9 reactions
My entry for #HumpdayAndChill
by
Raging Bull (1980)
Martin Scorsese’s boxing masterpiece is many things: a knockout drama of raw violence and shattered dreams; a midcentury chronicle that takes us from the Bronx to Miami and back again; a real-life tale of family bonds torn apart by money, corruption and testosterone; and a redemption story in which redemption never arrives. After trying his hand at a musical (New York, New York), a rock doc (The Last Waltz), a small-time gangster flick (Mean Streets), a heartland drama (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) and a portrait of urban psychosis (Taxi Driver), Scorsese landed on the perfect genre to make his very best movie — one that brilliantly shifts between lyricism and realism to tell a story of athletic greatness marred by deep inner anguish.
Ironically, this wasn’t even a film the director wanted to shoot. He turned down the project — brought to him by Robert De Niro, who had the rights to Jake LaMotta’s biography — several times, convinced he couldn’t pull off a boxing movie. But after his own fall from grace, including surviving a drug overdose, Scorsese saw a part of himself in LaMotta’s tragic life, while De Niro sensed the role could be one of his greatest, which it was. All the titles on our list are more than just great sports flicks, but this one is personal filmmaking at its most glorious.
by
Raging Bull (1980)
Martin Scorsese’s boxing masterpiece is many things: a knockout drama of raw violence and shattered dreams; a midcentury chronicle that takes us from the Bronx to Miami and back again; a real-life tale of family bonds torn apart by money, corruption and testosterone; and a redemption story in which redemption never arrives. After trying his hand at a musical (New York, New York), a rock doc (The Last Waltz), a small-time gangster flick (Mean Streets), a heartland drama (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) and a portrait of urban psychosis (Taxi Driver), Scorsese landed on the perfect genre to make his very best movie — one that brilliantly shifts between lyricism and realism to tell a story of athletic greatness marred by deep inner anguish.
Ironically, this wasn’t even a film the director wanted to shoot. He turned down the project — brought to him by Robert De Niro, who had the rights to Jake LaMotta’s biography — several times, convinced he couldn’t pull off a boxing movie. But after his own fall from grace, including surviving a drug overdose, Scorsese saw a part of himself in LaMotta’s tragic life, while De Niro sensed the role could be one of his greatest, which it was. All the titles on our list are more than just great sports flicks, but this one is personal filmmaking at its most glorious.
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