80s @ Loew’s: Raging Bull

Raging Bull was screened at Loew’s on Friday night, part of the “80s” weekend. The once a month film series on the 50-foot screen of this once opulent movie palace had a decades theme for the films screened. They always do something a little different and this time there was this display of 80s artifacts. I still have lot cassettes. They say who ever remembers the 60s was probably not there but the opposite is true, we are all there in the 80s and we can’t stop remembering it, unfortunately. Okay, that statement is probably not exactly the opposite of the statement about the 60s but the 80s was very ambivalent. Funny about Raging Bull, similar to To Kill A Mockingbird, which was the 60s film, both are emblematic of a decade yet the settings are of earlier decades. You forget how great Raging Bull is, it is not just the best Boxing movie ever made, it transcends the genre and is one of the greatest films ever made, one of the most brilliant manifestations of the art form since the invention of the movie camera. I’ve seen it a few times, including when it first came out. I seemed to recall having a conversation with my buddy Tony about it, he’s Italian and saying how they reminded him of his ankles, the way DeNiro and Pesci bantered. This sort of realism was only hinted at with the Godfather. Now we take it for granted, there’s been a host of blue collar Italian American characters in film. Moonstruck and the Sopranos are the two of the most well known. But Raging Bull was one of the first and one of the best, certainly few can compete with the believability and realism. For me it is always a film about penance and redemption. I didn’t go down Ray! Rumor has it that by 2011 the theater will be air conditioned. Attendance seemed kind of lax, but I didn’t mind the humidity. Seeing a black & white classic film on a genuinely big screen, it’s a singular event. Raging Bull is one of my favorite films and it was nice that this excellent presentation reminded me of that fact. Being reminded of the 80s though, not so excellent. I miss cassettes though and still play them occasionally.