Films To Watch Before You Die #33

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die…

Raging Bull, 1980.

Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty.

Raging Bull is one of the greatest films of all time and is an absolute classic in film history. Scorsese’s biographical masterpiece follows the life of middleweight Boxing World Champion Jake LaMotta (De Niro) as his life and career enfold with bouts of rage, jealousy and anger. LaMotta is a character who struggles with his inner demons on a daily basis and destroys his relationships and family. His brother, Joey (Pesci), tries to keep him on the straight and narrow, but he gets so blinded by rage that he can only see his way to do things.

De Niro put on around 27kg of weight for certain parts of the film and Pesci was an unknown actor at the time of his casting. Scorsese himself was struggling in the industry and was expecting this to be his last ever feature film and so made sure he had a hand in all areas of production. The film received mixed reviews initially and many were unhappy with the violence used in the film outside of the boxing ring, but it has since gone on to become regarded as one of the greatest films ever made and reinvigorated Scorsese’s career.

The most notable thing about the film is the style in which it is directed. When in his New York apartment and at home with his family the film is shot in an almost documentary like style in order to feel like a fly on the wall of the LaMotta residence. There is a vast difference between that and the style used for the boxing matches in the film. The fights were shot with a highly stylized use of lighting, camera and sound. Scorsese helped create the punching noises for the fight scenes by using tomatoes to punch a punch bag and get that flesh squishing sound. Once the film was finished those sounds were permanently deletes so no one else could ever use them.

Raging Bull is a film you must see before you die because Scorsese’s career was on the way down after a few huge flops and a cocaine addiction that was said to be ruining his health. When De Niro convinced Scorsese to kick his habit and make this film he poured his every energy into making it and doing it right, a style Scorsese later called a kamikaze method of filmmaking. The end result is a film that is hailed as the greatest boxing film of all time, one of the greatest films ever made and earned eight Oscar nominations including Scorsese’s first for Best Director.