Behind The Camera: Raging Bull

Having first peeked my interest with the excellent use of the steady cam during the (long) power point that introduced the year, I decided to view Martin Scorsese's 1980 classic, Raging Bull. Being a fan of his other films, namely Goodfellas, I went into this film expecting technically good things from it, knowing Marty's capability as a director.

Along with Robert De Niro's stunning performance as Jake La Motta, a boxer who's life is illustrated in a downward spiral that makes up the movies biographical plot, the aspect of film that really sets this movie apart and earns it it's title of a "Great Movie" is it's cinematography. Shot entirely in black and white, the film's chief Cinematographer, Michael Chapman, does a fantastic and beautiful job of evoking much more emotion than what colored film could ever say.

The range of tonalities in the film is kept to very jarring, low-key lighting, rarely setting a comforting mood in the movie. Chapman, who has done Cinematography on Scorsese's other movies, is known for his experimentation with light and what kind of effect that has on the viewer. This is analyzed to great depth in this blog post, showing some of the highlights of the lighting techniques in the movie.

Chapman truly shines in the scenes in the boxing ring, where La Motta's true emotions come out and most of the action takes place. Along with his wonderful use of lighting, combining the flashing, bright camera bulbs with the dark flying blood and spit, he also has many unique camera uses that he throws into the mix. Evoking the chaos of the inside of the ring, he uses 360 degree pans of the scene, tilted camera angles, long take steady cam shots like the one observed in the early days of class, and slow-motion, which is well illustrated in the film's opening scene shown here.

Along with the slow motion, I think that scene is great for the deep focus camera view where you can see everything in the frame, except the near rope is very clear and black while the other side of the ring is foggy and mysterious, creating a dream like sense of being for the sequence. To create sequences like this, Chapman used things such as fog and mirrors to alter the lighting in the area and make in surreal, and this is demonstrated throughout most of the film in black and white, with only one montage being in color of old home movies which in and of itself is a technical achievement.

Personally, my moment where I began to really appreciate the Cinematography of the movie is during the first fight of the movie. As La Motta fights against his opponent Jimmy Reeves, there is complete chaos as light bulbs flash, people yell, and blood flies everywhere. La Motta punches Jimmy against the edge of the ring, jumping from the view from behind his back to the view of a spectator, a photographer in the crowd, who snaps a photo negative of the image as seen in this picture.


This moment made me pause the movie and reflect, something I rarely do because of technical aspects of the movie. It is because of this and other moments like it that the Cinematography is considered to be one of the greatest aspects of the film and earns it it's place among the greatest movies of all time.