The Bronx Bull

For thousands of year mankind has often resorted to physical violence to solve disputes and for entertainment. Violence is something which human beings could be naturally drawn to.

Watching people engage in physical combat or violence is the perfect form of entertainment to some people. That is why Boxing and prizefighting have been so popular throughout time.

Boxing is called the “Sweet Science”. It can be graceful, beautiful, and eloquent.

Jake LaMotta was a middleweight boxer from the Bronx who was the exact opposite of grace and beauty. LaMotta was brutal, rugged, and almost masochistic. He led a dark life of abuse, physical, mental, and substance wise.

In 1980, the film Raging Bull was released. Robert DeNiro portrayed LaMotta with Martin Scorsese directing. The film received universal critical acclaim with DeNiro even winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. But the film itself did not win anything. Scorsese didn’t win Best Director, and Best Picture went to a film called Ordinary People.

Ordinary People is a film about a broken family. The movie centers around a family suffering because of one of their sons deaths. The brother attempts suicide, his mother is a colossal wreck, and the father is trying the best he can to support and hold them all together.

It is easy to relate to the characters in this movie because family problems are something that we all have. Overall the movie is good, with great performances and good directing from Robert Redford.

But, the theme of my blog is about great films being overshadowed by good, sometimes even mediocre ones.

Raging Bull is seen today as a classic movie. In 2007 The American Film Institute ranked the film as the 4^th best movie of the last 100 years. It was also ranked by the AFI as the best sports related American movie ever.  Ordinary People on the other hand has received no such recognition. It was widely praised upon release, but has not received “classic” status. The film was a good one and that’s all. Raging Bull pushed boundaries and is still critically lauded to this day.

Even with all of the accolades though, Raging Bull is a very difficult film to watch.

With incredible violence, profanity, and sexual themes, the film is incredibly graphic. DeNiro’s performance itself was incredible, he gained nearly 40 pounds to play LaMotta in his later years and he gave a hauntingly dark show of acting. There are scenes of abuse and the extreme use of blood can be unsettling. But it is more than necessary and not done in a way to overcompensate for anything or to create shock value. 

The extreme violence throughout the movie mirrors LaMotta’s life, and how he beat himself up more than anyone else ever could have.

Jake LaMotta, Wikimedia.com, 1952

The Academy ended up not giving Raging Bull its due here because of the substantially graphic material which was portrayed. The Academy chose the safer film once again. And once again when you look at the cultural impact Raging Bull has had, it is safe to say the academy was wrong.

Sources

Imdb.com

http://afi.com/default.aspx

http://triplehelixblog.com/2014/09/the-neuroscience-of-aggression-why-humans-are-drawn-to-violence/

Youtube.com

Photo credit- no author, wikimedia.com

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-raging-bull-1980

The Horror

The year was 1979.

The 80’s were approaching. Personal computers, the end of the Cold War, and amazing hair metal 

bands were on the cusp of infiltrating radio waves and hair salons everywhere.

But before any of the glories of the 80’s could happen- Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam masterpiece Apocalypse Now had to be robbed of winning Best Picture.

Coppola didn’t just have a good film this year either by the way. He had a huge DECADE. He co-wrote Patton, the 1970 Best Picture winner and directed The Godfather Parts 1 and 2, which won best picture in 1970 and 1972 respectively.

Apocalypse Now was a well-documented film. The budget was insanely huge, it took way too long to complete, there were a lot of offscreen mess-ups and the actors didn’t get along with each other.

But for what it was worth, the film was a triumph.

Vietnam was the most polarizing and explosive time in our nation’s history up until that point. And the film represented the experiences of war, and the Vietnam struggle for what they are. Dark, visceral, scary, and often times disturbing.

Honestly, if you have not seen this movie, please do. It isn’t just a movie. It is a glimpse into the face of war, a look into the catastrophe which violence causes and it is one of the greatest films of all time.

With that being said, the movie which did win Best Picture in 1979 was Kramer v Kramer.

Kramer v Kramer was a film starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Two of the most well-known actors of all-time in their primes (even though Streep is still going ridiculously hard today).  Kramer was not as violent. It was not as disturbing. And it wasn’t as gripping. But it was an important film nevertheless.

Kramer v Kramer was a film about a couple struggling for the custody of their child. The film was the first major picture to bring the issue of divorce and its effect on children to the mainstream. Just as much as Apocalypse Now was about an important event in our nation’s history, so was Kramer v Kramer. The Divorce rate in America doubled from 1960 to 1980.

This left a lot of kids and families hurting. Kramer V Kramer resonated more with audiences going through the pains of separation. Apocalypse Now on the other hand brought up a time that most Americans wanted to forget.

But even still, the film is beautifully dark. It makes you almost feel that you were in Vietnam.

Napalm was featured heavily in the film during war scenes. 

And I believe that is why it didn’t win. It was too real. It represented the ugly side of humanity. It showed all of the horror which could occur.

But that’s why it should have won. It was not Hollywood trying to educate America about a problem in a dramatic way. It was Coppola giving Hollywood and the world a look into how insane war is. How insane we all can be when faced with horror.

Sources

The Evolution of Divorce- W. Bradford Wilcox

http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-evolution-of-divorce

Poster

Free to use
Napalm

Andrew LCPL Pendracki, 2003

http://www.imdb.com/

When Goliath Should Have Won

1977 was a great year. Apple was founded, Kanye West was born, and gas was only 65 cents. Also, a small film named Star Wars came out.

Now let me first explain, I am not the type of person who goes to Star Wars conventions or dresses up as Obi Wan for Halloween. But I do believe credit is due to this film. When Star Wars came out, it shattered box office records, the cinematography was excellent, the story was something new and fresh, and the technology used in creating the film was revolutionary.

Star Wars was nothing short of a phenomenon, it spawned sequels, television shows, books, video games, and an entire culture.

In 1977 it was nominated for the Academy Award for best picture. Star Wars made over 300 million dollars in its original theatrical release. Adjusted for inflation, today, that is around 2.8 billion dollars. Everyone saw, and loved the movie. But Star Wars did not win best picture that year. A movie named Annie Hall won that year.

A movie directed by Woody Allen that was seen by 15 people. 

Woody Allen directed, wrote, and starred in this film which also starred Dianne Keaton. The movie is a romantic comedy and is actually quite good as it is seen as a textbook example of the rom-com genre.

Annie Hall won the best picture award because even though Star Wars was miraculous and earth-shattering when it came out, nobody knew the type of effect and culture shock that it would produce.

Annie Hall was a “now” movie when it came out. It represented the culture of the 70’s better than any film that came before it. It was quirky, funny, and thought provoking. The film even influenced the style of dress during the late 70’s.

Even still, Annie Hall represented a time period, whereas Star Wars shook cultural foundations and stunned audiences with glimpses of the future.

To fully appreciate Annie Hall, you have to understand American culture, and a good understanding of the 70’s is also necessary. Star Wars on the other hand is a giant. Anyone, from anywhere can view this film and be engrossed by the story. It gave glimpses of the future and its story had the ability to be easily understood by everyone.

Annie Hall was a good film. But Star Wars is a culture. It is magnificent and a giant of cinema. The academy shouldn’t have just looked at the “now”. Annie Hall represented a time period, whereas Star Wars shook cultural foundations and stunned audiences with glimpses of the future.  

That is why Star Wars should have won this race. That is why Star Wars is a better film which endures to this day.               

Sources

History channel

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/annie-hall-beats-out-star-wars-for-best-picture

Box Office Mojo

http://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=starwars.htm

Star Wars poster

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Star_Wars_Schriftzug.jpg