On 'Raging Bull'
UCF, Fall 2007
Martin Scorsese’s 1980 biographical film Raging Bull is a cinematic smorgasbord, displaying an extraordinarily wide range of visual design to tell its story in an engaging and exciting way. By harnessing the purely visual strengths of film, Scorsese and film editor Thelma Schoonmaker craft an experience that is as much about the medium of film as it is about the drama of the narrative.
To begin with, the film scarcely resembles any other major film released in that year and perhaps even within the decade that followed or preceded its release. One of the main reasons for this is that the filmmakers appeared to have wanted an almost anthropological authenticity in presenting the culture of the film’s setting (working class New York of the mid-to-late 1900s) and to mimic the particular look of theatrical films from that era – starkly lit, grainy, high-contrast, black-and-white and with an occasionally gritty newsreel/documentary-style feel.
Another unique visual aspect of this film is the use of camera angles and composition. Nearly every shot demonstrates creative decision-making. Scorsese doesn’t appear to be allowing things to simply unfold in front of a passive camera. All the tools at a filmmaker’s disposal are on display here: pans, tilts, crabs, cranes, tracking/dolly movements, fast and slow-motion! The camera is all over the place, proving that a combination of dynamic shots achieves a much more powerful effect than simply allowing a dramatic action to unfold in one sustained shot – although that is done really well in scenes of actor improvisation.
Along with such dynamic movement and positioning of the camera, Scorsese also takes advantage of formal, clearly framed compositions as well as shots that seem purposefully off-kilter and openly framed. One excellent instance of such loose or open framing takes place during a scene in which a jealous Jake LaMotta breaks into a bathroom to confront his wife. The indecisive camera helps to convey the frantic and disorderly nature of this event.
Despite how many bags of tricks were involved in the cinematography of the film, these creative decisions serve to enhance rather than distract from the drama of the narrative. The variety of visual design in Scorsese’s Raging Bull is also greatly inspiring because the power of many of the scenes lies in a complex combination of rather rudimentary techniques.