Reviewed by Ramona Prioleau

Besides the Rocky series, Raging Bull may be the most iconic and well-known boxing movies of all time. From legendary director Martin Scorcese, the film tells the story of Jake LaMotta, an Italian-American middleweight boxer whose uncontrollable rage, obsessive sexual jealousy, and hunger for revenge led to the destruction of his career, family and, eventually, his entire sense of self. Adapted from LaMotta’s 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, the film is usually regarded as one of the genre’s best and one of Scorcese’s finest films.

Many of Scorcese’s protagonists have a certain inevitably to their story. And in few places is that more evident than in the story of LaMotta. His tale is nothing short of a tragedy and the story of LaMotta’s rise and fall is an example of some of the best screenwriting in modern cinema. The film’s point of view always feels objective and fair in a curious way as the film never takes a stance on Jake’s actions, but rather lets them speak for themselves. This is adaptation at its best—Schrader and Martin are able to turn a biased, subjective memoir into a careful, mythological-esque tale, and it’s nothing short of incredible.

One of the reasons the script shines so brightly though is because of Robert DeNiro’s legendary performance as Jake LaMotta. In what is arguably his greatest role, DeNiro gives a performance that spans an entire lifetime and consists of nearly every emotion under the sun. DeNiro is believable and grounded in every single scene, and there are few if any others who could pull this role off. But, as is typical for him, DeNiro chews up and spits the LaMotta role out like it’s nothing.

The film’s stylized black-and-white coloring is also a brilliant touch. Scorsese noted that he decided to film the movie in grey scale after being told that boxing gloves in the era would have been black and monochrome. Nevertheless, the black-and-white nature of the film only enhances the movie’s best aspect. It gives the film a grand sense of historical scale, and it also allows for striking moments in the scenes when there’s blood on the ropes for example. The film noir cinematography is one of the many reasons that Raging Bull transcends its genre and stands as one of the best sports films of all time. M

December 2020