Raging Bull (1980)

Raging Bull, released in 1980 by United Artists, is a biographical drama based on the life of middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta, drawing on LaMotta's own 1970 memoir of the same name. The film arrives at an interesting moment in American cinema: the tail end of the so-called New Hollywood era, when studios were beginning to pull back from the more challenging, auteur-driven pictures that had defined the previous decade. That it got made at all, in the form it takes, is something of a minor miracle. It is very much not a comfortable film, and it was never intended to be.

Martin Scorsese, by 1980, had already established himself as one of the most distinctive voices working in American film, with pictures like Italianamerican reflecting his ongoing fascination with Italian-American identity and community. Raging Bull represents perhaps the most personal and punishing expression of those preoccupations. The film was shot in black and white by cinematographer Michael Chapman, a deliberate choice that sets it apart visually from virtually every other sports film of its era, giving it the texture of old newsreel footage and memory rather than polished spectacle. Scorsese reportedly considered this one of the most personal projects of his career, and the film was produced through Winkler Films alongside United Artists. It runs to 129 minutes and wastes very little of them.

The cast assembled here is remarkable. Robert De Niro plays LaMotta across a considerable span of years, and his preparation for the role became the stuff of legend: training extensively in the ring alongside LaMotta himself, then gaining a substantial amount of weight to portray the boxer's later years. It is a performance of uncommon physical and psychological commitment. Alongside him, Joe Pesci plays LaMotta's brother Joey, a role that would mark a significant moment in Pesci's screen career (you can see the chemistry between him and De Niro later in a film that also stars De Niro). Cathy Moriarty, in her debut feature, plays Vikki LaMotta with a poise that belies her inexperience, while Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto round out a supporting cast that never puts a foot wrong. Scorsese would return to similarly charged territory in later work, including his next film and much later in his early-nineties thriller, but many who know his work well would argue nothing quite matches what he achieves here.

My absolute favourite sports film. Not because it’s uplifting or inspirational, but because it’s brutal, honest, and unflinching. This isn’t just about boxing; it’s about rage, self-destruction, jealousy, and the dark side of masculinity. Robert De Niro gives what might be the greatest performance of his career here, and that’s saying something. The dedication he put into learning how to box, training under Jake La Motta himself, and then gaining over 60 pounds to play the older version? That’s not acting. That’s possession. Martin Scorsese directs like a man possessed, too. With stark black-and-white cinematography and some of the most intense boxing sequences ever filmed, every scene feels like a punch to the gut (especially the ones outside the ring). The violence isn’t just physical; it’s psychological, emotional, and deeply uncomfortable at times. Jake La Motta wasn’t an easy man to like, and this film doesn’t try to soften that. It shows him as he was: brilliant in the ring, volatile outside of it, and tragically his own worst enemy. But that honesty is what makes Raging Bull so powerful. It doesn’t romanticise its subject. It dissects him. It should’ve swept the Oscars. It didn’t. Still doesn’t take away from how masterful this film is, shot after shot, line after line, punch after punch. A knockout on every level.

I keep coming back to that point about the Oscars, because it still rankles a little. The film picked up two awards that night, including De Niro's well-deserved Best Actor, but Best Picture went elsewhere, and the gap between that result and what Raging Bull actually is feels wider every year that passes. Films like this one are why I started writing about cinema in the first place: polished but unremarkable crowd-pleasers come and go, but something this raw and this honest has a way of staying with you long after the credits roll. If you have somehow never seen it, do yourself a favour. Just maybe don't watch it on a first date.

Rating: ★★★★  | Year: 1980  | Watched: 2025-05-14

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Trailer

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Martin Scorsese: Italianamerican (1974) · The King of Comedy (1982) · Gangs of New York (2002) · Cape Fear (1991)
More with Robert De Niro: The Untouchables (1987) · The King of Comedy (1982) · Shark Tale (2004) · Little Fockers (2010)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More history: Apocalypto (2006) · Rio 2096: A Story of Love and Fury (2013) · Harakiri (1962) · Night and Fog (1956)