1. Oscar J Buendia
Film History 2
Dr. Mirrer
April 8, 2012
Raging Bull
Film Slug:
Raging Bull- 1980
Drama/Sport
Director- Martin Scorsese
Writers- Jake LaMotta, Joseph Carter and three others
Stars- Robert DeNiro, Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci
Storyline:
An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper
that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it.
Raging Bull is a masterpiece created by Martin Scorsese and based on real life
story of Jake LaMotta. The Film has a great cast with Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta
and Joe Pesci as his brother. The Film was one of many that Martin Scorsese, Joe Pesci
and Robert Deniro worked on together. All of the movies these three did together were
great success and hits during their era.
The Film also did something that was unusual for the 80’s since everything was in
color now. Martin Scorsese decided that because the real story was from the 40’s that the
film would be in black and white. It was a great assertion since it does give a real life

2. feeling to the movie, and adding a really artistic touch to the movie. Something that
Martin Scorsese is known for is his use of lighting in his films and the storytelling being
very good which is done very well in this film.
The film did a great honor to the era it was trying to depict as it was done in black
and white, also the actors did a great job with their characters. The real Jake LaMotta
praised Robert DeNiro for his boxing skills and the great interpretation he did of him.
The era that he was trying to be depict was captured excellently.
The NY times article I found was a review of the movie from the 1980 when the
movie premiered. I found it interesting because it depicted DeNiro’s performance as his
best yet. I find that funny because even though it was great acting, after this role Robert
DeNiro played so many good roles in so many great movies. The article also says about
Scorsese’s fascination with violence and yes that is true Martin Scorsese loves violence,
but he is also a poet and a great storyteller.
In the Slant Magazine article the writer talks of how there is much that was left
out of LaMotta’s life in the film. While this may be true Scorsese did focus on what was
the most interesting and symbolic part of LaMotta’s life, his inner demons. In the movie
you don’t really understand how he gets to the point he does, but you know that
something inside of him just isn’t right and he starts lashing out and life around him
crumbles.
The film in my opinion was a great one for Robert DeNiro’s career, fro there the
man went on to many great roles. The film was filled with great story telling of his inner
demons lashing out against everything he stood for and loved. It’s a very intriguing
movie that depicts the rise and fall of a man.

3. Source Cited:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081398/
http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/print.php?rid=5140
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?
res=9C06E6D71238F937A25752C1A966948260&pagewanted=print