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Title: 'Raging Bull'
Release Year: 1980
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci.
Plot: The film tells the rise and fall of Jake la Motta, a successful boxer whose insecurities endanger both his personal and professional life.
Review: Martin Scorsese is one of my favourite directors and usually I adore his movies. 'Raging Bull' has been the underwhelming exception to the general rule.
That doesn't mean it was a bad movie. Generally it is listed as one of the best films of all time and Robert De Niro's performance is nothing but spectacular.
The problems is that the typical atmosphere of violence in which Scorsese usually floods his characters (that almost always delivers wonderful and raw results) seems strangely out of place. I can understand that la Motta was a very complex person; he was strong and powerful in the ring, but once he was outside, his insecurities made him a weak man. But somehow, you always expect some kind of redemption, an evolution that justifies the whole run that the character has made. On the contrary, as time goes by, De Niro's character only becomes worse, maybe influenced by the also questionable conduct of his brother.
Jake la Motta: a story of violence and insecurities sunk by its own weight
All this contributes to a certain detachment of the audience with the film and ultimately leads to an incomplete cinematographic experience. In the end, when an overweight la Motta recites one of Marlon Brando's most memorable speeches in 'On the Waterfront', you feel that they've left something behind, that something is missing; la Motta starts as a fragile-minded persona and this characteristic drives his entire life until his disppointing ending, with no evolution in the meantime. When he finally decides to take the stage one more time, you ask yourself if the journey had any sense to begin with, other than showing the extreme transformation De Niro had to go through to embody his troubled character.
That doesn't mean it was a bad movie. Generally it is listed as one of the best films of all time and Robert De Niro's performance is nothing but spectacular.
The problems is that the typical atmosphere of violence in which Scorsese usually floods his characters (that almost always delivers wonderful and raw results) seems strangely out of place. I can understand that la Motta was a very complex person; he was strong and powerful in the ring, but once he was outside, his insecurities made him a weak man. But somehow, you always expect some kind of redemption, an evolution that justifies the whole run that the character has made. On the contrary, as time goes by, De Niro's character only becomes worse, maybe influenced by the also questionable conduct of his brother.
Jake la Motta: a story of violence and insecurities sunk by its own weight
All this contributes to a certain detachment of the audience with the film and ultimately leads to an incomplete cinematographic experience. In the end, when an overweight la Motta recites one of Marlon Brando's most memorable speeches in 'On the Waterfront', you feel that they've left something behind, that something is missing; la Motta starts as a fragile-minded persona and this characteristic drives his entire life until his disppointing ending, with no evolution in the meantime. When he finally decides to take the stage one more time, you ask yourself if the journey had any sense to begin with, other than showing the extreme transformation De Niro had to go through to embody his troubled character.
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