Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty
Rank: 4
I watched Raging Bull last night, and it marks the tenth film in this project. That means I'm 10% done already! January is already over, and I have a feeling that this year (and this project) is going to go by fast.
Although Raging Bull centers around the life of a boxer, it really isn't just about the sport of boxing. (In fact, there is only a few minutes of the film that actually shows boxing.) Throughout the whole film, there is anger, rage, and fighting. Not only is it about the fights between the characters, but the general battle of life that we all go through.
As beautiful as it is, life is rarely easy. There is no one out there who does not experience hardships, whether they are financial, social, health woes, or anything else. If we want a satisfying life, we have to fight for it. We may often feel like we are K.O.'d by life, but there will always be another round if we are strong enough to get back on our feet. Jake La Motta (played by De Niro) goes through his boxing career wanting to be the champion, and although he doesn't ever win the title he wants, he does not ever give up or let himself fall. Sometimes, that's enough- as long as we keep fighting for it and don't let ourselves stop, we're doing alright. It is more about the journey than the actual destination: we learn so much going through life, riding over the bumps in the road, and trying to figure out exactly where we fit in. Life is an adventure.
Raging Bull is also about dealing with inner demons. La Motta finds his own downfall, both in personal relationship and professional, because of his own inner demons. Often our inner demons come from our own perceptions of how the world is; sometimes we become paranoid and judgmental because of one bad past experience, and because of that past experience being sour we assume any experience that is similar will also be sour. We become jaded, and our hearts harden. Distrust comes out to play, and we see things in an altered point of view.
Fighting our own demons can be a life-long battle. As long as we don't let them own us, we're doing pretty well. "Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world right in the eye."
Helen Keller
Movies to Go: 90
No comments:
Post a Comment