Raging Bull (1980)

Raging Bull is a 1980 American biographical sports drama directed by Martin Scorsese, widely regarded as one of the greatest films in cinema history. Robert De Niro delivers what many consider the finest performance in American cinema as Jake LaMotta, the Italian-American middleweight boxing champion of the late 1940s and early 1950s whose explosive temper, jealous paranoia, and self-destructive violence destroyed every relationship in his life — his marriages, his bond with his brother and manager Joey played by Joe Pesci, and ultimately his career. Martin Scorsese shot the boxing sequences in stunning black and white, using expressionistic techniques — slow motion, distorted sound, blood spraying in balletic arcs — to create the most visceral and artistic depiction of boxing ever filmed.

Robert De Niro gained approximately 60 pounds to portray the retired, overweight LaMotta, a physical transformation that set the standard for Method acting commitment. Joe Pesci's performance as Joey LaMotta launched his career as one of cinema's most volatile screen presences. Raging Bull won two Academy Awards including Best Actor for De Niro and is preserved in the National Film Registry.