Difficult to watch but an absolute masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (26 September 2004)

Contains possible spoilers.
First of all I should qualify this comment by saying that I am a massive fan of Scorsese - pre-Cape Fear anyway. This is definitely his masterpiece (although Goodfellas gives it a run for its money) and the finest of his collaborations with Robert De Niro. The fact that its shot in black and white works very well because it gives it an authentic feeling - sometimes its easy to forget that this film was made in 1980 and not 1940. Robert De Niro gives his all in arguably his best performance. The scene where his punches the cell wall and bangs his head against it is incredibly difficult to watch and possibly the best single piece of acting I have ever seen on film. He IS Jake La Motta for the 2 hours of this movie. The way he gets inside the psyche and mindset of a brutal cold hearted beast like La Motta is admirable to say the least and absolutely mindblowing to be honest. Yes this film can be hard to watch simply because La Motta is such an unlikeable guy and his self destructive personality is difficult to warm to. The domestic violence he inflicts on his wife is particularly hard to swallow but it's this violent and abhorrent behaviour which makes the character so compelling whilst so unlikeable.
The cinematography of the fight scenes is simply amazing. On the DVD it explains that Scorsese put a fire underneath the camera lens to get the hazy appearance of some of the shots - genius. The scene which sticks in my mind most vividly is where Sugar Ray Robinson is destroying La Motta and his face explodes in a burst of blood and broken noses. The shot of La Motta's blood flying into the faces of the boxing judges is pretty gruesome, as is the shot of his blood dripping from the ropes after he loses the fight.
What makes this film so powerful is the fact that is based - quite accurately - on Jake 'The Bronx Bull' La Motta's real life. He appears on some of the special features of the DVD. Now a frail, cracked faced old man, he cracks jokes and comes over as quite a charmer. But having seen his antics portrayed so convincingly by De Niro in the movie, it still isn't easy to like him.
This really is a magnificent film. Superb acting from the ever brilliant De Niro and good support from Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriati complement Scorsese's stunning direction. One of my top 3 films of all time along with Amelie and Shawshank Redemption. Do not miss.