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 One can often tell when a movie is going to be worthy by the opening film score. The music intro of Raging Bull €“ "Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo" by the Orchestra of Bologna Municop Thetra, notes such a forecast. Direction by Martin Scorsese of a hooded Robert De Niro dancing around the boxing ring as Jake La Motta and exquisitely caught by the film's cinematographer Michael Chapman (Bridge to Terabithia) is an invitation into one of the best films of the 1980s. The 2-Disc Special Edition Collector's Set in the best way to enjoy the film.
The movie is a bio-pic based on La Motta's autobiography and co-written with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role - Robert De Niro; Best Film Editing - Thelma Schoonmaker; Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Joe Pesci; Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Cathy Moriarty; Best Cinematography - Michael Chapman; Best Director - Martin Scorsese; Best Picture - Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff; Best Sound - Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball, Les Lazarowitz. De Niro and Schoonmaker are certainly the powerhouses behind this film's almost 30-year fascination.
Joe Pesci
Jake and his brother Joey (Joe Pesci) grew up in a 1940's New York City neighborhood where brawn overpowered brain and wearing a suit made a man feel tough. Jake and Joey were constantly sparring with each other, but it's Jake who soon moved into the boxing ring as a contender.
For several years Jake clearly out fights his opponents only to see the win go to the other guy. This builds up a deep anger in Jake that clones into mistrust of everyone; including his brother and his second wife Vicki (Cathy Moriarty). He's soon winning fights, viciously destroying his challengers, but Jake's hard throws don't stop when the fight is over.
In between clips of fights with the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson (Johnny Barnes), Billy Fox (Eddie Mustafa Muhammad), Marcel Cerdan (Louis Raftis) and others are scenes of Jake's own self-destruction. For years he beats up on Jake and Vicki, at one time even accuses them of sleeping together, which is untrue. The fact that Jake often does this in front of his kids or Jake's, reveals he is a very dangerous man.
La Motta did become a Middleweight champion, but the character this movie depicts is truly compelling. Although to be fair, the real Jake La Motta claimed the film did not portray him accurately. Regardless, De Niro, Pesci and Moriarty root us into this story as if we were watching our neighbors.
De Niro went all out to make his performance authentic. He gained more than 50 pounds for his role at the end of the film and spent a year training with La Motta. From every scowl, every black eye he gives Vicki and every blood-spurting cut that mars his face De Niro's La Motta is as brutal as his sport, and there isn't one moment we don't believe it's real. It's no surprise he took home the Oscar for his efforts.
Likewise for Joe Pesci. He plays Joey as a loving brother and faithful manager through thick and thin and only when Jake becomes a true beast does Joey say enough.
Cathy Moriarty & Robert De Niro
One has to wonder, considering her options, why Vicki would take Jake's
Robert De Niro
mistreatment for so long. Cathy Moriarty (who admits in the bonus features this was her first film and that she was clueless in how to make a movie) rarely makes us question - instead showing that Vicki's vulnerability is overshadowed by her honest love for Jake.
Along with Scorsese's great direction, kudos must go to editor Thelma Schoonmaker who won an Oscar for her work, and has edited all of Scorsese's films. Anyone who knows anything about filmmaking knows that an editor is one of the crucial principles in telling the story of the film, and Schoonmaker handled a challenging task with perfect results.
Any film fan, or De Niro fan, who hasn't seen Raging Bull, needs to see it, and those who have, will enjoy watching it again. The DVD has two discs with some great bonus features and a booklet with scene and film information.
Special Features
Disc One
€¢ Viewers can watch the movie as is or with a choice of one of three commentaries running along with the film:
€¢ Audio commentary by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker -
Thelma Schoonmaker
gives a real filmmaker's insight.
€¢ Cast and crew commentary - Irwin Winkler (producer), Robbie Robertson (music producer), Robert Chartoff (producer), Theresa Saldana (actress who plays LaMotta's first wife, Lenore), John Turturro, Frank Warner (supervising sound effects editor). Again, professional views from both sides of the camera.
€¢ Storyteller commentary - Mardik Martin and Paul Schrader (screenwriters), Paul Schrader and Jake La Motta. Lots of comments from La Motta about his real life.
Disc Two
€¢ Behind-the-scenes featurettes
* Before The Fight - There's talk abut the real La Motta, how De Niro carried La Motta's book around for years, De Niro talks about why he wanted to make the film and Scorsese talks about his part of the getting the movie made, why he had a hard timing in connecting to it, and the casting.
* Inside the Ring - Scorsese and others talk about how to film the story, what props to use, where to film, and why they made the movie in black and why.
* Outside the Ring - about shooting the fight scenes, comments about "windows," about some of the impromptu scenes, the religious iconography, the extra and the color in the scenes
* After the Fight - putting in the shots and sounds of violence, the use of silence in many scenes, the music in the film, the rewards the film earned
€¢ The Bronx Bull - a making of documentary that features La Motta as the first speaker, some critics speak about their first impressions, a lot from Schoonmaker talking about her editing job.
€¢ De Niro vs. La Motta" offers a shot-by-shot comparison
€¢ La Motta Defends Title - newsreel footage
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Mardik Martin and Paul Schrader (screenplay), Jake La Motta (novel)
Cast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Frank Vincent, Theresa Saldana, Johnny Barnes, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Louis Raftis, Nicholas Colasanto
Rating: R (violence and language)
DVD Release: 2/05/2008
Classic Movie Guide Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Run Time: 129 minutes
Studio: United Artists - MGM Home Entertainment
Format: B&W, widescreen
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