Drama in Raging Bull (1980 film) - Essay Example

Drama in Raging Bull (1980 film) A drama film is a genre which deals with themes that involve the development of realistic characters at an emotional level. There are many dramatic themes which are involved in the making of such films and these include class divisions, racist prejudice, alcoholism, among many others and these themes are brought to the fore when the main characters of the films get into conflict not only with themselves, but also with the people around them (Geary 112). This genre is considered to be the widest film genre and it includes plenty of subgenres such as romantic and sport films that are deal with the emotional issues that the characters have to undergo in order to achieve their aims or in order to achieve a happy life. The centre of these films is often based on characters that undergo some form of conflict at very important moments in their lives, especially when it seems that they have everything that anybody could want. The aim of these films is to ensure that their audiences are able to have a peek into their own lives and ask themselves some pertinent questions concerning the way that they live. Moreover, these films normally touch on the emotions of ordinary people as they come to view the tragic things which affect people who live similar lives to them (Robé 71). In most instances, the plot in drama is centred around a tragic event and how the various characters within it come to deal with these events and survive it, achieving redemption. Among the best film performances come from the drama genre and this is mainly because they allow actors to immerse themselves into their roles so that they can make them as realistic as possible; a feature which other film genres normally cannot achieve. Among the greatest films of the drama genre is 1980’s Raging Bull, which starred Robert De Niro as the boxer Jake La Motta and all the evidence from the film suggests that De Niro paid a lot of attention to the details concerning La Motta’s life so as to be as close to the historical record as possible. The making of Raging Bull seems to pay a lot of attention to the issues concerning realism, history and artistic truth, which are the main ingredients in the making of successful dramas. The way through which the actor perceives his role on screen allows him to make an accurate depiction of the emotions that a real life individual, such a Jake La Motta, experienced. The heart of Raging Bull is based on the ability of De Niro to recreate the life of La Motta in particular moments of his life since this enable his to portray the truth concerning La Motta’s daily reality. In the making of the film, De Niro had to immerse himself into the various aspects of La Motta’s life during the different periods of his life, from when he was at his peak to when he was at his worst, and this was with the aim of ensuring that he understood the realities of the role that he was playing (Librach 15). De Niro seems to have taken to heart not only the emotional depictions of La Motta but also his physical ones since he worked towards achieving a physique that was as close to La Motta’s as possible. These attributes enabled De Niro to become a living representation of the life of La Motta on film and it allowed Raging Bull to become a critically acclaimed success for many years. The immersion of De Niro into the life of La Motta is evident in the film as seen through the way he portrays La Motta’s life from the peak of his success as a boxing champion, to his marriage, the jealousy that he has over his wife’s affairs, his estrangement from his brother, and his eventual fall from grace as he has bad encounters with the law. In addition, De Niro took up a training regimen to ensure that he had the body and the making of a boxer and this can be attested to in all the fight scenes in the film. According to La Motta’s own account, De Niro trained with him on a daily basis for over a year in order to achieve the required physical form for the film (Esch 97). The film attempts to recreate all the major fights that La Motta had ever fought in his career in a way that is as realistic as possible and this allows it not only to bring La Motta closer to the audience, but also serves the purpose of showing the level of dedication that De Niro had in preparation for filming. It is evidence for the dedication needed for the filming of drama such as Raging Bull, from the actors who have to completely change their lifestyle so that they can achieve both the physical and emotional form that it needed for the accurate depiction of the various themes involved in the film. The result of such dedication is often the realistic depiction of the film which enables it to be able to connect with its potential audiences at a personal and empathetic level that is as close as possible to their daily real life problems. Among the biggest concerns of actors who have been selected to portray characters in drama films is whether they can be able to be convincing to the audience. The same thing happened to De Niro and this is the reason why he sought to gain some experience in the boxing ring in preparation for the filming. In addition, De Niro accurately depicts La Motta’s obsession with weight throughout the film and he does this through gaining and losing weight in real life so that he can also adequately depict the emotional dilemma that La Motta had concerning his weight (Mortimer 30). In the film, De Niro attempts to recapture the specific gestures that La Motta made during his fights as a way of ensuring accuracy and these are used to underline the actor’s naturalistic and historically informed depiction of his role in Raging Bull. Each of the scenes in the film, even the fight scenes, is highly emotional affairs which enable the audience to become directly involved with La Motta, understanding his motivations as well as the circumstances behind the successes and failures that he experienced in his life. This film, however, works towards the clearing of some of the negative images of La Motta during his public and private life as a professional boxer. It attempts to show that, like any other person, La Motta was also human, with all faults and failings that are associated with the race. The image of La Motta that is brought about by the film is that of a person with many complexities. It partially burnishes the common public image of La Motta as being a ruthless boxer who would stop at nothing, nor hesitate in the ring in order to achieve victory. It shows that although his actions seemed to be ruthless on the outside, La Motta still had a conscience, and he often reflected on these actions. Another image of La Motta that comes forth in the film is that of being a player in significant historical events, which ended up being disastrous for him in a personal manner since he ended up losing almost everything that was important to him (Tait 22). La Motta shows some regret for some of the actions he took in his belief that he was doing his best to ensure that he was not only successful professionally, but that his family was also maintained. Despite this, La Motta not repentant, and it is quite possible that the regret he displays is the closest thing to an apology that he is going to make to his fans and admirers for his actions. The film gives a rare glimpse at a man who was both enormously respected and admired by many. This is an emotional film to watch because it does not have any action but it instead deals with the emotional aspects of the people within it. It has a powerful plot which curiously creates an environment that displays the day to day lives of the characters. When one watches this film, one comes to the conclusion that life is a journey which has its ups and downs and that the best way to handle this transition should not be resistance, but acceptance. In addition, the self-destructive acts that leads to the end of La Motta’s professional career, something which he depends on to earn a living, is highly symbolic. The film itself is not boring because of the heavy drama which is involved in every scene. The camera work is done so well that this film can be considered to be a rare phenomenon in the American film industry of the 1970s. In conclusion, it can be said that this film is highly revelatory of the life and times of Jake La Motta.   Works Cited Esch, Kevin. ""I Dont See any Method at all": The Problem of Actorly Transformation." Journal of Film and Video 58.1 (2006): 95-107. Geary, Fonzie D.,,II. "The Architecture of Drama: Plot, Character, Theme, Genre, and Style." Theatre Topics 19.1 (2009): 112-3. Librach, Ronald S. "The Last Temptation in Mean Streets and Raging Bull." Literature/Film Quarterly 20.1 (1992): 14-24. Mortimer, Barbara. "Portraits of the Postmodern Person in Taxi Driver, Raging Bull; and the King of Comedy." Journal of Film and Video 49.1 (1997): 28-38. Robé, Chris. "Taking Hollywood Back: The Historical Costume Drama, the Biopic, and Popular Front U.S. Film Criticism." Cinema Journal 48.2 (2009): 70-87. Tait, Colin. "ROBERT DE NIROS RAGING BULL: THE HISTORY OF A PERFORMANCE AND A PERFORMANCE OF HISTORY." Canadian Journal of Film Studies 20.1 (2011): 20-40. Read More