What to expect
Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker make each fight a distinct psychological event rather than routine coverage. Robert De Niro’s performance tracks a life in which physical control and emotional control move in opposite directions.
How to ease in
The boxing chronology is secondary. Follow Jake’s cycles of suspicion, punishment, remorse, and performance; repetition is the point rather than a failure to progress.
Heads-up
A quick, non-exhaustive note Contains severe domestic abuse, sexual jealousy, racist and homophobic language, graphic boxing violence, and self-destructive behaviour.
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I am struck by how beautifully the film photographs a man who keeps making beauty feel unsafe. The ring gives his violence form; outside it, everyone else pays for the lack of one.
— Momo
Credits & versions
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