Seeking out frequent collaborator Scorsese, De Niro pleaded his case to make LaMotta’s brutal book into a film. The protagonist was about as far from the loveable lug portrayed by Stallone. In the book, LaMotta confesses to committing rape, beating his wife and a number of other frankly disgusting indiscretions. ‘The Bronx Bull’ was one of the most complex, aggressive and at times odious men to have ever laced up the gloves. No amount of Hollywood edge-smoothing would do. What the Godfather II star took away from the visceral, harsh read was that LaMotta’s story needed to be told warts and all. Then as now, ‘The Italian Stallion’ was the measuring stick for every cinematic foray into the squared circle.īut De Niro did not have a plucky underdog tale in mind after reading LaMotta’s autobiography, gifted and personalised to him by the boxer himself. Sylvester Stallone’s beleaguered but beloved pugilist had demonstrated the strength of the formula again in 1979 with the well-received Rocky II. Rocky had invited a glut of copycats upon its 1976 release.

Raging bull colour