Now, That's How You Open a Movie #11

Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)

It's the inevitability of the dance. The simmering semblance of the poetic and violence, of great art and great brutality; a simple, static camera shot in one seamless take capturing Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) in his own tragic ballet, forever framed in an ambiguous battle he was born to lose.


This shot haunts us still, you can't think of Raging Bull without picturing Jake, alone, shadow boxing to Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, locked in his domain, his arena, his prison, ready for combat, fighting the demons in the ring and in his head.

Encased in the ring, the shot framed to look as if he's behind bars, this opening sequence foretells the story yet to unfold; the loss, the jealously, the madness. Shot it slow motion, captured in stunning black and white, this opening shot remains, forever, engraved on my brain. Enjoy