The Punch Doesn't End in the Ring
“Raging Bull” is a classic of cinema. Martin Scorsese created an intimate work contained within the ring.
The film tells the story of Jake LaMotta, who presents his biography, full of ups and downs. And here we have to mention the phenomenal performance by Robert De Niro, who brilliantly transferred this story to the screen — something as difficult as boxing and the problems connected with it.
The director actually shows us two separate films.
The first is the rise and fall of the protagonist in the ring, a man who wants to become a champion at any cost. He pursues it even if it means winning the last belt of his life.
The second film is LaMotta’s life — his ups and downs in his private life. Like a raging bull at a rodeo, he charges forward more and more, not realizing that it is destructive not only to him but also to those closest to him.
His increasingly severe descent into madness, hurting the people close to him, including his wife, and his constant problems with his brother cause the protagonist to tighten an invisible noose around himself.
“Raging Bull” is not a typical film about sports or even about boxing. Boxing plays the role of a trigger here. Martin tries to show what everyday life looks like when the gloves are hanging on the hook and the roar of the crowd falls silent in your ears. What happens to the protagonist then? How much does his troubled mind allow him to live a normal life?The more we watch this film, the more we begin to feel our own struggle. Every one of us fights a smaller or bigger battle every day, often without even realizing it, frequently losing, but victory always tastes the best.
It is a biographical film, so it follows certain biographical patterns. The director does not leave us with a pessimistic aftertaste — as is often the case with him — although, looking at what the final stage of the great boxer’s career looked like, one can get the impression that there is a pinch of pessimism present.
The film’s atmosphere also deserves great praise. It was shot in black and white, giving it an almost documentary quality, while every punch looks extremely realistic.
There is also a zoom effect in the film, where the protagonist is framed through the camera moving closer to him (a similar effect appeared in several films, including “Dobermann”).
It is difficult to rate this film poorly because it is simply excellent. Even if you do not like sports films, it still works brilliantly as a story about the fight with one’s own demons that the protagonist had to face every day. And that came out brilliantly. (Considering that the director had previously wanted to take his own life, perhaps this was also his own fight in the ring.)
For me, this is a 100/100 film.
Rating: 100/100
