From Goodfellas (1990) to The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Martin Scorsese is responsible for some of the most daring films in American cinema. In Raging Bull (1980) and his other works, he often reflects his Catholic, Italian-American, and New York upbringing in the form of protagonists who struggle to reach salvation, reconcile their hypermasculinity, and remain loyal to their families amidst violent, toxic environments. Raging Bull strongly aligns with Scorsese’s typical sensibilities and style, and the film arguably surpasses Mean Streets (1973) as Scorsese’s most personal film.
Robert De Niro—Scorsese’s favorite actor and close friend—approached Scorsese with Jake LaMotta’s autobiography, Raging Bull: My Story, while Scorsese was shooting Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974). De Niro didn’t find the book to be particularly well-written, but found its subject matter evocative and fascinating. Scorsese wasn’t interested in directing a film adaption of the novel, as he couldn’t relate to the world of boxing.
Years later, after the failure of New York, New York (1977), Scorcese—depressed, drug-addicted, and overworked—began to connect with LaMotta’s story while recovering from an overdose in the hospital. Like LaMotta, Scorsese’s personal demons began to interfere with his work and vice versa. Also, at this point in this career, Scorsese had disassociated himself from conventional filmmaking and thought he had nothing to lose: “After New York, New York, I thought, I’ll never have the audience of Spielberg, not even of Francis [Ford Coppola]. My audience is the guys I grew up around, wiseguys, guys from Queens, truck drivers, guys loading furniture. If they think it’s good, I’m fine...So what the hell!" After relating to the self-destruction surrounding LaMotta's character and seeing the film as a win-win opportunity, Scorsese agreed to make Raging Bull, one of his career’s most grueling, arduous odysseys.
During pre-production, Scorsese familiarized himself with boxing and attended two fights at Madison Square Garden. While he was there, minor details of the match captivated him, such as the blood-drenched sponges and the bloody ropes—images which famously appear in the film. After reviewing Mardik Martin’s (the screenwriter of Mean Streets) script and Paul Schrader’s (the screenwriter of Taxi Driver) rewrite, Scorsese and De Niro spent weeks adding changes to the script. They removed the presence of Jake’s father, reduced the role of the mob, and wrote the entire scene where LaMotta fixes his television and accuses Joey of sleeping with Vickie.
As for the casting of the film, Scorsese is celebrated for his ability to elicit great performances out of new, inexperienced actors. De Niro was already committed to playing LaMotta and assisted Scorsese with the casting process. They notably cast Joe Pesci, a relative unknown, as Joey, and newcomer Cathy Moriarty as Vickie; both received Oscar nominations for their performances and had fruitful careers thereafter. As usual, Scorsese cast his father, Charles Scorsese, in a cameo role as Tommy’s cousin, Charlie (Mr. Scorsese also appears in The King of Comedy [1982], After Hours [1985], Goodfellas [1990], and more).
Scorsese was equally committed during Raging Bull’s principal photography, pursuing a particular stylistic vision for the film. He decided to employ an unconventional shooting style for the fight scenes, insisting that cinematographer Michael Chapman be placed inside the ring and take on the role of the opponent; this technique enhanced the visceral physicality of the scenes. The fight scenes took longer than expected to shoot, relegating Scorsese to a perpetual state of stress. Scorsese later shut down the production for De Niro to travel to Italy and France so he could binge eat and gain enough weight to convincingly play the older, overweight LaMotta. In post-production, Scorsese worked extensively with Thelma Schoonmaker to edit the film.
“I put everything I knew and felt into that film and I thought it would be the end of my career,” Scorsese said. “It was what I call a kamikaze way of making movies: pour everything in, then forget all about it and go find another way of life.” Scorsese thought Raging Bull would be the swansong of his career, but it turned out to be his salvation: he went on to make revered films like Goodfellas, The Age of Innocence (1993), The Departed (2006), and Silence (2016), and the 75-year-old director continues to work today. Thus, the Bible quote closing Raging Bull—“All I know is this: once I was blind and now I can see"—perhaps applies more to Scorsese than to Jake. Scorsese explains, “Jake LaMotta, at least as he appears in the film, is someone who allowed me to see more clearly.” Raging Bull enabled Scorsese to understand himself and emerge a more productive and healthy husband, friend, and filmmaker after the production of the film. One cannot help but be grateful for the spiritual journey Scorsese underwent during the making of Raging Bull—it salvaged his career and made some of his finest work possible.
