Internal Conflict In Raging Bull

Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980) is not a movie about boxing, instead the boxing underscores the true meaning of the film, Jake LaMotta’s, Robert De Niro, inner demons and deep feelings of inadequacy. True to the message, the openings scene does not take the typical route of most sports movies, showing a scene where the main character, or team, is preparing for their first match of the film interlaced with shots of people in a stadium, even though it appears at first to do be doing so. Raging Bull opens with a scene where Jake LaMotta is shadow boxing in an empty ring; this scene, even though it is not evident until closely examined, shows Jake’s internal conflict and sets up the character development method of the movie.
Jake LaMotta’s