Watched this ages ago so memory of it is a bit faded.
'Raging Bull' follows the Boxer Jack La Motta through his boxing career from start to finish. It has a very evident and emotional take on his journey through life. Some might say that the narrative structure is very much like a boxing match, Jack gets knocked down but gets up again and so on.
It can also be suggested to be an allegory of growing up. Jack starts off as a cocky young boxer who believes he can take on anyone and beat them, he believes/ is a ladys man and pulls all the lovely looking ladys. However later in life, he figures out that its not all that its cracked up to be, athletic wise. The older he gets the more difficult it is to keep weight off, harder to control his temper with his family and alchohol becomes much more appealing. He goes on a downhill spiral.
The cinematography is some of the best ive seen amongst the films ive seen. The use of lighting, in my opinion is the best in film history. Shot in black and white, the charascuro lighting empaphises elements such as the boxers. The light seems to bounce right off and the contrast between black and white is amazing. My cinephillic moment is the fight scene between La Motta and Sugar Ray (Pictured Above). The cinematography used within this scene is amazing. The convergence between deep and shallow focus, the colour, the lighting, the mute in sound, the point of view shot from La Motta. We as the audience really get the feeling what it must be like to have been punched a few times and suddenly become all disorientated.
Another great scene in which i remember greatly is when Jack La Motta has a moment of weakness in his prison cell after being arrested. He breaks down and crys like a baby. However we are presented with a biblical and heavenly image of a light shining on him like a laser beam when darkness surrounds. This has connatations to Jack repenting against his scenes. Owning up to God. As we know Jack was a religous man due to the amount of crosses in his house.
Some interpretations may suggest that Jack La Motta plays the role of Jesus Christ. He deliberatley inflicts pain on himself, especially when fighting Sugar Ray, he refuses to fight back. However, this may be reading too much into it.
Jack is an extremely strange character. We as the audience are placed alongside him for the whole film. The things he does are terribly. Domestic violence towards his family, cheating on his wife and beating up his brother it is no wonder why he becomes the loveable villain. We want him to succeed in his fights but be a nice man outside, we are meerely positioned as his wife or brother or the extra member of his family.
It is foreshadowed at the start that Jack will end up a fat stand up comedian as he is shown drinking in such clubs, however he seems happy and satisfied at this realisation. The end scene is Jack sitting in front of a mirror preparing his material. Looking at himself, he is all he has left and he is the only person that he can relate to. Looking at himself, he can see all his life in that image, so can the audience.
His wife is fit aswell, Cathy Moriarty.
The pace of the film is very slow which results in easy viewing almost giving a biographical sub genre feeling to it, making it more real.
A cult movie and a cinematic experience to say the least 9/10
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