RAGING BULL

The sound design is a great example of how much more successfully 'Raging Bull' employs the Scorsese tactic of combining gritty realism with artificiality or self-conscious aesthetic, much more so than in 'New York, New York' and in a manner that will follow through the many, many great films over the decades to come. It's a funny irony that, in trying to resurrect a specifically cinematic aesthetic with 'New York, New York', that of the MGM musical, he somehow made a film lacking in cinematic spectacle, but in this intimate black and white sports drama, everything feels enormous, epic, shockingly cinematic. Scorsese's genius is in juxtaposition, taking two elements and placing them side-be-side in a manner no one would have thought of and creating an effect no one has ever seen before. That's what makes 'Raging Bull' such an impressive and complete achievement, even more so (arguably) than 'Taxi Driver' - the sense that Scorsese isn't recycling or relitigating how others make films, but finally deciding how he makes films. One could further argue for 'Raging Bull', even with his brilliant early work, being the first truely Scorsese film.

On this subject, it is worth pointing out the other significant turning point that 'Raging Bull' represents, that of being his first collaboration with legendary editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who has edited every one of Scorsese's films since. If anyone is responsible for helping define his inimitable style, it's Schoonamker, her incredible understanding of tempo and her outrageous rhythmic daring in complete symbiosis with his staccato, propulsive energy. Her editing of 'Raging Bull' constantly situates us in the uncomfortable, knowing exactly how long she can push us, whether it's the sight of a face falling apart under the hit of a glove or the agonising wait for a moment of domestic violence to take place. Of course it helps that she has such extraordinary images to work with in Michael Chapman's cinematography, but so much of the success of 'Raging Bull' is in how she constructs the succession of these images. You can feel both her and Scorsese finding their steps together, establishing as vital a collaborative relationship in U.S. cinema as that of Steven Spielberg and John Williams. You can't imagine a Martin Scorsese film without Thelma Schoonmaker, to the point where I couldn't stop wondering how much better a film 'New York, New York' would have been in her hands.

There are two other aspects in which we see, in the transition from 'New York, New York' to 'Raging Bull', Scorsese find confidence. The first is in his handling of De Niro, like Jimmy Doyle, Jake is a combustable, uncontrollable force, and once again, De Niro inhabits that combustibility with total commitment. However, unlike with Jimmy Doyle, Scorsese here knows how to channel, control and elevate that energy. There's the same sense of improvised unpredictability in De Niro, but the parameters are clearer and the canvas is more contained, allowing him to find a point of focus for his energies. The result is, again arguably, his greatest performance, equal parts heartbreaking, repulsive, devastating, pathetic, pitiable and reprehensible. You can't ever like Jake, but you also can't completely hate Jake, because no amount of hate you direct at him will ever match the hate he feels for himself. The level to which De Niro digs into that self-loathing is, at times, almost impossible to watch, but again, Scorsese has learned a lesson here. In 'New York, New York', the argument in the car between Jimmy and Francine is borderline unwatchable in its intensity, as well see him aiming all he has to destroy her. A companion scene in 'Raging Bull' in terms of intensity would be where we see Jake in the 60s in a police cel, bashing his fists into a concrete wall, screaming "Why, why, why!" In the former scene, we see everything. By the end of the latter scene, Jake roaring, "I'm not an animal", he's barely seen. Only his shoulder is visible. And yet, in seeing less, the latter scene is all the more powerful because of the opportunity Scorsese gives us to access the character and the drama. He understands how best to communicate that brutality and to give us space within it, whereas in the former scene, there's no space for us there.

The last comment I will make about Scorsese's level of impressive control in 'Raging Bull' is in how he places himself within the film. So much of his greatest work feels autobiographical, often more thematically than literally, and this was an element that hobbled 'New York, New York'. He couldn't see past what this film said about him, what he was having to unpack about himself. Placing yourself within the work you make is tricky - on the one hand, it's that personal quality and that specificity that often allows an audience to find themselves in the work, but on the other, too much can make the work all about the artist and, as a consequence, inaccessible. I found that very much the case with 'New York, New York,' it was telling me things about the filmmaker, but with 'Raging Bull', a film about the frustration of unachieved ambition and unseen potential and crippling self-doubt, I learnt something about the filmmaker, I felt something about them. There's a soulful sorrow to the self-reflection, the specificity of Jake's story marrying to the specificity of Scorsese's experience and, by consequence, giving space for the audience to understand, sympathie and recoil from what they are seeing. Perhaps this is the lesson Scorsese learns, all the more remarkable in a film about boxing - that you need to make the audience your collaborators, not your opponents.

The first time I saw 'Raging Bull', I didn't know how to feel about it. It left me exhausted, battered, almost as if I needed a shower to watch it off. Calling a boxing film "visceral" feels like a cliché at this point, but that word applies to 'Raging Bull' in a different sense. You can almost feel it on your skin, its stink in the air. On second viewing for this review, both with the shock subsided and a better understanding of its place within Scorsese's career, I was even more in awe of it. You can see a calcifying of what came before it and the ground laid for what comes after. As with all great films, it is such an object of its time and one that exists out of time, an object of pure cinema and raw human experience that feels immediate and modern, and primal and ancient all at once.

PICTURE & SOUND

For the film's premiere release on 4K UHD in Australia, Imprint credits the 2160p 1.85:1 transfer as being from the "2022 4K master approved by director Martin Scorsese". Though I don't have the 2022 U.S. Criterion release to compare it to, I think it's safe to assume that this transfer is sourced from the same restoration, and comparing the image with screenshots on Blu-ray.com, this seems to be the case. In motion, it's a really beautiful transfer, the image populated by a healthy layer of grain that complements the period setting but balanced with a tremendous, at times startling level of clarity. The quality of the restoration, combined with Chapman's cinematography, really emphasises the timeless quality of the film, the sense that it is both period and contemporary, a product of the early 80s and shockingly modern. Black and white films really shine on 4K thanks to the nuances in the extra detail and the High Dynamic Range within the shades, and this 4K UHD release of 'Raging Bull' is amongst the best a black and white film has looked in the format. The transfer is listen as Dolby Vision compatible.

The set also includes a Blu-ray disc of the film with a 1080p 1.85:1 transfer, also listed as sourced from the same restoration. From what I can tell, this certainly seems to be the case, the transfer exhibiting the same clarity and detail, albeit without the balance and depth afforded to the 4K disc.

In terms of sound, each disc offers the same DTS-HD 5.1 Surround and LPCM 2.0 Stereo tracks, which differs from both the Criterion release, which only features a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. It's possible these are more in line with the original Blu-ray release. Both are crisp and clear, though I found the LPCM track a little more robust and in keeping with the visuals of the film (punchy and direct). This is the default track on both discs. As noted above, the sound design is a vital aspect of 'Raging Bull', and while we might not have here the same option as the Criterion, it's clear with the balance of dialogue and effects in these tracks that care has been taken to preserve the fidelity of the sound design.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Unlike the 'New York, New York' release, this release of 'Raging Bull' doesn't offer any new on-disc extras or collect all the previously-released material, though it's still an impressive set. From what I can see, it (mostly) aligns with the 2011 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release.

On both the 4K and Blu-ray discs of the film, the following legacy extras are included...

• Audio Commentary by director Martin Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker
• Audio Commentary by director of photography Michael Chapman, producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, music producer Robbie Robertson, actors John Turturro and Theresa Saldana, casting director Cis Corman, and supervising sound effects editor Frank Warner
• Audio Commentary by writers Mardik Martin and Paul Schrader, boxer-author Jake LaMotta, and LaMotta's nephew Jason Lustig
• Theatrical Trailer (2:09)