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Movie Review - Raging Bull - ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL' - NYTimes.com                                          4/9/12 12:29 PM




 This movie has been designated a Critic's Pick by the film reviewers of The Times.

 November 14, 1980

 ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL'
 By VINCENT CANBY
 TAKING as his starting point the troubled life of Jake La Motta, the tough New York City kid who slugged his way to
 the world middleweight boxing championship in 1948 and then went on to lose almost everything, Martin Scorsese
 (''Mean Streets,'' ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,'' ''Taxi Driver'') has made his most ambitious film as well as his
 finest. Though ''Raging Bull'' has only three principal characters, it is a big film, its territory being the landscape of the
 soul.

 The film, which opens today at the Sutton and Cinerama 1, is far too particular to be conveniently classified as either a
 fight movie or a film biography. Though it pays careful attention to the factual details of Mr. La Motta's career, it is a
 movie with a resonant life and style of its own.

 It's exceedingly violent as well as poetic and, finally, humane in the way of unsentimental fiction that understands that
 a life - any life - can only be appreciated when the darkness that surrounds it is acknowledged. There's scarcely a
 minute in ''Raging Bull'' that isn't edged by intimations of mortality. Jake La Motta, played by Robert De Niro in what
 may be the pe rformance of his career, is a titanic character, a furious or iginal, a mean , inarticulate, Bronx-bred
 fighter whom the movie refuses to expl ain away in either sociological or psychiatric terms, or even in term s of the
 Roman Catholicism of his Italian-American heritage. He is propelled not by his milieu, his unruly id or by his guilts,
 but by something far more mysterious.

 Just what that is, I'm not at all sure, nor is the movie, but ''Raging Bull'' comes close to some kind of truth when,
 toward the end, Jake, now over-the-hill, gone to flab and possibly deranged, is thrown into a Miami jail on a morals
 charge. Full of self-pity and unfocused rage, he beats his head against the wall of his cell. ''Why, why, why?'' he bellows,
 and then whimpers, ''I'm not an animal.'' It's a risky moment that pays off. Though there's not one sequence in the film
 when he hasn't behaved like an animal, Jake, like all the rest of us, is the kind of animal who can ask a question.

 ''Raging Bull,'' which has an unusually intelligent screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, covers Mr. La
 Motta's life from his earliest attempts to get a title fight in 1941, through the period when he was barred from the ring
 for throwing a fight on behalf of the mob, his winning of the crown, his final defeat by Sugar Ray Robinson, followed by
 his dwindling career as a nightclub personality. The story is told in flashbacks, framed by Jake's preparations for an
 appearance at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel Theater in 1964 in ''An Evening with Jake La Motta,'' with readings from
 Paddy Chayefsky, Budd Schulberg and Shakespeare, among others. A peculiarly mid-century American purgatory.

 Though it's a movie full of anger and nonstop physical violence, the effect of ''Raging Bull'' is lyrical. To witness Jake's
 fury is to swing through the upper atmosphere of the emotions. It's breathtaking and a little scary. This has to do both

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E6D71238F937A25752C1A966948260&pagewanted=print                           Page 1 of 3
Movie Review - Raging Bull - ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL' - NYTimes.com                                        4/9/12 12:29 PM



 with Mr. De Niro's performance and with the film's literary and visual style.

 Most of ''Raging Bull'' appears to have been shot (beautifully, by Michael Chapman) in black-and-white, with the
 exception of a splash of crimson in the title credits and several sequences of eightmillimeter color home-movies that
 provide bridges within the narrative. The fight sequences are sometimes shown in gritty, realistic detail and sometimes
 in a series of stills. The world, when it is seen by Jake, is observed in slow motion - ghostly sequences that are in
 poignant contrast to the noisy chaos in which most of his life is lived. With an effortlessness that is as rewarding as it is
 rare in films, ''Raging Bull'' moves back and forth between the objective point of view and the subjective.

 Too much will be made, probably, of Mr. De Niro's remarkable physical transformations for the role, by means of
 makeup as well as by putting on 50 pounds of weight for the latter part of the film. I've always been skeptical of this
 sort of thing - Shelley Winters has done it too often for too little effect. It's an integral part of this performance,
 however. In his decline, Jake La Motta seems to disappear into his flesh, as if seeking to scratch an interior itch that
 will be forever out of reach.

 Giving him superb suort are two new performers, Joe Pesci, who plays Jake's younger brother Joey, and Cathy
 Moriarty, a beautiful young blond woman who has never acted before. Miss Moriarty comes across with the assurance
 of an Actors Studio veteran as Jake's second wife, Vickie. Either she is one of the film finds of the decade or Mr.
 Scorsese is Svengali. Perhaps both.

 There are lots of points on which one might quibble. Jake's rehabilitation after being barred from fighting is glossed
 over too quickly to make much realistic sense. The entire film is played at such high pitch it may well exhaust
 audiences that don't come prepared. And, at the heart of the film, there is the mystery of Jake himself, but that is what
 separates ''Raging Bull'' from all other fight movies, in fact, from most movies about anything. ''Raging Bull'' is an
 achievement.


 A Life in the Ring


 RAGING BULL, directed by Martin Scorsese; screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, based on the ''Raging
 Bull'' by Jake La Motta with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage; director of photography, Michael Chapman; film editor,
 Thelma Schoonmaker; produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff; released by United Artists. At the Sutton,
 Third Avenue and 57th Street; Cinerama I, Broadway at West 47th Street, and other theaters. Running time: 128
 minutes. This film is rated R.


 Jake La Motta . . . . . Robert De Niro
 Vickie La Motta . . . . . Cathy Moriarty
 Joey . . . . . Joe Pesci
 Salvy . . . . . Frank Vincent
 Tommy Como . . . . . Nicholas Colasanto
 Lenore . . . . . Theresa Saldana
 Patsy . . . . . Frank Adonis
 Mario . . . . . Mario Gallo
 Toppy-Handler . . . . . Frank Topham


http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E6D71238F937A25752C1A966948260&pagewanted=print                         Page 2 of 3
Movie Review - Raging Bull - ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL' - NYTimes.com                                                                           4/9/12 12:29 PM



 Irma . . . . . Lori Anne Flax
 Guido . . . . . Joseph Bono
 Dr. Pinto . . . . . James V. Christy
 Comedian . . . . . Bernie Allen
 Reporter . . . . . Bill Mazer
 Eddie Eagan . . . . . Bill Hanrahan
 Emma . . . . . Rita Bennett
 Sparring Partner . . . . . Mike Miles




   © 2012 The New York Times Company   Privacy   Your Ad Choices   Terms of Service   Terms of Sale   Corrections   RSS   Help   Contact Us   Work for Us   Advertise




http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E6D71238F937A25752C1A966948260&pagewanted=print                                                              Page 3 of 3

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Raging bull nytimes article

  • 1. Movie Review - Raging Bull - ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL' - NYTimes.com 4/9/12 12:29 PM This movie has been designated a Critic's Pick by the film reviewers of The Times. November 14, 1980 ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL' By VINCENT CANBY TAKING as his starting point the troubled life of Jake La Motta, the tough New York City kid who slugged his way to the world middleweight boxing championship in 1948 and then went on to lose almost everything, Martin Scorsese (''Mean Streets,'' ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,'' ''Taxi Driver'') has made his most ambitious film as well as his finest. Though ''Raging Bull'' has only three principal characters, it is a big film, its territory being the landscape of the soul. The film, which opens today at the Sutton and Cinerama 1, is far too particular to be conveniently classified as either a fight movie or a film biography. Though it pays careful attention to the factual details of Mr. La Motta's career, it is a movie with a resonant life and style of its own. It's exceedingly violent as well as poetic and, finally, humane in the way of unsentimental fiction that understands that a life - any life - can only be appreciated when the darkness that surrounds it is acknowledged. There's scarcely a minute in ''Raging Bull'' that isn't edged by intimations of mortality. Jake La Motta, played by Robert De Niro in what may be the pe rformance of his career, is a titanic character, a furious or iginal, a mean , inarticulate, Bronx-bred fighter whom the movie refuses to expl ain away in either sociological or psychiatric terms, or even in term s of the Roman Catholicism of his Italian-American heritage. He is propelled not by his milieu, his unruly id or by his guilts, but by something far more mysterious. Just what that is, I'm not at all sure, nor is the movie, but ''Raging Bull'' comes close to some kind of truth when, toward the end, Jake, now over-the-hill, gone to flab and possibly deranged, is thrown into a Miami jail on a morals charge. Full of self-pity and unfocused rage, he beats his head against the wall of his cell. ''Why, why, why?'' he bellows, and then whimpers, ''I'm not an animal.'' It's a risky moment that pays off. Though there's not one sequence in the film when he hasn't behaved like an animal, Jake, like all the rest of us, is the kind of animal who can ask a question. ''Raging Bull,'' which has an unusually intelligent screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, covers Mr. La Motta's life from his earliest attempts to get a title fight in 1941, through the period when he was barred from the ring for throwing a fight on behalf of the mob, his winning of the crown, his final defeat by Sugar Ray Robinson, followed by his dwindling career as a nightclub personality. The story is told in flashbacks, framed by Jake's preparations for an appearance at the Barbizon Plaza Hotel Theater in 1964 in ''An Evening with Jake La Motta,'' with readings from Paddy Chayefsky, Budd Schulberg and Shakespeare, among others. A peculiarly mid-century American purgatory. Though it's a movie full of anger and nonstop physical violence, the effect of ''Raging Bull'' is lyrical. To witness Jake's fury is to swing through the upper atmosphere of the emotions. It's breathtaking and a little scary. This has to do both http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E6D71238F937A25752C1A966948260&pagewanted=print Page 1 of 3
  • 2. Movie Review - Raging Bull - ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL' - NYTimes.com 4/9/12 12:29 PM with Mr. De Niro's performance and with the film's literary and visual style. Most of ''Raging Bull'' appears to have been shot (beautifully, by Michael Chapman) in black-and-white, with the exception of a splash of crimson in the title credits and several sequences of eightmillimeter color home-movies that provide bridges within the narrative. The fight sequences are sometimes shown in gritty, realistic detail and sometimes in a series of stills. The world, when it is seen by Jake, is observed in slow motion - ghostly sequences that are in poignant contrast to the noisy chaos in which most of his life is lived. With an effortlessness that is as rewarding as it is rare in films, ''Raging Bull'' moves back and forth between the objective point of view and the subjective. Too much will be made, probably, of Mr. De Niro's remarkable physical transformations for the role, by means of makeup as well as by putting on 50 pounds of weight for the latter part of the film. I've always been skeptical of this sort of thing - Shelley Winters has done it too often for too little effect. It's an integral part of this performance, however. In his decline, Jake La Motta seems to disappear into his flesh, as if seeking to scratch an interior itch that will be forever out of reach. Giving him superb suort are two new performers, Joe Pesci, who plays Jake's younger brother Joey, and Cathy Moriarty, a beautiful young blond woman who has never acted before. Miss Moriarty comes across with the assurance of an Actors Studio veteran as Jake's second wife, Vickie. Either she is one of the film finds of the decade or Mr. Scorsese is Svengali. Perhaps both. There are lots of points on which one might quibble. Jake's rehabilitation after being barred from fighting is glossed over too quickly to make much realistic sense. The entire film is played at such high pitch it may well exhaust audiences that don't come prepared. And, at the heart of the film, there is the mystery of Jake himself, but that is what separates ''Raging Bull'' from all other fight movies, in fact, from most movies about anything. ''Raging Bull'' is an achievement. A Life in the Ring RAGING BULL, directed by Martin Scorsese; screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, based on the ''Raging Bull'' by Jake La Motta with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage; director of photography, Michael Chapman; film editor, Thelma Schoonmaker; produced by Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff; released by United Artists. At the Sutton, Third Avenue and 57th Street; Cinerama I, Broadway at West 47th Street, and other theaters. Running time: 128 minutes. This film is rated R. Jake La Motta . . . . . Robert De Niro Vickie La Motta . . . . . Cathy Moriarty Joey . . . . . Joe Pesci Salvy . . . . . Frank Vincent Tommy Como . . . . . Nicholas Colasanto Lenore . . . . . Theresa Saldana Patsy . . . . . Frank Adonis Mario . . . . . Mario Gallo Toppy-Handler . . . . . Frank Topham http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E6D71238F937A25752C1A966948260&pagewanted=print Page 2 of 3
  • 3. Movie Review - Raging Bull - ROBERT DE NIRO IN 'RAGING BULL' - NYTimes.com 4/9/12 12:29 PM Irma . . . . . Lori Anne Flax Guido . . . . . Joseph Bono Dr. Pinto . . . . . James V. Christy Comedian . . . . . Bernie Allen Reporter . . . . . Bill Mazer Eddie Eagan . . . . . Bill Hanrahan Emma . . . . . Rita Bennett Sparring Partner . . . . . Mike Miles © 2012 The New York Times Company Privacy Your Ad Choices Terms of Service Terms of Sale Corrections RSS Help Contact Us Work for Us Advertise http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E6D71238F937A25752C1A966948260&pagewanted=print Page 3 of 3