Week 15 : Raging Bull
-This bull here can rage.
I have two favorite movies. When I want to feel good about myself, have a good time and be entertained my favorite film is Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. When I am feeling introspective, quiet or truthful my favorite film is Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull. I can relate to this picture in ways buried deep in my soul. Take that for what you will.
Let’s get this out of the way. Raging Bull is not a sports movie. It has about as much to do with boxing as Citizen Kane to do with newspapers. This is about as far from Rocky as you can go. It is the story of a tortured soul. Jake LaMotta (Robert DeNiro) is a man that is entirely preoccupied with his inner demons, specifically his jealousy, sexual inadequacy and self esteem. His life is a series of cycles between violence and euphoria, with the euphoria either coming from women, food, or humiliation. LaMotta may be one of the most complex characters in the cinema.
The film opens with a beautiful title sequence to "Intermezzo" from Cavalleria Rusticana, an opera by Pietro Mascagni. We see LaMotta preparing for a fight in a ring, almost in a fog. He is alone, punching and dodging an invisible opponent. Upon repeat viewings I have come to realize that this title sequence may take place in Jake’s own mind. It is here he is at peace, feeling almost majestic while preparing to exorcize his demons the only way he knows how- the violence of the ring. The irony, of course, is that Jake is fighting himself. He will fight himself throughout the whole picture. The title sequence ends and we see the first of many title cards-
New York City 1964
Scorsese uses the framing device of Jake’s life to structure his film. We begin the film the same place we end it, in a lowly club where LaMotta, now an old, fat, nearly destitute slob, prepares to go on stage as an entertainer. He monologues:
I remember those cheers
They still ring in my ears
And for years they'll remain in my thoughts
Cuz one night I took off my robe
And what'd I do
I forgot to wear shorts.
I recall every fall, every hook, every jab
The worst way a guy could get rid of his flab
As you know, my life was a jab...
Though I'd rather hear you cheer
When I delve into Shakespeare
"A Horse, a Horse, my Kingdom for a Horse,"
I haven't had a winner in six months (he lights his cigar)...
I know I'm no Olivier
But if he fought Sugar Ray
He would say
That the thing ain't the ring
It's the play.
So gimme a stage
Where this bull here can rage
And though I can fight
I'd much rather recite
That's entertainment!
That's entertainment.
Cut To Jake LaMotta- 1941. He is punched multiple times in the face. The camera swirls around him as he battles his opponent. The ring appears to change size- one minute it is large, the next claustrophobic. Flashbulbs explode, spectators yell. The ring buzzes- LaMotta goes to his corner where is loyal brother Joey (Joe Pesci in his first starring role) tells him he is down on points going into the final round, he must get a knockout to win. The fight begins again; blows are exchanged while sweat and blood drip. LaMotta finally hits his opponent with a devastating uppercut, knocking him down. The ref begins counting to ten, making it to nine before the bell rings- LaMotta did not knock him down in time, the opponent wins on points and LaMotta faces the first loss of his professional boxing career. The crowd goes berserk and riots, storming the ring and even trampling a young woman. It is at this point we realize that Raging Bull is not another underdog tale, but a real look at the nature of men, what drives them and what they are capable of. LaMotta begins the film by losing, and so does the faceless woman. It might as well have been his wife.
The sequences in the film are all structured as a circular chain of events. After losing his first match he is next seen sitting around the dinner table with his first wife (Lori Ann Flax). He sits, swears, and complains about losing. From the moment Jake LaMotta first speaks we realize that he is a real bastard. He is degrading to his wife and those around him. When his wife overcooks his steak we begin to see the real LaMotta as he upends a table and verbally and physically begins to abuse his wife. LaMotta is an animal, threatening to attack anything that threatens his superiority in any social situation.
LaMotta can’t get a shot at the Middleweight Championship title because he fails to cooperate with the local Mafia, portrayed by Sal (Frank Vincent, in his first of many Scorsese collaborations) the henchman and Tommy (Nicholas Colasanto) the mob boss. It is ironic that LaMotta has absolutely no problem destroying men in the ring with his bare hands or beating his wife, but cannot negotiate with the mob to get what he most deeply desires. It is clear that LaMotta wants absolutely nothing to undermine his image as “the boss.” He wants to succeed in his own way, but lacks the self confidence and maturity to work within the system. He only has three dials- inadequacy, jealousy and rage. The movie alternates between which dial LaMotta is on at any given point in time.
At a pool one summer afternoon, Jake spots Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) by the pool. He is immediately obsessed with her. The camera slows down and shows Vickie as she puts her legs in the pool and kicks. She wears white, and is angelic and virginal- at least to Jake. Within the first twenty minutes of the movie, Jake’s first wife is out of the picture. He aggressively pursues the fifteen year old Vickie, impressing her by taking her out into the country and showing her his expensive apartment. It is unclear why Vickie really is with Jake, whether it is physical attraction or a simple desire to obtain wealth is never illustrated. Vickie and Jake eventually make love and move in together.
It is clear that the largest inadequacy Jake experiences is sexual inadequacy. Anytime Jake hurls an insult to his brother it is almost always sexual in nature. Jake calls Joey a homosexual throughout the movie, but when Joey retorts Jake either verbally threatens him or assaults him. It is insinuated throughout the picture that Jake and Joey come from a Roman Catholic background, with crucifixes surrounding the home and religious paintings of Madonna on the walls. This is a fitting motif- as Jake suffers from what Freud called the “Madonna-Whore Complex.” Vickie at first is virginal, but once she makes love to Jake her image is tarnished. She is no longer ‘pure’ in Jake’s mind- and the sex brings out the worst in him. A memorable scene involves Jake refusing sex before a fight. Vickie continues to tease him until Jake finally gets up, goes into the bathroom, and pours ice water all over his erection. Jake fears that Vickie’s love will “make him soft’ for the fight. This act is symbolic not only in the fact that it explains Jake’s resentment towards his wife sexually, but also his jealousy. This jealousy is, of course, unwarranted. It is clear that Jake is choosing boxing over his wife, seeking the blood redemption of the ring over the love and forgiveness of a woman.
Jake continues to box. In a beautiful sequence played to another magnificent Mascagni piece, the only color sequences of Raging Bull are shown. We see home video footage of Jake marrying Vickie inter-cut with still photos of Jake boxing, the cycle of love and violence is almost a ballad of images across the screen. Joey marries Lenore (Theresa Saldana) and the two families buy homes in the Bronx and have children. These images are the happiest of Jake’s life- the cycle is manageable and no longer stagnant, the boxing matches being frequent enough to prevent an eruption.
This all ends with the Jeniro fight in 1947. Tony Jeniro (Kevin Mahon) is a young up and comer that is the only fighter that is willing to fight Jake. It is clear that Jake has not had a fight in many months. He is beginning to put on weight. Joey tells Jake to stop eating, but Jake changes the subject as he continues to stuff his mouth. It is at this point that the turning point of the film takes place. Vickie makes a comment about Jeniro- that he is a “young, good-looking up and comer.” It is this comment, mixed with the feelings of low self confidence surrounding his weight, which will dominate the majority of the rest of the picture. “How do you know he is good-looking?” Jake says. From this point on Vickie is less Madonna, more Whore- and everything she does is suspect.
The fight comes. Jeniro is pretty no more- Jake sees to it by beating him to a pulp in the ring. He smiles and (in slow motion) looks at Vickie in the audience. Jake eventually sacrifices his morals and joins the mob for a title shot, eventually winning. This happiness is short lived, because his wife is always there in the background- Jake never sure of what she is doing. It comes to a head when Jake accuses Joey of having sex with his wife. Joey leaves and, after busting down the door and beating her, Vickie tells Jake what he wants to hear- that she had sex with Joey and the rest of the neighborhood. It does not matter that this is a fabrication to appease Jake- he becomes an animal outside the ring, beating Joey mercilessly in front of his entire family. Vickie eventually forgives him and apologizes, but it is not enough for Jake.
The final fight sequence is the best. LaMotta is up against Sugar Ray Robinson (Johnny Barnes) for the seventh time in his career. Robinson beats LaMotta senseless, but he stands on the side of the ring, refusing to fall down. He is pummeled over and over again, in one of the bloodiest sequences in the history of cinema. He continues to stand while sweat and blood sprays the audience. The ref calls the fight. LaMotta is over; he has lost the title and will never get the shot again. Jake looks at Sugar Ray Robinson: “You never got me down, Ray. You never got me down” he says. It is as if the ring is Jake’s sick atonement.
The film’s final sequences show the cycle beginning again. Jake has gained approximately 75lbs and is living in Miami with Vickie and the children. The owner of a seedy nightclub, Jake is living delusions of grandeur as a pathetic, unfunny comedian and MC. It is clear that the only reason Jake has the nightclub is due to his former wealth. Jake has replaced his sexual appetite with his appetite for food and has become a lecherous old man, making out with and nearly molesting two schoolgirls that come into the club. Vickie leaves Jake and he is eventually arrested for lewd conduct. Refusing to sell his title belt, he removes the jewels from it and tries to sell them to get out of the legal mess. When the jeweler tells him that the belt is what is valuable, Jake is destroyed and is thrown into a jail cell. He sits, alone in the cell, bawling and moaning to a GOD that will most likely hear him, punching the sides of the concrete wall as if they were an opponent, screaming- “Why! Why! Why!” He never thinks to look at himself for the answer.
The denouement is fitting. Jake is a destroyed, fat, disgrace of a man. He works shoddy strip clubs to pay for his food and drinking addictions. In the end he does see Joey crossing the street, and attempts to repair the relationship- but it appears that it is too late. The film ends where it begins, with Jake sitting alone in front of a mirror. He is getting ready to go do some “performance art” which will most likely take place in front of a dozen people in a bar somewhere. Jake finally confronts the demon within by looking into the mirror and speaking to himself in a manner similar to what DeNiro did in Scorsese’s own Taxi Driver. He is practicing his lines, and is rehearsing the famous Marlon Brando monologue from On the Waterfront. He says the words coldly and without emotion.
-That’s Entertainment.
“It wasn't him, Charley. It was you. You remember that night at the Garden you came down in my dressing room and you said, 'Kid, this ain't your night; we're going for the price on Wilson?' 'remember that? 'This ain't your night?' My night. I could've taken Wilson apart that night. So what happens? He gets a title shot outdoors in the ballpark, and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palookaville. I was never no good after that night, Charley. It was like a peak you reach, and then it's downhill. It was you, Charley. You was my brother. You should've looked out for me a little bit. You should've looked out for me just a little bit. You should've taken care of me just a little bit instead o' making me take them dives for the short-end money. You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody instead of a bum, which is what I am. Let's face it. It was you, Charley. It was you, Charley.”
Jake is told that it is time to go on. He stands, and punches the air- fighting his demons once again; reminding himself he is the boss. The screen cuts to black.
Raging Bull is Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece. It is one of the most masterful and complex motion pictures ever created. In 2007, the American Film Institute declared it the fourth greatest American film of all time. They have a good point, fewer films have made me think of the nature of human behavior in the way this movie has. It is almost Shakespearean in its tragedy.
DeNiro gives perhaps the greatest performance in the history of film as Jake LaMotta. A man of few words, he portrays LaMotta by internalizing his emotions into looks, actions, and body language. It is not a “canned ham” performance, but one full of soul and method. It is also remarkable how DeNiro makes one of the most unsettling transformations in film, putting on an additional 75lbs between the boxing sequences and the end of the film. There are no fat suits or fancy make-up used in Raging Bull. DeNiro did that to himself. This is the method defined. There has never been a performance like it before or since.
I have realized how little I have said about the actual boxing sequences- the greatest ever filmed. I think one of the reasons I have failed to really write about them is because they only take up about 12 minutes of the movie. Another reason is that boxing doesn’t really interest me. This is a human story, with boxing the sick path to redemption that LaMotta chooses to take. That being said, the sequences are a technical triumph. Scorsese was brilliant in choosing to film from the inside of the ring. We feel every blow and the ring has a certain depth that is always changing. The editing of the picture really shows itself in these sequences, with multiple cuts and angles being used, earning Thelma Schoonmaker won the 1980 Academy Award. The sound is expressionistic, with the blows pounding, flash bulbs shattering, and animals screeching in the background. All of these components make Raging Bull one of the most visceral film experiences in my life.
Martin Scorsese is the finest living American director. He has countless films that are masterpieces from Goodfellas and The Departed, to Taxi Driver, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Age of Innocence and many more. He has one of the broadest and most respected catalogues in the history of film- a true master. Raging Bull is his crowning achievement. In interviews, Scorsese often discusses the personal struggles he had before making Raging Bull. New York, New York, his previous film, was widely considered a critical and financial disaster. Scorsese had been battling a severe addiction to cocaine and was resolved to never work again. The cocaine addiction became so horrible that Scorsese ended up in the hospital. His good friend and muse, Robert DeNiro brought the book “Raging Bull” by Jake LaMotta to him while he was bedridden, insisting that they collaborate on it. A screenplay was drafted by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) and Mardik Martin (Mean Streets), but the script was heavily revised by DeNiro and Scorsese. In the end, the film is the labor of love of these two men. Scorsese would later go on to say that Raging Bull saved his life.
The final image of the film brings me to tears. After the film fades to black words slowly fade in on the screen:
So, for the second time, [the Pharisees]
summoned the man who had been blind and said:
"Speak the truth before God.
We know this fellow is a sinner."
"Whether or not he is a sinner, I do not know,"
the man replied.
"All I know is this:
once I was blind and now I can see."
John IX. 24-26
the New English Bible
Remembering Haig P. Manoogian, teacher.
May 23, 1916 - May 26, 1980.
With Love and resolution, Marty.
In the end, I am unclear whether LaMotta ever achieved the salvation he was looking for. I am unsure if he was able to break through his own cycle. That is not the same for Scorsese.
Review and Analysis by Shaun Henisey
View Raging Bull, in its entirety:
Cast and Credits:
Jake: Robert DeNiro
Joey: Joe Pesci
Vickie: Cathy Moriarty
United Artists presents A Robert Chartoff-Irwin Winkler production of A Martin Scorsese Picture. Produced in Association with Peter Savage. Editing by Thelma Schoonmaker. Screenplay by Paul Schrader and Peter Savage. Directed by Martin Scorsese
Running Time 129 minutes. Rated R for intense graphic violence, sexuality and language.