Mad bull

The film is based on the memoirs “Raging Bull: My Story” of the famous American boxer of Italian descent, world champion among professionals Jake Lamotta .

The plot is built as memories of the aged Jake Lamotta in the 1960s about his sports career and life. In 1941, nineteen-year-old Jake, an American of Italian descent, shows himself in a professional ring. The brother of boxer Joey becomes his coach and promoter. In 1943, Jake defeats Sugar Robinson himself and begins the fight for the welterweight world title. In 1947, Jake married Vicki (née Beverly Teyler) when she was only 16 years old.

From the very first years, family life did not work out. Jake constantly suspected his wife of cheating, found fault with trifles and beaten from time to time. The indomitable disposition that helped the athlete in the ring interfered in communication with the powers that be. Lamotta from time to time received a proposal for match-fixing from the local mafia, but invariably made it clear that he wanted to build a career himself and was not dependent on anyone. Even the persuasion of his brother to become more docile does not help. At the same time, Lamotta constantly faced biased refereeing in relation to him. During one of the battles, Lamott agrees to “lie under the enemy,” but the commission subsequently concludes that the match was negotiable. Even this does not bring Jake fame and star status, as the mafia promised. In 1949, Lamotte succeeds in winning the coveted world champion belt in a battle with Marcel Serdan . During the next scandal, he asks Joey if he cheated on Vicki. He refuses to say, Vicki sarcastically answers the jealous husband that she has slept with the whole area, including Joey. Lost Jake brutally beats his brother in front of his wife and children. After this, the relationship between the brothers deteriorates. Career is declining.

In 1956, after a series of setbacks in the ring, Lamotta hangs gloves on a nail. He buys a nightclub and goes into show business. His affairs are not going particularly well. Vicki tells him about the divorce and that he will not be able to see the children. The police accuse him of child molestation. Jake does not have money for a lawyer or in order to pay off, and he is trying to lay gems from the championship belt, which is not enough. Jake goes to jail.

In 1964, the aged Lamotta moonlighted as an entertainer in a second-rate club. He accidentally meets Joey on the street and tries to make peace with him. The brother meets him coldly and makes it clear that he does not want to have anything to do with him.

Rewards

• 1981 - two Oscars : Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Best Editing (Thelma Shunmaker)
• 1982 - Two awards from the British Film Academy : Best Editing (Thelma Shunmaker), Best Newcomer in Leading Role (Joe Pesci)
• 1981 - Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Actor (Robert De Niro)
• 1980 - Two awards from the National Council of Film Critics of the United States : Best Actor (Robert De Niro), Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci)

Nominations

• 1981 - 6 Oscar nominations : Best Film (Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler), Director (Martin Scorsese), Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci), Supporting Actress (Katie Moriarty), Cinematography (Michael Chapman), Sound
• 1982 - two nominations for the British Film Academy Award : best actor (Robert De Niro), best newcomer in a leading role (Katie Moriarty)
• 1981 - Nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Contribution (Martin Scorsese)
• 1981 - 6 nominations for the Golden Globe Award: Best Drama, Director (Martin Scorsese), Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci), Supporting Actress (Katie Moriarty), Screenplay (Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin), New Star of the Year (Katie Moriarty)

• For the sake of a plausible image of the protagonist, Robert De Niro gained over 20 kg of weight in order to portray the aged Lamotta after his career ^[2] .
• The film ranks first among the top 10 sports films by AFI .
• To prepare for the role, De Niro met Lamotta and even took several lessons from him ^[3] . After seeing the picture, Jake Lamotta said that it made him realize how terrible he was.

The film premiered on November 14, 1980 at the Sutton Theater in New York. The reviews of the critics were contradictory ^[4] . Jack Kroll of Newsweek announced “The Best Movie of the Year,” and Vincent Canby posted a commendation in the New York Times . However, there were critical responses. So, Kathleen Carroll in her review in the New York Daily News called the hero De Niro “almost the most disgusting character in the history of cinema,” and the director blamed that “behind the scenes was the fact of La Motta’s training in a correctional institution as a result of which the genesis of his antisocial behavior remains unclear ”, and Pauline Cale commented on the acting of De Niro ^[5] .

• Raging Bull on the Internet Movie Database
• Raging Bull (English) on allmovie  
• Film description