Raging Bull

Raging Bull (1980)

a film by Martin Scorsese

What a great character is Jake La Motta,, so full of destructive violence both in the ring and outside, so jealous and full of energy, so easy to hate but also so human. It is remarkable and epic the way in which Robert De Niro captures this character, using both his acting and his body to embody this boxer.

I'm a big fan of Scorsese movie but I never had the chance to watch this one. I was looking forward the boxing scenes and I wasn't disappointed. I love the traveling of the camera on the ring, specially during the fight between La Motta and Sugar Ray Robinson. The shots in the ring give this movie an amazing technical value perfectly complemented with really artistic shots like that one of Vicky splashing the water in the pool or Jake and Joey walking on the hallway. This film brings many memorable images and a really engaging story.

Violence is crude on this film, maybe because in contrast with other Scorsese movies, this time it is presented bare naked without music. Joe Pesci feels really fresh although I had seen this role repeated with really similar features in other films, and how impressive it is to see his rage unleashed in the scenes. It is the contrast between this rage and his personal feelings that makes his character so memorable, and is this contrast in the end that make the story in this film so vibrant.

This movie grows in the my memory as I'm thinking about it before writing this lines I find it more and more full of passion. Each of the scenes delivers a dose of the strength of the character, and some times in the ring it just seems La Motta is about to jump out of the screen.