiro, and a Best Film Editing award for Thelma Schoonmaker. Raging Bull also won, or was nominated for, several Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, American Cinema Editors Awards, and Directors Guild of America Awards, and received top honors from the Boston Society of Film Critics, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, and the New York Film Critics Awards.

I chose this film in part because I am an athlete, and can relate to a sports movie like this one. But as previously mentioned, Raging Bull is more than a sports biography. For me, the film has personal relevance because it talks about personal demons, anger, paranoia and becoming alienated from other people, some of who may be trying to help. I think many people, including myself, can relate to these universal themes.

Anger can be a personal demon for many, and I have at times been blinded by anger, sometimes in the heat of competition. It can be more acceptable to push your feelings down and act tough in front of people in sports and in life. I've found myself posturing this way at various times, and could identify with Jake's struggle to contain his anger. I suppose it's lucky that he had boxing to help deal with that anger and channel it into a somewhat acceptable form.

This film also personal relevance for me because anger can turn into paranoia when you feel you don't really have anyone who supports you or anyone in your corner. At that point, anything or anyone you have, like Jake's relationship with Vickie, can seem tenuous. Jake was afraid that he would lose everything, and the irony is that the actions he took ended up realizing his worst fears.

Lastly, I identify with Raging Bull so strongly because it represents a certain aspect of the American Dream that is very hard for most people to pull off. We are trained in this country that everyone deserves this dream and that everyone has a shot at it. But if you are not careful, as Jake wasn't, you can find that the game is rigged (literally, by the Mob, or figuratively for the rest of us) and it's impossible to achieve.

References

Ebert, R. (1998, May 10). Raging Bull.Roger Ebert Reviews. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/raging-bull-1980

Chapman M. - Cinematographer - "Raging Bull": Shooting techniques and Jake La Motta - Web of Stories. (2004). Michael Chapman - Cinematographer - "Raging Bull": Shooting techniques and Jake La Motta - Web of Stories. Retrieved March 7, 2014, from http://www.webofstories.com/play/michael.chapman/48;jsessionid=E36CDF30AF434A01D8B79568A14F3848

Scorsese, M. (Director). (1980). Raging bull. [Motion picture]. USA: MGM.