an unflinching portrait, superlative in every way

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2010)

There are boxing movies, and then there's the film that may well prove to be director Martin Scorsese's masterpiece; a tough call, given the level of excellence throughout his career. It may or may not be, as many critics have claimed, the best Hollywood feature of the 1980s(actually, it was released in the last year of the 1970s), but the visceral impact of the film is undeniable. Some people may (understandably) not see many virtues in a biography of middleweight champ Jake LaMotta, a man so filled with violence and jealousy that he tormented everyone, including himself, both in and out of the ring. But through Scorsese's fluid direction and Robert De Niro's intense (almost frightening) performance a portrait emerges of a beast who, beneath the rage, is at least halfway human, if never entirely sympathetic. It may not be a pretty picture (despite the stunning black and white photography and Oscar winning editing), but it's certainly a powerful one. Surprisingly, De Niro himself wrote the (uncredited) final, decisive draft of what, before, was a trouble-prone (for obvious reasons) screenplay.