Even though he wins his fights, even though he can take an infinite level of beating–his style is letting the other guy expend all his energy (usually through a good pummelling on De Niro’s face) then getting in a bunch of points and maybe a knockdown at the very end–De Niro’s not getting title shots, which ostensibly pisses him off. De Niro doesn’t want to box for the mob, so he’s having trouble getting his shot. Pesci hangs out with connected guy but not full mobster Frank Vincent, who wants De Niro to box for the mob.
Or about what’s happening, because even though De Niro’s in almost every scene of the movie, it’s not until the third act the audience gets any insight into what he’s doing.īecause for most of the film there’s Joe Pesci, as De Niro’s younger brother and manager. There are still precise and sharp cuts, but the drama is more about listening. There’s the fight editing style, then there’s going to be the dramatic style. Thelma Schoonmaker’s glorious editing gets its start with that transition from the sixties to the forties, then there’s the fight itself. Nothing is important–visually-except the fight. The image is sharp, the blood and sweat glistening on the fighters, who box in the ring surrounded by darkness. That shot doesn’t hint at the vibrant contrast director Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman use in the regular action. The opening titles establish the film’s black and white photography, but those titles are over an ethereal shot of De Niro in the ring.
The film opens with La Motta (Robert De Niro) in the sixties–out-of-shape, nose disfigured from the boxing it’s a brief introduction then a fast cut to De Niro in shape and boxing in the early forties.
Most of Raging Bull is about boxer Jake La Motta’s quest for the middleweight championship belt and takes place in the forties.
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