When was raging bull film

They use, in their way, as many special effects as a science fiction film. The soundtrack subtly combines crowd noise with animal cries, bird shrieks and the grating explosions of flashbulbs actually panes of glass being smashed.

We aren't consciously aware of all we're listening to, but we feel it. The fights are broken down into dozens of shots, edited by Schoonmaker into duels consisting not of strategy, but simply of punishing blows.

The camera is sometimes only inches from the fists; Scorsese broke the rules of boxing pictures by staying inside the ring, and by freely changing its shape and size to suit his needs--sometimes it's claustrophobic, sometimes unnaturally elongated. The brutality of the fights is also new; LaMotta makes Rocky look tame. Blows are underlined by thudding impacts on the soundtrack, and Scorsese uses sponges concealed in the gloves and tiny tubes in the boxers' hair to deliver spurts and sprays of sweat and blood; this is the wettest of boxing pictures, drenched in the fluids of battle.

One reason for filming in black and white was Scorsese's reluctance to show all that blood in a color picture. The most effective visual strategy in the film is the use of slow motion to suggest a heightened awareness.

Normal movement is shot at 24 frames a second; slow motion uses more frames per second, so that it takes longer for them to be projected; Scorsese uses subtle speeds such as 30 or 36 frames per second, and we internalize the device so that we feel the tension of narrowed eyes and mounting anger when Jake is triggered by paranoia over Vickie's behavior.

It was De Niro's idea to interrupt the filming while he put on weight for these scenes, in which his belly hangs over his belt. It's the best film I've seen about the low self-esteem, sexual inadequacy and fear that lead some men to abuse women.

Boxing is the arena, not the subject. LaMotta was famous for refusing to be knocked down in the ring. There are scenes where he stands passively, his hands at his side, allowing himself to be hammered. This article is more than 4 months old. Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Raging Bull at Scorsese's brutal boxing saga still bruises.

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