Believe it or not kids, there was a time when actors couldn’t rely on gimmicks to alter their appearance. The technology wasn’t in existence for any CG alterations, and Nutty Professor-like fat suits were still in a ridiculous looking state of infancy. If an actor wanted his character to undergo some sort of dramatic transformation, he had to alter himself in the real world as well. Robert DeNiro, in his legendary performance as Jake LaMotta, gained sixty pounds (then a record) to add authenticity to his character’s eventual downfall. The shocking part of this? The incredible transformation of DeNiro’s body was a distant second to the magnitude of his performance.
The film picks up well into LaMotta’s career as 40’s middleweight boxer. He’s still an up and comer, but LaMotta has gained a reputation for pulverizing his opponents to the point where he can’t seem to get a real shot at the title. His brother Joey (Joe Pesci) functions as his manager, but also seems to be charged with the task of keeping LaMotta’s head straight. Complicating this dynamic is the addition of Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), LaMotta’s eventual wife and typical source of misplaced aggression. Director Martin Scorsese weaves these three characters (and a great supporting cast that includes Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto) and situations to absurd levels of contextual authenticity. I didn’t see DeNiro or Pesci; just a mildly insane pair of brothers willing to do whatever it takes to reach the top.
Raging Bull is widely considered a classic for a reason. DeNiro’s Jake LaMotta is one of the most self destructive characters in the history of cinema. His constant supposition of his wife’s infidelity fuels his seemingly limitless series of public meltdowns (often dragging Joey down with him). LaMotta had enough pure talent to completely demolish everyone he faced in the ring, but he couldn’t seem to overcome his personal demons long enough for any of them to take form. The guy’s a head case with a seemingly insatiable hunger for chaos, which, while tragic, makes for a wildly entertaining film. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the film was, despite LaMotta being a self destructive maniac, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy. Of course the film will never change, but you always wonder what would have happened had he handled a few choices differently.
The black and white aesthetic fits Raging Bull quite well. It was originally shot without color to (at the time) distinguish itself from Rocky and because the production team couldn’t appropriately recreate the color pallet of the era, but it also ads a heavy sense of time and place to the film. I had a few problems with the range of the 5.1 audio, (in the beginning of the film I had to crank my received to hear the kitchen conversation with LaMotta and his wife), but it’s a fine mix overall.
The extras, as one might expect, are quite vast:
· Four Part Feature length documentary
o Before the Fight (Writing, Casting, Preproduction
o Inside the Ring (Choreography of Fight Scenes
o Outside the Ring (Behind The Scenes Stories
o After the Fight (Sound Design, Music and the Film’s Impact)
· The Bronx Bull (behind the scenes featurette)
· DeNiro vs. LaMotta (a cool shot by shot comparison of one of LaMotta’s real matches alongside Raging Bull’s recreation)
· LaMotta Defends Title (archived newsreel footage)
· Commentary by Martin Scorsese and Editor Thelma Schoonmaker
· Commentary by Cis Corman, Theresa Saldana, Frank Warner, John Turturro, Irwin Winkler, Michael Chapman, and Robert Chartoff
· “Storytellers” Commentary by Mardik Martin, Jack LaMotta, Paul Schrader, and Jason Lustig
By far the most extensive extra is the four part feature length documentary. The production team behind the documentary assembled a ridiculous amount of people who helped composed the film, and was far from the usual self congratulatory nonsense that plague so many featurettes. Seeing the cast of writers and actors connect to assemble the material was intriguing; it was literally the perfect storm of people and ideas, and it all could have just as well never happened if one or two ideas (such as the unused masturbation sequence) weren’t fully fleshed out. Disagreement was rampant, but it turned out to be an essential element to the film making process. In particular I love (always have loved) watching Martin Scorsese discuss his films. His rapid fire, scattershot speech is an acquired tastes, for sure, but I think his unreserved passion is unmatched by similarly exalted directors.
