Spoiler Warning: This discussion contains some spoilers. It could be an entire gag from a comedy or in-depth conversation concerning events in the second act.
















Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

"Though I could fight, I'd much rather recite; that's entertainment."

For my final film of 2021, I wanted to see a film I probably should have seen years ago by now. Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull is often listed as his masterpiece and was his intended final American text given the failure of New York, New York. I simply had to see that vision - what did Scorsese want his lasting impression on American cinema to be? Needless to be said, Raging Bull is a landmark in 1980s cinema, arguably the last of the New Hollywood movement, and is a pretty remarkable two hours of film-watching.

I feel like every time I see a Robert De Niro performance, not only is it remarkably different from the last, but it also feels like his best. This is a considerably more tragic performance than the terrifying Max Cady of Cape Fear or the troubled Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver. De Niro's physicality, movements, his ways of delivering dialogue are all astounding to see - Jake LaMotta becomes a real person on-screen. An early Joe Pesci performance is a really nice, supplementary performance to De Niro. Their toxic tendencies bounce off one another, but their troubled lifestyles and underdog stories are cleverly crafted by two of the best actors to ever do it. I thoroughly enjoyed Cathy Moriarty's performance, sensual and thrilling, but the absolute basis for the downfall of LaMotta. Not that it's her fault, more the insecurity and impotence of Jake - she comes across exactly as she should for this film to work as well as it does.

It goes without saying that Raging Bull is one of the most visually astounding films I have seen in a long time. Scorsese is a master of a few things - one being the slow pan to reveal, which is noticeable a couple of times here. The other noticeable techniques he uses are to make a spectacle of the boxing sequences, which are the sequences you remember most despite their short presence in the film. Those in-ring fight scenes are breathtaking, focusing on the visceral elements of the fight - the blood-soaked ropes, the crimson-red baths between rounds, the steam rising from each competitor. Scorsese knows how to produce a final product that packs a knockout punch. It's boxing like you haven't seen it before. I think the score is gorgeous, hauntingly sad but with moments of grace and hope.

Raging Bull is the film that got Scorsese back on the wagon, at least The King of Comedy got him into a widespread controversy again. It's a gorgeous film with a story you forget is real for the large part. Jake LaMotta is that wonderful mix of vulnerable and horrible that Scorsese excels in directing, De Niro is at one of his career pinnacles, and Paul Schrader's sick sense of violent writing really backs the whole project up. I'm glad this was the last film of my year; it doesn't get much better.

Check out the soundtrack here:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J5DUZKn2T4FqTuPFK9QDk
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