STARRING: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty. Screenplay by Paul Schrader adn Mardik Martin. Based on Raging Bull: My Story by Jake LaMotta, Joseph Carter and Peter Savage. Cinematoraphy by Michael Chapman. Edited by Thelma Schoonmaker. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Budget $18 million. Box office $23. 4 million. Originally released in 1980. Running time 129 minutes.
For a film that garnished a lacklustre boxoffice haul of just $23.4 million off of a budget of $18 million, and mixed reviews at the time, this black and white biopic certainly packs a punch. It went on to become the first film selected into the Library of Congress's National Film Registry for being 'culturally historically, or aesthetically significant'. It was ranked in 2007 by the American Film Institute as the fourth-greatest American movie of all time. Robert De Niro would win an Oscar for Best Actor and Thelma Schoonmaker one for Best Editing. It was nomitated a further six times by the academy and went on to win a further 16 International film awards. Three more of Scorsese's films would go on to be selected for the the National Film Registry including Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Goodfellas.
The plot is simplicity itself, it's the biopic of Jake LaMotta, his rise and fall, or knock down, and based on his own autobiography tracking his career from king of the ring to nightclub owner and stand-up comic of sorts.
What stands out is De Niro's commitment to the role, perhaps no other actor with the exception of Daniel Day Lewis commits so much to a role. In De Niro that commitment saw him pile on a legendary 60 lbs or 27 kg to portray the older post fighting Ray LaMotta. This is not an easy film to watch, it's savage, aggressively so, in fact on its release the sheer violence of the film damaged it with the movie going audience not used to the sort of savagery Scorsese filled his screen with. But it's necessary, Jake was a very violent man inside and outside the ring, he's a man that only ever seemed happy beating another man half to death, his jealousy made him a monster outside the ring and the brutality meted out to his brother, Joey (Joe Pesci) and wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing, but isn't that a good thing? We grow up with films that glorify violence, how many times the noble hero who stabs to death an opponent or shots another with impunity, but when it's on a human level, a domestic one then the violence becomes ugly, and hateful and deeply uncomfortable. Once again, Thelma Schoonmaker's editing is an utter masterclass, as is the cinematography by Michael Chapman, which reminded me of Elephant Man and Eraser Head. And as always, Scorsese uses music and popular music to powerfully create tension, mood and drama. This truly is a superbly made film and it leaves you emotionally drained. De Niro is mesmerising in the role, his self-made transformation into the bloated LaMotta is genuinely astonishing and you do literally forget you're watching De Niro. Similarly, both Pesci and Moriarty give their roles depth and nuance.
10/10 A profoundly powerful experience.
What stands out is De Niro's commitment to the role, perhaps no other actor with the exception of Daniel Day Lewis commits so much to a role. In De Niro that commitment saw him pile on a legendary 60 lbs or 27 kg to portray the older post fighting Ray LaMotta. This is not an easy film to watch, it's savage, aggressively so, in fact on its release the sheer violence of the film damaged it with the movie going audience not used to the sort of savagery Scorsese filled his screen with. But it's necessary, Jake was a very violent man inside and outside the ring, he's a man that only ever seemed happy beating another man half to death, his jealousy made him a monster outside the ring and the brutality meted out to his brother, Joey (Joe Pesci) and wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing, but isn't that a good thing? We grow up with films that glorify violence, how many times the noble hero who stabs to death an opponent or shots another with impunity, but when it's on a human level, a domestic one then the violence becomes ugly, and hateful and deeply uncomfortable. Once again, Thelma Schoonmaker's editing is an utter masterclass, as is the cinematography by Michael Chapman, which reminded me of Elephant Man and Eraser Head. And as always, Scorsese uses music and popular music to powerfully create tension, mood and drama. This truly is a superbly made film and it leaves you emotionally drained. De Niro is mesmerising in the role, his self-made transformation into the bloated LaMotta is genuinely astonishing and you do literally forget you're watching De Niro. Similarly, both Pesci and Moriarty give their roles depth and nuance.
10/10 A profoundly powerful experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments, unless they're how to make money working from home, are gratefully received.