Raging Bull

Drawing the line: author films

Martin Scorsese is a deservedly famous author of films that specialize in externalizing the inner worlds of his characters with settings and props, and in observing and documenting society through the eyes of his characters, a brief chat about "Raging Bull" (1980) as an example.

Author's movie. This term is derived from the French New Wave, in which film theorists believed that the director should play a leading role in the making of a movie, or, at the extreme end of the spectrum, that each director should make "only one movie in his or her lifetime".

Scorsese's films have been made on a variety of subjects, from the crime drama "Taxi Driver" (1976, in which Travis fights hooligans to rescue a young girl from prostitution), to the comedy "After Hours" (1985, in which a lonely IT guy has a stroke of luck), to the gangster film "The Nice Guys" (1990, in which he risks the world by keeping a mistress), to the children's film "Hugo" (2011, in which Hugo is a fantasy), to the children's film "The Fairy of the Djinns" (2011, in which Hugo is a fantasy). For example, in this movie, in order to show the boxing champion Jack La Motta boxing after the reluctance and aggression, stretching into the ice bucket hands always hold tight, on the surface is to the gangsters bowed down to the reluctance, in fact, is the self-esteem injury has damaged face.

The movie sociologist. Whether real or fictional, Scorsese insists on making movies with social observations, a title he deserves. For example, the way La Motta chases after girls, there is no flirting, just talk about buying a house, pension for parents and so on, through the subjective lens of the girl as if to see the boy's sincerity and down-to-earth. For example, the movie does not focus on showing Ramotar's brilliant boxing road, but digs deeper into Ramotar's relationship with his brother and his wife's changes, so as to contrast Ramotar's lonely and suspicious character traits. La Motta is only a microcosm of one part of society, reflecting the human cult of power, which includes money, machines and prestige, etc., in addition to manpower.

Documentary style. This objective documentary style has characterized Scorsese's films since his debut, Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967). In "Taxi Driver" this narrative strategy is maximized, through the eyes of Travis, together with the empty silence and sinfulness of the busy city at night. In this film, the camera follows La Motta into the ring, feeling the pain and strength of his knockout punch in the distorted composition, and feeling the pilgrimage and sighs from the audience in the noisy soundstage, which truly documents the cruelty of the competition in the ring and the unconsciousness of the audience's group.

We are accustomed to seeing the inspirational elite story, will think that this is a poor boy against the king of the biography, the fact is that the king of the unknown past, so that occasionally a little off the beaten path of the movie, but feel real, not to do, but also to appreciate the director of the society and the human heart of the unique observation.