Film Reviews

Raging Bull

• Rating:
• Director: Martin Scorsese.
• Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Frank Vincent.
• Details: US (1980)/ 128 mins/ (18.)

Ranking alongside GoodFellas as Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro's finest moments to date, Raging Bull is a tough and uncompromising snapshot of the life, times and crimes of prizefighter, Jake La Motta. Scorsese's direction may be faultless -here he predominantly uses black and white film to capture the characters' emotional intensity and the savagery of the frequent boxing matches - but De Niro is the real star with a mesmerising performance. In fact, the only real compliant is that La Motta's depicted as such a despicable character that by the end of this emotionally draining movie, there's little left in the way of sympathy for his plight.

Review by Garreth Murphy