US (1980): Drama
Martin Scorsese's brutal black-and-white biography of self-destructive boxer Jake LaMotta was chosen as the best film of the 1980s in a major critics' poll at the end of the decade, and it's a knockout piece of filmmaking. Robert De Niro plays LaMotta (famously putting on 50 pounds for the later scenes), a man tormented by demons he doesn't understand and prone to uncontrollably violent temper tantrums and fits of irrational jealousy. He marries a striking young blond (Cathy Moriarty), his sexual ideal, and then terrorizes her with never-ending accusations of infidelity. Jake is as frightening as he is pathetic, unable to control or comprehend the baser instincts that periodically, and without warning, turn him into the rampaging beast of the title. But as Roman Catholic Scorsese sees it, he works off his sins in the boxing ring, where his greatest athletic talent is his ability to withstand punishment. The fight scenes are astounding; they're like barbaric ritual dance numbers. Images smash into one another -- a flashbulb, a spray of sweat, a fist, a geyser of blood -- until you feel dazed from the pummeling. (Jim Emerson, Amazon.com)
This film ranked #24 on the AFI list of "100 Years... 100 Movies", just behind The Maltese Falcon (1941) and above 1982's E. T. - The Extra-Terrestrial.
8 nominations, 2 Awards
· Actor 1980: Robert De Niro
· Film Editing 1980: Thelma Schoonmaker
· Best Picture 1980: Irwin Winkler & Robert Chartoff - Producers (Chartoff-Winkler, UA)
· Supporting Actor 1980: Joe Pesci
· Supporting Actress 1980: Cathy Moriarty
· Directing 1980: Martin Scorsese
· Cinematography 1980: Michael Chapman
· Sound 1980: Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball, Les Lazarowitz
