Shadowboxing

Rating: 8/10 (22 February 2016)

A recurring theme in Martin Scorsese's filmography is the clash between professional and private life. In both Goodfellas and Casino, the protagonist's family is eroded by the same criminal connections which initially helped forming it. In Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle's psychosis is fueled by his nocturnal contact with the city's seedy underbelly. The paramedic in Bringing Out the Dead experiences burn-out. In The Departed, the main characters are both undercover, mirroring each other in their daily deception. Shutter Island features a neat subversion, which I won't spoil as it's the movie's main twist.
This biopic of boxer Jake La Motta (De Niro) may be Scorsese's best execution of this theme. La Motta's ferocity propels him to championship, but takes a toll on his life ruining his relationships with his brother (Pesci) and wives - domestic and professional violence appear to feed each other in a terrifying, self-destructive spiral.
Raging Bull is technically exceptional, with stylish black and white cinematography, perfect editing, masterful use of sound. De Niro burns the screen with an incandescent performance - one of the two-three turns which made him a legend as opposed to just a great actor - making his loutish, unsavory character an unsettling, pitiable, tragic figure.
8,5/10