Raging Bull

One of my favorite movies of all time is the movie Raging Bull. In my opinion Martin Scorsese's best film depicts Jack LaMotta (Robert DeNiro) and the life he leads. His brother played by Joe Pesci and Vickie his second wife, along with LaMotta are the main characters in the movie
It starts out at the end of the story with a fat, washed up LaMotta telling his story from the dressing room of a club. From the club in the present it rushes back to the past to look at the beginning of LaMotta's career. It goes through the time when he is an upcommer and nobody respects him, to a time when he is bigger than life. But underneath the boxing exterior is the turbulent personal life he leads also. An intensely jealous and intensely complex and confused man LaMotta rambles through life trying to find his own path.
The Plot in this movie was extremely involving, complex, realistic, and believable. The actors talked, acted, and genuinely seemed to become the characters they were portraying. Robert DeNiro was able to show the pain and jealousy and confusion of LaMotta in a very realistic way. While boxing was the front for this movie it was in no way the main topic of the movie. LaMotta spent much of his time on little details allowing himself to get worked up over very small things. Although he was married, the best relationship he had was with his brother to which he somewhat was able to connect. Without his brother LaMotta's jealousy and paranoia would have consumed him.
Robert DeNiro depicts Jake LaMotta in a very realistic way. The emotion he shows, the pain he feels all seems to fit in with LaMotta's personality. Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty (Vickie) both portray characters that seem to be very realistic. Pesci's character, LaMotta's brother always seems to be calming and cleaning up LaMotta, while Vickie is somewhat the opposite of what Jake needs but also seems to be a clinging on to point for LaMotta.
In the movie the cinematography was great. The lighting made the moods go from happy to sad in an instant, exactly mirroring how LaMotta felt at the time. The fight scenes had close-ups, crane shots, quick cuts, and slowed down timing to make every little detail stand out and scream I'm important. The sounds in the movie helped to heighten the mood that was being felt during any point, again mirroring LaMotta's mood exactly.
While the movie is about a boxer, and it's only logical to say that the boxing ring would be the main stage of the movie it is not. What the ring is used for is a place where all of the things LaMotta is feeling at that point can make a huge appearance. It is where we truly see LaMotta for what he is, and that is a troubled complex individual.