His self-perception is rooted not only in toxic masculinity but in self-punishment, and most of all, insufferable loneliness. The opening scene foreshadows the rest of the film by telling us right off the bat that LaMotta is fighting an endless battle with himself. But we know there is an audience from the occasional camera flashes. Scorsese denies La Mott an audience and forces him to really face himself. The ring is surrounded by fog, making the audience invisible. We see LaMotta in the boxing ring by himself, fighting no one but his own shadow. The opening of Raging Bull has to be one of the most memorable and chilling opening scenes, which goes to show Scorsese’s masterful ability to introduce and establish his characters from the very beginning. Made over thirty years apart, these films not only exemplify two of Scorsese’s greatest achievements in character study, but also gives us a glimpse into Scorsese’s journey in his auteuristic style in relation to the changing zeitgeist of the times. Both biopics were adapted directly from the written source material of the titular character-LaMotta’s Raging Bull: My Story and Belfort’s memoir of the same name. Two prime examples are Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980) and Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Scorsese might be most known for his contribution to the gangster film genre, nonetheless, among his strongest works are his biographical adaptations of real life figures.

Martin Scorsese is a master at writing complex characters, from the notorious Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (1976) to the most recent addition to Scorsese’s lineup of gangsters, Frank Sheeran in The Irishman (2019).

Raging bull vickie