When Raging Bull dropped in 1980, it didn’t simply shake up boxing movies. It shook up Martin Scorsese’s total life. Now sitting at a proud 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, the biographical drama captured Robert De Niro in his rawest, most unhinged type as middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta. The efficiency received De Niro his first Oscar. However behind the scenes? It almost broke each him and Scorsese.
Scorsese didn’t even wish to direct Raging Bull at first. He turned it down a number of occasions. De Niro, nonetheless, wouldn’t let go. He’d gotten obsessive about LaMotta after studying his memoir on the set of The Godfather Half II. Scorsese thought it was simply one other sports activities story till it wasn’t.
Martin Scorsese
& Robert De Niroon trip
writing Raging Bull pic.twitter.com/wLPQbH1brP— Scorsese Universe (@scorsesepoint) Might 15, 2024
Raging Bull & Robert De Niro Pulled Martin Scorsese Again From The Brink Into Cinema Historical past
After the flop of New York, New York, Martin Scorsese hit all-time low, actually. In keeping with ScreenRant, a near-fatal drug overdose in 1978 had him within the hospital combating for his life. De Niro visited and laid all of it out. If Scorsese didn’t pull it collectively, he’d miss out on his daughter, work, and future. That hospital-bed dialog modified all the pieces. Scorsese credit De Niro and Raging Bull with saving his life.
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro behind the scenes of RAGING BULL, 1980. pic.twitter.com/0HseHOrUcT
— MUBI (@mubi) July 9, 2020
Robert De Niro Underwent A Drastic Transformation For Raging Bull
To change into LaMotta, Robert De Niro didn’t simply act. He morphed. Gained a brutal 60 kilos. “It’s type of enjoyable for the primary 10, 12, 15 kilos, after which it’s drudgery,” he mentioned on the Off Menu podcast. Producer Irwin Winkler wasn’t thrilled: “I mentioned it wasn’t good for his well being. He mentioned, ‘I acquired to do it.’”
Joe Pesci confirmed the dedication, saying De Niro “actually wished to really feel what Jake LaMotta felt.” From 150 to 210 lbs, De Niro’s physique actually bore the burden of that transformation. Through the remaining scenes, Scorsese might hear De Niro respiratory so closely that they needed to rush by means of filming.
Forty-five years later, Raging Bull continues to be a masterclass in ache, violence, and remorse. It’s the movie that just about didn’t occur – powered by one actor’s obsession and one director’s rebirth. With out it, Martin Scorsese’s profession would possibly’ve ended earlier than it started. It additionally gave Robert De Niro an opportunity to show he might out-punch anybody in Hollywood.
Raging Bull wasn’t simply brutal within the ring. It was brutal to make. And that’s what made it iconic.
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