Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
Middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta rises through the ring while jealousy and rage damage his marriage, family, and relationship with his brother.
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Bronx boxer Jake LaMotta pursues the middleweight title with his brother Joey as manager, but his suspicion, possessiveness, and appetite for punishment follow him outside the ring. His marriage to Vickie becomes another arena for control and accusation.
Why it belongs
Monochrome boxing, subjective sound, bodily transformation, and domestic claustrophobia let Scorsese and De Niro make Raging Bull's self-destruction brutally physical.
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Each fight employs different lenses, speeds, smoke, flashbulbs, and animal-like sound to enter Jake's perception, while cramped kitchens and bedrooms redirect the same violence toward family. De Niro's transformation refuses the comfort of athletic uplift.