Raging Bull: "So give me a stage where this bull can rage..."

Raging Bull was one of the more disturbing movies the group has watched, and for about half the room, the least favorite. I was intrigued by it, enjoyed it, and was incredibly depressed by it. Knowing it was a true story was the worst part.

Raging Bull is the story of Jake LaMotta, an Italian boxer from the Bronx, forced into boxing by his father who used the money he earned fighting neighborhood children to pay the rent. The film opens up to a flashback to 1941, when LaMotta loses the match with Jimmy Reeves, inspiring a fight amongst the crowd and creating a riot. The film then follows his career with numerous fights, his relationship with his brother and manager, Joey, the demise of his marriage and his relationship with the teenager Vicki, who he meets at a swimming pool and eventually marries. There are implications of his relationship with the mob, his downfall after fixing a fight for them, and his quest for the title. All the while, he is almost constantly overwhelmed by rage, jealousy and masochistic tendencies. He leaves his life with his wife for Vicki, but can never be happy, always assuming his own inadequacy and her infidelity. He nearly beats his brother to death after Vicki says in jest she's had an affair with him and half the neighborhood, and their relationship is severed. He moves to Miami, gives up on his boxing career, and spirals downward as a drunken bar owner. Vicki leaves him, he goes to jail for allowing underage girls into his club (in one of the most heart wrenching and uncomfortable scenes in the movie), and wanders through the world as a nomad with a nightclub show. The end of the movie shows him about to go on stage for a performance, repeating the lines from "On the Waterfront": "I could have been a contender; I could have been somebody".

This movie was brutal, not only because it's painful to watch someone ruin their life in general, but you got the feeling that he was almost unable to stop himself. His scene in the jailed revealed his feelings of inadequacy and shame. The movie may have saved Robert De Niro's life, but that's not enough redemption for this viewer.

Pros: I thought it was pretty riveting throughout. Some of my fellow moviemates would disagree.
Cons: The near constant muttering, especially of Vicki's character. I know, a superficial complaint. But a complaint none-the-less.

There's another film coming out about Jake LaMotta, according to online sources. Apparently, and in some ways, unfortunately, there's more sad stories to tell here.