each time i've tried to watch it, i zone out when they start boxing. is there enough in the film to make the dislike of boxing incidental?
'Raging Bull' is a fantastic movie. There's not that much actual boxing in it but what there is of it is brilliantly done and acts as a backdrop to what is going on in his life and mind.
so the boxing adds to the story? it's not just boxing with a story loosely applied between set pieces?
You’ll have to decide for yourself. You say you’ve already tried it and failed. No one else’s opinion is going to change yours. In any event, it’s a penetrating character study with great acting cinematography and editing. Proust with boxing gloves. Doesn’t glorify or endorse the sport or the people around it and also doesn’t shy away from the violence.
Yes. It's fantastic. De Niro's performance in this is one of the best I've ever seen, and I think it might be Scorsese's finest moment. Not a particular easy movie to watch but it's one of my favorites.
the question was, is, in others' opinion, the bit i couldn't get into, worth pushing through, i.e. is the content of the film worth the bits that were jarring. i ask because people here more info about it than i do, and can make a more informed opinion!
@zombie dai, you don't have a problem with the F word, do you? Because that's uttered very frequently in the movie--in many Scorsese films, actually.
Same question could be asked of Clint Eastwood's 2004 Million Dollar Baby, co-starring Hilary Swank. Oscar-worthy, but in retrospect not life-changing, especially for non-boxing fans. From what I've seen of Raging Bull, and also being of the OP's persuasion, I can't justify needing it in my life...and I consider myself a cinephile.
Raging Bull is one of my all-time favorites. I've been lucky enough to see clean 35mm prints of it. It's so good. There's a reason why it's on so many best of lists. Just watch it.
FWIW, I liked Million Dollar Baby far less than Raging Bull. I liked the first half of MDB, but then it just completely fell apart for me. But that's a discussion for another thread...
Yes! Like Rocky (although the films are far different), the movie is not "about" boxing. Boxing is used as a mere means to tell and parallel a bigger story.
I loved Million Dollar Baby, but (to restate the obvious) the movie is as much about class and economic issues, and making a morally complicated decision, as it is about boxing, though the violence of boxing is also part of the story, for sure. The “should women box?” element (which I kind of remember being a marketing angle when the movie was being promoted) is a much smaller part of the story than some might expect. The movie is more about economic class than feminism. Raging Bull is a similar movie, in that it’s as much the story of a working class guy who isn’t very articulate and can only really express himself through violence (not just in the ring), as it is about boxing. Most boxing movies are usually about more than boxing.
Channeling my inner Germaine Greer here, Raging Bull is a great movie about toxic masculinity, partly expressed through boxing.
