Raging Bull
"Raging Bull" (1980) is not a so much a film about boxing but more of a story about a psychotically jealous, sexually insecure borderline homosexual, caged animal of a man, who encourages pain and suffering in his life as almost a form of reparation. Martin Scorsese's masterpiece of a film drags you down into the seedy filth stenched world of former middleweight boxing champion Jake "The Bronx Bull" LaMotta. Masterfully he paints the picture of a beast whose sole drive is not boxing but an insatiable obsessive jealously over his wife and his fear of his own underling sexuality. The movie broke new ground with its brutal unadulterated no-holds-bard look at the vicious sport of boxing by bringing the camera into the ring, giving the viewer the most realistic, primal, and brutal boxing scenes ever filmed. With blood and sweat spraying, flashbulbs' bursting at every blow Scorsese gives the common man an invitation into the square circle where only the hardest trained gladiators dare to venture. The movie opens just as it ends, the camera pans down to the pavement revealing a sign outside the Barbizon Plaza Theater: "An Evening with Jake LaMotta Tonight 8:30." The film then cuts to a punched out overweight shot of LaMotta babbl
That was until the first pool scene. Drink it from the bottle yes, but drink it from a straw never. Up to this point the scene seems innocent enough right, or does it? He and Joey are just checking out the babes at the pool like every straight man does right? Wait, throw it in reverse for a moment, Jake and Joey are sitting at a table, that's harmless. Jake assures him that he should bet it all. The final title honors Jakes new found salvation and understanding:" once I was blind and now I can see. Jake LaMotta prided himself for not being knocked down in the ring. He seems to finally realize and come to grips with all the foolish mistakes he made throughout his life. Scorsese cameos himself as a stagehand announcing that Jake has five minutes till stage. Without emotion he carefully recites the words line by line, while staring down his troubles in the mirror. With a bombardment of hard stuck lefts, LaMotta sends Jimmy Reeves on a return trip to the mat. Jake is wrestled into his jail like a bull being lead to slaughter. Then in a strange sadomasochistic display of machismo, Jake taunts Joey to punch him in the face as hard as he can. Was it his animal instinct or his immovable pride? No, he was so deeply wounded inside that it hurt far too much to ever let the physical pain stop even for just a second. When Joey resists Jake begins to taunt him: "Come on, don't be a little faggot.
Common topics in this essay:
Tommy Como,
Jake LaMotta,
Bronx Bull,
Jake Joey,
LaMotta Masterfully,
La Motta,
Jimmy Reeves,
Suck'em Suck'em,
Joe Lewis,
Raging Bull,
jake lamotta,
sips coke straw,
sips coke,
coke straw,
title card,
boxing career,
jake begins,
jake joey,
bronx bull,
raging bull,
tommy como,
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Acceptance Essays
