MovieChat Forums > Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) Discussion > Martin Scorsesee/Raging Bull influences

Martin Scorsesee/Raging Bull influences


I just saw it for the first time and was blown away .I would think Martin was influenced by scenes in the fight ring and the photography certain angles
editing etc..... and the story was similar but Raging Bull did have it's funny moments .This was very sad and depressing but a great movie , written by a great writer .And having a female actress as the Bad guy/Mobster was truly suprising .I don't think that was ever done before especially 45 years ago or even today
I saw it on a Hi def channel and it was perfect .

You're neither. You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill

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But the female gangster was played by a woman who was so butch, she was obviously a lesbian. Looked at from today's perspective (e.g., "The Celluloid Closet"), this would be seen as stereotypical, demeaning, and offensive. Daring for its time, it would be seen as another example of how gay people--when they were portrayed at all--were shown as deviant, outside the law, anti-social and, in this case, repulsive.

There were other examples of gays in the movies (e.g., Clifton Webb in "Laura") but audiences were not as sophisticated at spotting why a certain character was "different."

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I think it's more the case that both Requiem and Raging Bull were inspired by Robert Wise's The Set-Up (1949). Scorsese even has a commentary track on The Set-Up's dvd.

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Raging Bull was *beep*

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I see another influence--on this film, not by it: the bar scene with Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint in On the Waterfront. There are certainly differences, but we have the punchy fighter with the petite blonde. Nelson would probably have memorized Waterfront.

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