Scorsese Study 3: Raging Bull

"Raging Bull" is a tragic story about up-and-coming boxer Jake LaMotta. The project was suggested to Scorsese by Robert DeNiro, who found the book he wanted to base the film on, and was eager to star in it. At the time, Scorsese thought it would be his last picture, so he put extra effort into it to keep his name in tact once he was finished. However, this effort led to his rebirth in film, and he ended up making a number of hit movies after "Raging Bull." DeNiro won best actor in his role as LaMotta, the tough-but-psychotic fighter who works his way to becoming middleweight champion, before losing it and being forced to retire. Cathy Moriarty plays his wife Vicki, and Joe Peschi plays his brother and manager, Joey.

One thing Scorsese did a good job of in the film was to bring the audience in to see and feel the brutality first-hand. During boxing matches, the camera is always close to the boxers so we can see their rage and the pain of their punches. He even shows closeups of them getting hit in the face so we can see blood gushing out of their heads. This harsh portrayal of violence and anger is often seen in Scorsese's films, including "Goodfellas" and 'The Departed." All three make us feel the pain of the victims, especially thanks to his closeup shots and use of very graphic violence. In both "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas," we see violence outside of the "business" world (mafia and boxing) as well. In "Goodfellas," Henry's wife pulls a gun on him when she finds out he is cheating on her. Once he calms her down, he turns on her and starts to beat her. In "Raging Bull," Jake beats his wife when he becomes suspicious that she's seeing other men. These relationships and the one in "The Departed" also show a negative opinion on relationships themselves. In "The Departed," the main female character is tied between two men. The man she officially dates is a crooked cop who works for the mob, and the other man is an undercover cop she thinks is a criminal. From her point of view, (an outsider's view), the cop is an attractive young guy and the criminal is a drug seeking low life. The undercover cop ends up dying, and only then does she find out who he really was. This shows that relationships are flawed from the start; that we are dependant on first impressions, and it takes so long to get to know who a person really is, it is nearly impossible to have a truly connected relationship.