"Your mother's an animal ya son of a b*tch!"

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2011)

Everyone loves holds dear the classic era of cinema; the heyday of the Western, the innocence of the screwball comedy and the mystique of film noir. While these genres have lived on in contemporary movies, the 1960s were the arrival of films with a profound boldness. Discretion was tossed to the wind and subtly was thrown to the wind. This advent of risquÃ© film making was the beginning of a new era, marked predominately by unrestricted sexuality and violence. This has continued on to this day, but certain periods were peaks in these categories. On one end of the stick is a cult horror film like The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981), which is infamous for its over-the-top gore. Other films, such as Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980) struck viewers with heart pounding realistic violence. Its approach to on-screen violence, acting and cinematography all come together to make the definition of a gritty film making.
The film of old used specific techniques to cement their themes and emotions, and while these varied the mood in specific genres was ever consistent. Pre-sixties horror was that of Them! (Gordon Douglas, 1954), but at the sunset of the fifties, films such as Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) began to bend the rules. Of course, the production code which had regulated just what films could show had been done away with. This was the genesis of the new wave era.
Robert De Niro plays the role of the titular character, boxing legend Jake La Motta excellently, but he took method acting to an unprecedented level. De Niro underwent vigorous physical training, much of it with Jake La Motta himself, but that was only the first course. Not just physical strain put on him; he also gained a whole sixty pounds for the post-boxing years portion of the film. Impersonation acting grew vastly from the New Wave era, where actors are not held by contract to play niche roles. It allows true versatility to take hold.
The mise en scene of the film is quite ironic. Film noir was the beginning of Hollywood exposing the darker nature of what went on behind the closed doors of even the most serene family. This film itself is a period piece, and the home of La Motta is very similar to the ideal 40s and 50s suburbs. There is even a cross overlooking the couple's mattress. Despite this, the violence of the character's nature stains into every facet of his life. In that bedroom, with the religious symbol watching it all, the man deals harsh blows to his wife (played by Cathy Moriarty-Gentile). The scene is only one of many that can be hard to watch for squeamish viewers, many critics themselves initially were polarized by the amount of brutality in the film.
The cinematography by Michael Chapman, and without a doubt the editing of Thelma Schnoonmaker is also a real highlight of the film. Note the fight between La Motta and Marcel Cerdan. There is rapid cross-cutting in a series of short takes to give the action a very intense feel. A Dutch angle is used to create distortion as our character takes a brief interlude before re-entering the fray. The whole scene illustrates the chaos of a single fight.