A flawless masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (4 October 2001)

One of my alltime favorite films, Raging Bull is a stunning examination of brutality and one man's descent into decadence and immorality. Much more than a boxing film, it's a documentation of what makes us human, and the potential of it's destruction. Simply put, Robert DeNiro gives the performance of a lifetime. He is absolutely magnificent as Jake LaMotta, a true bull of a man in and out of the ring. His sheer presence is overpowering, but he is competently underscored by an impressive supporting cast, especially Pesci as his tormented brother and Moriarty as his abused wife. The boxing sequences are as real as it gets, unflinchingly brutal and almost poignant. Behind all the ugliness of Raging Bull, though, lies beauty. The actions of LaMotta hardly evoke pity, but the film is so poetic and incredibly filmed that the movie is never so stark and perverse as to be unwatchable. Bringing it all together is the masterful direction of Martin Scorsese, who is brilliant as always. I could talk forever about Raging Bull, but it has to be viewed to be fully appreciated. For that matter, see it more than once, it gets better with each viewing.