(A) How fitting that when Adult Vito later arrived in New York’s Little Italy, he was shot at the fruit market with a sign of LaMotta in the background (talk about divine mise-en-scene). In 1973, De Niro read the book Raging Bull: My Story, the autobiography of legendary middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta, while in Sicily playing Young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II (1974).

But of all of the Scorsese-De Niro collaborations, Raging Bull is, in the words of Steven Spielberg, “Marty’s masterpiece.” Not only is it the greatest sports biopic ever made, it quite literally saved Scorsese’s life. Taxi Driver (1976) cemented them as geniuses. Mean Streets (1973) put them both on the map.

And for 22 glorious years, Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. Writers: Jake LaMotta, Joseph Carter and Peter Savage (book), Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin (screenplay)Ĭast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty, Frank VincentĬertain filmographies wouldn’t be the same if not in tandem. Producers: Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff (United Artists)

Raging bull color version