Raging Bull is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, which adapts Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir Raging Bull: My Story. Robert De Niro stars as LaMotta, a former middleweight boxing champion whose turbulent personal life is beset by rage and jealousy. Scorsese dedicated the film to Armenian-American NYU film professor Haig P. Manoogian. The supporting cast includes Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Theresa Saldana, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto in his final film role.
Scorsese was initially reluctant to develop the project, although he eventually came to relate with LaMotta's story. Schrader rewrote Martin's first screenplay, and Scorsese and De Niro together made uncredited contributions thereafter. Pesci was a relatively unknown actor prior to the film, as was Moriarty, whom Pesci recommended. During principal photography, each of the boxing scenes was choreographed for a specific visual style, and De Niro gained approximately to portray LaMotta in his later years. Scorsese was exacting in the process of editing and mixing the film, expecting it to be his last major feature.
Raging Bull premiered in New York City on November 14, 1980, and was released in theaters by United Artists on December 19. The film had a lukewarm box office of $23.4 million against its $18 million budget, and received mixed reviews from critics. While De Niro's performance and the editing were widely acclaimed, its violent content received criticism. Raging Bull received a leading eight nominations at the 53rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won two: Best Actor for De Niro and Best Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker.
In the decades since its release, Raging Bull has come to be considered one of the greatest films ever made. In 1990, it became the first film to be selected in its first year of eligibility for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2007 the American Film Institute ranked Raging Bull as the fourth-greatest American movie of all time.
Plot
In 1941, Jake LaMotta is a young up-and-coming middleweight boxer who suffers his first loss to Jimmy Reeves after a controversial decision. Jake's brother Joey discusses a potential shot for the middleweight title with one of his Mafia connections, Salvy Batts. However, Jake repeatedly refuses the Mafia's help, wanting to win the championship on his own terms. Jake spots a 15-year-old girl named Vickie at a swimming pool in his Bronx neighborhood. He eventually pursues a relationship with her, despite him being already married and her being underage. In 1943, Jake defeats Sugar Ray Robinson, and has a rematch three weeks later. Despite Jake dominating Robinson during the bout, the judges surprisingly rule in favor of Robinson, who Joey feels won only because he was enlisting in the Army the following week.
By 1945, Jake marries Vickie, but he is controlling and domineering over her, and suspicious that she has feelings for other men. When she remarks off-hand that his next opponent Tony Janiro is good-looking, Jake flies into a rage, asking her what she meant by that. At the fight with Janiro, with Vickie looking on in horror, Jake makes it a point to brutally disfigure his opponent. At the Copacabana afterwards, Joey sees Vickie approach a table with Salvy and his crew. Joey confronts Vickie, who implies that she is dissatisfied in her marriage. Enraged, Joey viciously attacks Salvy in a fight that spills outside the club. Local mob boss Tommy Como orders them to patch up, and has Joey tell Jake that if he wants a shot at the championship title, which Como controls, he will have to take a dive. Jake thus throws his next match against Billy Fox, but cannot convincingly fake his defeat. He is booed out of the building and shortly thereafter suspended from boxing on suspicion of throwing the fight. By 1949, he is reinstated and wins the middleweight championship title by defeating Marcel Cerdan.
In 1950, Jake becomes increasingly paranoid that Vickie is having an affair. He asks Joey if he has slept with her, which enrages Joey and causes him to leave. After Jake presses Vickie too about this, she sarcastically confesses that she had sex with Joey, Salvy, and Tommy. In a fit of rage, Jake storms into Joey's house and assaults him in front of his wife and children, and knocks Vickie unconscious as well. Vickie returns to their home and threatens to leave, but they reconcile. After defending his championship belt in a grueling 15-round bout against Laurent Dauthuille, he calls his brother to make amends. When Jake does not speak Joey assumes Salvy is on the other end and starts insulting him; Jake hangs up. Estranged from his brother, Jake's career declines, and he loses his title to Sugar Ray Robinson in their final encounter in 1951.
By 1956, an aging and overweight Jake has retired and moved with his family to Miami. After he stays out all night at the nightclub he owns, Vickie tells him that she wants a divorce, as well as full custody of their children. She also threatens to call the police if he comes anywhere near them. Soon after, Jake is arrested for admitting underage girls into his nightclub, and he unsuccessfully attempts to bribe his way out of his criminal case by pawning the jewels on his championship belt. In 1957, he is put in solitary confinement awaiting his sentence, where he questions his misfortune and cries in despair. Returning to New York City in 1958 after serving six months, he encounters Joey, whom he forcefully embraces; Joey half-heartedly reciprocates.
In 1964, Jake performs stand-up comedy at various clubs. Backstage before a show, LaMotta prepares for his performance by shadowboxing, quoting scenes from On the Waterfront and chanting "I'm the boss".
Cast
LaMotta's opponents
Production Development
Raging Bull was initiated when Robert De Niro read the autobiography while he was on the set of The Godfather Part II. Although disappointed by the book's writing style, De Niro became fascinated by the character of Jake LaMotta. He showed the book to Martin Scorsese on the set of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, with the hope that he would consider the project.Biskind, Peter, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, 1999, p. 254.
Scorsese repeatedly turned down the opportunity to direct the film, claiming that he had no idea what Raging Bull was about, although he had read some of the text. Never a sports fan, when he found out what LaMotta used to do for a living, he said, "A boxer? I don't like boxing...Even as a kid, I always thought that boxing was boring... It was something I couldn't, wouldn't grasp." His overall opinion of sport in general is, "Anything with a ball, no good."Biskind, Peter Easy Riders, Raging Bulls 1998, p. 378.
The book was passed on to Mardik Martin, the film's eventual co-screenwriter, who said, "The trouble is the damn thing has been done a hundred times before—a fighter who has trouble with his brother and his wife and the mob is after him." De Niro had even shown the book to producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, who were willing to assist only if Scorsese agreed.Biskind, Peter, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, 1998, p. 315.
After nearly dying from a drug overdose, Scorsese agreed to make the film, not only to save his own life but also to save his career. Scorsese began to relate very personally to the story of Jake LaMotta, and in it, he saw how the boxing ring can be "an allegory for whatever you do in life", which for him paralleled moviemaking: "You make movies, you're in the ring each time."Thompson, David and Christie, Ian, Scorsese on Scorsese, pp. 76/77.Friedman Lawrence S. The Cinema of Martin Scorsese, 1997, p. 115.Phil Villarreal. "Scorsese's 'Raging Bull' is still a knockout", The Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, Arizona), February 11, 2005, p. E1.Kelly Jane Torrance. "Martin Scorsese: Telling stories through film", The Washington Times (Washington, D.C.), November 30, 2007, p. E1.
Preparation for the film began when Scorsese shot some 8 mm color footage featuring De Niro boxing in a ring. One night, when the footage was being shown to De Niro, Michael Chapman and his friend and mentor, the British director Michael Powell, Powell pointed out that the color of the gloves at the time would have been only maroon, oxblood or black. It is one of the reasons that Scorsese chose to film Raging Bull in black and white. Other reasons were to distinguish the film from color films at the time, and to acknowledge the problem of fading color film stock—an issue that Scorsese recognized.Biskind, Peter, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, 1998, p. 389.Total Film, The 100 greatest films of all time, pp. 180–181.Thompson, David and Christie, Ian, Scorsese on Scorsese, p. 80. Scorsese attended two matches at Madison Square Garden to aid his research, picking up on minor but essential details, such as the blood sponge and subsequently, the blood on the ropes (which would be used in the film).
Multiple titles were considered for Raging Bull, including Prizefighter and The Jake La Motta Story. Scorsese stated that Prizefighter was his favorite title, but did not select it, for he was afraid that people would think that the film was solely about boxing.
Screenplay Under the guidance of Chartoff and Winkler, Mardik Martin was asked to start writing the screenplay.Biskind, Peter Easy Riders, Raging Bulls 1998, p. 379. According to De Niro, under no circumstances would United Artists accept Martin's script.Biskind, Peter Easy Riders, Raging Bulls pp. 384–385 The story was based on the vision of journalist Pete Hamill of a 1930s and 1940s style, when boxing was known as "the great dark prince of sports". De Niro, however, was unimpressed when he finished reading the first draft.Baxter John De Niro A Biography, pp. 186–189.
Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader was swiftly brought in to rewrite the script around August 1978. Some of the changes that Schrader made to the script include a rewrite of the scene with the undercooked steak, and the inclusion of LaMotta seen masturbating in a Florida cell.
The character of LaMotta's brother Joey was finally added, previously absent from Martin's script. United Artists saw a massive improvement on the quality of the script. However, its chief executives Steven Bach and David Field met with Scorsese, De Niro and producer Irwin Winkler in November 1978 to say that they were worried that the content would be X-rated material and have no chance of finding an audience.
According to Scorsese, the script was left to him and De Niro, and they spent two-and-a-half weeks on the island of Saint Martin extensively re-building the content of the film. The most significant change would be the scene in which LaMotta fixes his television and accuses his wife of having an affair.
Other changes included the removal of Jake and Joey's father, the reduction of organized crime's role in the story, and a major rewrite of LaMotta's fight with Tony Janiro.Biskind, Peter Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, p. 390.Baxter, John De Niro A Biography, p. 193. They were also responsible for the end sequence in which LaMotta is alone in his dressing room, quoting "I could have been a contender" from On the Waterfront. An extract of Richard III had been considered, but Michael Powell thought that it would be a bad decision within the context of an American film. According to Steven Bach, the first two screenwriters (Martin and Schrader) would receive credit, but since there was no payment to the writer's guild on the script, De Niro and Scorsese's work remained uncredited.
Casting