6/14/2023 0 Comments Raging bull black and whiteIt is significant to note that, at least in terms of the technical, that this is one of Scorsese's most accomplished films, with his confidence here even outpacing his work on Taxi Driver the score is also beautiful and entirely fitting. It's the absence of these traits that doom Jake's voyage from blindness to self-awareness to nearly complete apathy from the audience. Cinema isn't meant to only provide likable, virtuous characters (Henry Hill is similarly flawed, although undeniably more well-developed), but when a film is centered around the redemption of a character, it is important that there should be qualifying characteristics that promote sympathy or encourage the audience to empathize with the character onscreen. Catherine Moriarty and particularly Joe Pesci are effective at providing foils for Jake, but his character's bizarre behavior and unrelenting hostility towards each of them somehow even further distances us from him. Ironically, although De Niro is rightfully given center stage, his co-stars' reactions to Jake are what actually give the film whatever dramatic form it has. We have little background on why Jake is as insufferable as he is he just IS. Jake La Motta (ferociously played by De Niro) may as well be an alien his cruelty, pomposity and insecurity is powerfully displayed, but is also distancing. Raging Bull, praised as one of director Martin Scorsese's finest films - in some circles, it is labeled his masterpiece - is a study in how a technically proficient, even masterful film can also be fairly uninvolving and dramatically unsatisfying when it's centered upon an unsympathetic Raging Bull, praised as one of director Martin Scorsese's finest films - in some circles, it is labeled his masterpiece - is a study in how a technically proficient, even masterful film can also be fairly uninvolving and dramatically unsatisfying when it's centered upon an unsympathetic individual who features insufficient character development and is given limited dramatic context.
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