Raging Bull (1980)
Nominated producer(s): Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Nicholas Colasanto
Studio: United Artists
Other Oscar noms/wins:
director, best actor (Robert DeNiro, winner), supporting actor (Joe Pesci), supporting actress (Cathy Moriarty), cinematography (Michael Chapman), film editing (Thelma Schoonmaker, winner), sound (Donald O. Mitchell, Bill Nicholson, David J. Kimball, Les Lazarowitz)
The story of Jake LaMotta, a violent and ill-tempered boxer who destroys his life both in and outside of the ring, was Scorsese’s definitive movie.
Written by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin (snubbed for adapted screenplay), Scorsese uses monochromatic palettes and the career-defining roles of his stars to paint a dark, but enlivened portrait of regret and redemption.
The movie was edged out in the top race by Robert Redford’s domestic melodrama, “Ordinary People.”
