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Raging Bull is definitely one of the most serious, aggressive and violent films of all time. The title says it all. It is a real life story about a famous boxer and his downfall. Raging Bull is a sport film that I personally think is a perfect sport film because Raging Bull is a story full of ups and downs. Raging Bull shows the very aggressive side because of the way Jake LaMotta really was when he was a boxer. This film is just legendary as far as I am concerned. This film was very emotional with betrayal, utter rage and even quite psychological.
Robert De Niro's performance as Jake LaMotta is definitely one of De Niro's most famous performances of all time. I was really fascinated by Robert De Niro being trained by the real Jake LaMotta to prepare for the boxing scenes of the film. Jake LaMotta is a professional boxer who meets a young 15-year-old girl called Vickie at a local swimming pool. They both form a relationship and end up getting married together but something happens which breaks Jake's heart which you will have to see for yourself. Robert De Niro's performance was absolutely outstanding with such powerful, motivating, moving and very intriguing regarding the boxing. His personal life becomes the most effective part of his life which affects his career as a boxer. I loved Joe Pesci's performance as Joey LaMotta who is the brother of Jake LaMotta. Joe's performance was very slimy and very encouraging and helpful because he was a one-time manager of Jake in his boxing fights. Joey LaMotta was also a boxer but for a short time and wasn't as well known as Jake. His record was 32 wins (22 KOs), 5 losses, and 2 draws. Cathy Moriarty's performance as Vickie reminds me a lot of Sue Lyon's performance in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita because she is a blonde haired young girl who is just irresistible to adults. Cathy was 9 years younger than her husband Jake even though I think she looked a lot younger than he was.
Martin Scorsese's directing in Raging Bull is absolutely awesome. I read that Scorsese was unsure about making a boxing film because Scorsese isn't really into sports but it was Robert De Niro who persuaded him to make it and it was a damn good choice that he did make it because it turned out to be the greatest sport film of all time. This is obviously a sport film but Scorsese makes it have that aggressive gangster/criminal taste within it partly because of Jake's aggressive personality and very short temper. The way this film is written is absolutely typical from Scorsese and is very rare from a sport film.
Raging Bull is without a doubt the greatest sports film of all time. It is my favourite Scorsese film. It is one of Robert De Niro's best performances. I do love his performances in Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, The Godfather: Part II and The Deer Hunter as well. Raging Bull is one of my favourite films of the 1980s. It is also one of my favourite bio-pic films too. Raging Bull is a sports masterpiece that I would watch quite regularly without getting bored of it.
10/10
