Might not be his best but this is my favorite Scorsese film.

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2019)

I often struggle to connect with Scorsese's work on an emotional level. I find his films curiously intellectualized and given his interest in watching men destroy themselves I just don't get a lot from them. This fine film is an exception. Some of it is the genre-boxing film-is one of my favorite genres and Scorsese's direction is classical and restrained (most of the time) that makes the film feel like a traditional Hollywood film. The black and white really helps with this; swearing aside this feels like a 40's film. Indeed, re-watching it the other day it struck me as a more realistic version of a Requiem for a Heavyweight; it has the same somber fatalism to the proceedings.
Now it does have the Scorsese flourishes and the boxing scenes themselves are quite brutal. But overall I think this is my favorite film by Scorsese because of its classic influences. It is Scorsese at his least inventive but also his best.