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Raging Bull (1980)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
19 December 1980 (USA)
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Plot:
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. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars.
Another 19 wins
&
16 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(128 articles)
Surrealist artwork from The Red Shoes to go on display
(From The Guardian - Film News. 20 November 2009, 7:31 AM, PST)
Nicolas Cage: The Hollywood Interview
(From The Hollywood Interview. 19 November 2009, 11:43 PM, PST)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 20 November 2009, 7:31 AM, PST)
Nicolas Cage: The Hollywood Interview
(From The Hollywood Interview. 19 November 2009, 11:43 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Easy to Admire, Difficult to Love
more (395 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Robert De Niro | ... | Jake La Motta |
 | Cathy Moriarty | ... | Vickie La Motta |
 | Joe Pesci | ... | Joey |
| Frank Vincent | ... | Salvy |
| Nicholas Colasanto | ... | Tommy Como |
| Theresa Saldana | ... | Lenore |
| Mario Gallo | ... | Mario |
 | Frank Adonis | ... | Patsy |
| Joseph Bono | ... | Guido |
| Frank Topham | ... | Toppy |
 | Lori Anne Flax | ... | Irma |
| Charles Scorsese | ... | Charlie - Man with Como |
| Don Dunphy | ... | Himself - Radio Announcer for Dauthuille Fight |
| Bill Hanrahan | ... | Eddie Eagan |
| Rita Bennett | ... | Emma - Miss 48's |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
129 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Portugal:M/16 |
Canada:PA (Manitoba) |
Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) |
Australia:M |
Australia:MA (DVD rating) |
Iceland:16 |
South Korea:15 |
Brazil:16 |
Philippines:R-18 |
Spain:18 (1st DVD Edition) |
New Zealand:R18 |
Argentina:18 |
Canada:13+ (Quebec) |
Chile:18 |
Denmark:15 (DVD rating) |
Finland:K-16 |
France:U |
Israel:16 |
Italy:VM14 |
Netherlands:16 |
Norway:18 |
Singapore:NC-16 |
Spain:13 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:18 (re-rating) (2000) |
UK:18 (video rating) (1986) |
UK:X (original rating) |
USA:R (certificate #26171) |
West Germany:16 (bw)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Executives at United Artists were very reluctant to finance the film as they were perturbed by the extreme profanity and violence in the screenplay. With some justification, as it transpired: at one point it was doubtful whether the film would be released in the UK at all due to its extreme nature.
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Goofs:
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Jake and Joey are sitting at the kitchen table, Jake tells Joey to grab a towel to hit him. When Joey picks it up Jake says "Now wrap it around your hand," but the first half of the sentence seen from behind Jake focusing on Joey, Jake's mouth is not moving.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
Jake La Motta: I remember those cheers / They still ring in my ears / After years, they remain in my thoughts. / Go to 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 can get rid of his flab. / As you know, my life wasn't drab. / Though I'd much...
[...]
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Jake La Motta: I remember those cheers / They still ring in my ears / After years, they remain in my thoughts. / Go to 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 can get rid of his flab. / As you know, my life wasn't drab. / Though I'd much...
[...]
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Help Me Help You: Raging Bill (#1.7)" (2006)
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Soundtrack:
That's My Desire
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FAQ
A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERSHow much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
Why is this film in B&W?
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more (395 total)
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The routine use of black-and-white film to make movies seems to have ended in the mid-sixties, probably killed off by the advent of colour television. Since then black-and-white has been used very sparingly; even Polanski's `Chinatown', obviously conceived as homage to the films noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, was shot in colour.
`Raging Bull'- a biography of the boxer Jake La Motta who for a time held the world middleweight championship- is one of the few exceptions. The use of black-and-white seems to have been inspired by the fact that the film depicts real-life events that occurred in the forties and fifties. Scorsese has tried to capture the look of both the films and the newsreels of that period. This is remarkably effective for the boxing scenes, which have a raw, brutal power and graphically depict the aggressive nature of the sport. The other remarkable thing about the film is the performance of Robert de Niro, for which he won a well-deserved Best Actor Academy Award. De Niro actually learned to box for the film, and did all the boxing scenes himself without using a stunt double, but his portrayal of La Motta's private life is equally effective.
Some boxers- Henry Cooper comes to mind- are hard-hitting inside the ring but gentlemanly and restrained outside. La Motta, as portrayed in this film, did not fall into this category. De Niro portrays him as a man with a very short fuse, seething with anger and violence. Unlike his great rival Sugar Ray Robinson, an elegant practitioner of the art of boxing, La Motta tries to overpower his rivals with brute force rather than relying on skill. His aggression is not something confined to the ring, but rather an inherent part of his personality, and comes out in his dealings with others. He treats his beautiful wife Vicki particularly badly, frequently (and irrationally) suspecting her of infidelity and subjecting her to both verbal and physical abuse. Besides De Niro's dominating performance, there are also very good contributions from Cathy Moriarty as Vicki and from Joe Pesci as La Motta's loyal brother Joey, another frequent target of abuse despite his loyalty.
For me, this is a very good film, yet one that falls just short of the classic status that some have claimed for it. At times it is enthralling to watch, but at others, particularly in the first half, it seems to lack structure, as La Motta takes on a series of opponents without the significance of these fights ever becoming clear. More could have been made of the gambling-inspired corruption that infested the sport at this period and which may well have contributed to La Motta's sense of frustration- at one time it is made clear to him that his getting a chance to fight for the world title depends upon his taking a dive in a non-title fight. The main weakness, however, is a sense of emptiness at its centre, resulting from the lack of a character who can engage our sympathies. As I said, it is De Niro's performance that dominates the film, but for all his fine acting, even he cannot make us sympathise with a drunken, self-pitying, paranoid, violent wife-beater. As a character study of an unpleasant character it is excellent, but it can go no further than that. I cannot agree that this is the greatest film of the eighties; indeed, for me it was not even the greatest sporting film of the eighties. (I preferred both `Chariots of Fire' and `Eight Men Out'). It is an easy film to admire, but a difficult one to love. 7/10.