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Robert De Niro has been one of Hollywood’s most critically and commercially successful actors. Thanks to his acting skills and collaborations with director Martin Scorsese, he has an extremely well-decorated filmography. But, when hisHeatco-star Al Pacino choseRaging Bullas his favorite De Niro film, the choice surprised most fans.
Al Pacino and theTaxi Driverstar have been frequent collaborators and seen together in 4 films yet:The Godfather: Part II,Heat,Righteous Kill, andThe Irishman. When Robert De Niro was asked about his favorite Pacino film, he could not think about anything butThe GodfatherIandII. However, hardly anybody expected Pacino to name De Niro’s 1980 sports drama as his favorite.
Al Pacino picked an underrated Robert De Niro classic
Except forRighteous Kill, all the collaborations betweenRobert De NiroandAl Pacinohave been iconic. Therefore, it was exciting to learn about their favorite performance by the other. While it was already expected De Niro to nameThe Godfatherseries his favorite Al Pacino work, theScarfacestar flaunted his extraordinary movie taste by choosingRaging Bullin return.
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Raging Bull, directed byMartin Scorsese, is still considered one of the best sports dramas ever. Interestingly, during its first release in 1980, the film failed to earn an outstanding figure ($23.3 Million viaThe Numbers) and garnered mixed responses. Later, the film welcomed more worldwide praise and even brought a Best Actor Oscar for Robert De Niro.
Although the sports biopic eventually made a name for being one of the finest Martin Scorsese classics, it is not a popular choice. Following it, De Niro gave many performances that were more popular among fans. While chatting withThe New York Times, Pacino acknowledged thatThe Godfather: Part IIandTaxi Driverwere also great butRaging Bullwas exceptional.
The one that dominates for me is ‘Raging Bull’. Of course there’s ‘Taxi Driver’. I am thinking about your films, Bob. I’m going to have a Bob De Niro film festival.
From Martin Scorsese’s direction to the beautiful black-and-white cinematography and the impressively choreographed boxing scenes,Raging Bullhad numerous praiseworthy aspects. But surprisingly, Scorsese was initially very reluctant to do the film.
Martin Scorsese’s initial rejection helped inRaging Bull‘s success
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have collaborated on ten films and one short film yet. Their duo is highly respected as their collaborations are often listed among the greatest films ever made. But Scorsese was extremely reluctant to shoot the film at first.
Robert De Niro was intensely excited to bring the life of boxing legend Jake LaMotta on-screen after reading his memoir. But while speaking at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival (via/Film), theTaxi Driverdirector admitted that he did not want to make the film due to his lack of knowledge of boxing.
When the time came to do ‘Raging Bull,’ I resisted for a while — for a few years, actually — because I didn’t understand boxing. I suddenly realized, ‘This is overwhelming, I can’t shoot this.
But going forward, Scorsese slowly began to relate to the character of Jake LaMotta. Several events in his personal life attached him more to the character of the boxing legend and he finally made the film with Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, and Joe Pesci. It can be concluded that the personal connection is one of the significant reasons behind the film’s beauty.
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In an interview withTIME Magazine, theShutter Islanddirector added that he took the unique gritty black-and-white approach to make the film more authentic. Additionally, the fight choreography also played a major role in making it one of the best sports films ever.
Raging Bullcan be streamed on Max.
Subham Mandal
Senior Writer
Articles Published :1461
Subham Mandal is currently working as a content writer for FandomWire with an ardent interest in the world of pop culture. He has written more than 1000 articles on different spheres of modern pop culture and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He’s also an experienced student journalist having demonstrated work experience with the Times of India. He aspires to be a column writer in the future.
