Raging Bull, excellent movie, excellent title

Rating: Null/10 (27 July 2011)

Raging Bull is one of the most intense films that I have ever watched. It is clearly noted that this movie is Martin Scorsese, the director's, best film, and I would have to agree. It is also considered one of the best films of the 1980's. This movie is based on the true story of the boxer, Jake LaMotta. Robert DeNiro plays the role of Jake and does an amazing job. At the beginning of the film, the audience sees a quiet, subdued LaMotta reminiscing about his past and what could have been. The filmmaker uses flashbacks for the viewer to experience the trials and tribulations of Jake's life. Through these flashbacks, the audience realizes that Jake is a much different man than previously thought.
This film showed Jake's violence and ultimate self-destruction. Jake married a fifteen year old girl, Vickie, played by Cathy Moriarty. His brother and biggest ally, Joey, is played by Joe Pesci. The only thing that Jake wanted in his life was a chance at the middle weight title. He finally was given that opportunity and won the belt, but was unable to keep the title when fighting Sugar Ray, his biggest competitor. Even after Sugar Ray beat him profusely, he told Sugar Ray, I never went down; I never went down. After retiring from boxing, he opened up a club and got in trouble with the law for being with underage girls. He accused his wife and brother of having an affair and destroyed the relationships he had with both of them. He was arrested and smashed his belt to remove the jewels for money. He later found himself alone with nothing to look forward to. The theme of Raging Bull is jealousy and the self-destruction that it brings. Jake had everything that he wanted; he was fighting and had a beautiful, young, trophy wife. Through his jealousy, he ruined that relationship. He was always accusing Vickie of being with other men because of his own insecurities. He finally accused Vickie and Joey of having an affair. After fighting both of them, he does not talk to his brother again until the end of the movie. Vickie does forgive him, but eventually leaves him because of his infidelities. It was as if Jake was fighting internal demons throughout his life. His jealousy made him incapable of thinking rationally. He was abusive and self-destructive in regards to this jealousy. He treated everybody with no respect including his own body. He gained weight and drank profusely without regard to his health. This movie proved that mistakes can be forgiven. Although Jake practically beats Joey senseless, he finally forgave him. Vickie forgave him for his violence outside of the ring. Even after Jake hit her, she still loved him enough to try to make the marriage work. The lighting and sound effects in this movie were phenomenal. During the fight scenes, the filmmaker chose a black background with a bright light shining on the boxing ring and the fighters. This allowed the audience to focus completely on the fight without distractions. Another great example of the use of lighting was when Jake was thrown in jail. It was completely dark except for a spot light on Jake. This light enabled the viewer to actually feel the pain, the anguish, the desperation, and loneliness of Jake as he beats his head and fists against the wall. Even though, LaMotta was an extremely violent man, using this lighting allowed the audience to pity him. The sound effects and editing of the fight scenes were amazing. The sounds of music playing, the crowd cheering, the camera snapping, the bell ringing, and the announcer speaker made this movie exceptional. The close ups and slow motion that were used in editing to high-light the fight scenes created the most realistic picture; it made the viewer feel like they were at the fight. This movie is compared to Rocky a lot because these two men shared the same dream, becoming a famous boxer. I believe the reason this movie and Rocky are compared because they portray great boxers that came from poverty and made it. I think that the Rocky movies portray Rocky as a hero and Raging Bull portrays Jake as a regretful has-been that could have been a hero. He could have had class, he could have been a contender, he could have been somebody, but instead he was a bum. These were the last words that Jake LaMotta stated in the movie, Raging Bull. He allowed jealousy to overcome his life. He did not think rationally and slowly self-destructed into what he considered a bum.