This entry was posted in Uncategorized by Adelaide R. Eventually building into the general failure of Jake La Motta, the underdog boxer that we were never really rooting for. And this disappointment is the crux of the film. Proving that the montage wasn’t the full story, it never is. Until we are thrown back into the living room in black and white and we watch the women being shoved out of the conversation.
By the end of the montage, we believe that their lives were truly happy. The color is contrasted only by Jake winning his fights, another thing that the viewer wanted. We are given what we wanted, happiness and nostalgia. But why does that make us so happy? To see rapid-fire memories that do not give any description to the actual experiences of the characters? And why are we so disappointed when we are thrown back into black and white? The entire montage almost feels like surfacing for a breath of water, it is the metaphorical orgasm of the film. We are happy, for the first time in the film. This desired effect by Scorsese is achieved by making the montage feel like a home video. At this point in the film, we have been introduced to all of the characters so it feels like we know them. A flash of a “happier” time in which things weren’t as complicated as they eventually got. However, by the end of the film, we have realized it was in color because it represents a memory. We expect color, we expect a transformation like in “The Wizard of Oz”, like we have escaped Kansas and are now in a world of endless possibilities. Especially at a time when color cinema stands as the standard. The assumed meaning of color is better, more life and joy than black and white.
The viewer’s immediate instinct is to be excited, relieved that we get to see more dimensions. The montage, or intermission, is also the only part of the film that is in color. To this point, there are two distinct parts to the movie, before Jake marries Vickie and after they are married. The only happy moments are represented in a montage, giving us a few moments of reprieve-almost like an intermission. The whole film is a succession of fights and arguments. I am not talking about the other fighters, I am talking about Vickie, Joey, Salvy, and even his coach. For the entirety of the film, we watch people trying to get in the ring with Jake La Motta. “Raging Bull” is one of those films that you could watch a hundred times, but every time you rewatch it, you realize it is not the movie you remembered.
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