Raging Bull

- - —

Remember those cheers.

They still ring in my ears,

and for years they remain in my thoughts.

'Cause one night, I took off my robe, and what did I do?

I forgot to wear shorts.

I recall every fall, every hook, everyjab...

The worst way a guy can get rid of his flab.

As you know, my life wasn't drab.

Though I'd much...

Though I'd rather hear you cheer when you delve...

Though I'd rather hear you cheer when I delve into Shakespeare...

"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

I haven't had a winner in six months."

And though I'm no Olivier, I would much rather...

And though I'm no Olivier, if he fought sugar ray,

he would say that the thing ain't the ring, it's the play.

So give me a stage where this bull here can rage,

and though I can fight, I'd much rather recite.

That's entertainment.

Thatis entertainment.

Jake la motta and Jimmy ree ves in the c/e ve/and arena.

La motta is undefeated, but he is well behind on points.

The Bronx bull has taken a lot of punishment in this bout.

Jake is out around the left eye. Jimmy ree ves has outboxed him...

Jack, tell me why. Why the fuck do we have to come to Cleveland

for you to get beaten by a moolinyan?

Come on, Jack. Do the fuckin' right thing here, will you?

He's got you by the balls, Jake. You're outpointed.

You're coming up for the tenth. You're gonna have to knock him out.

I want you to bite him, kick him, do anything you gotta do.

- Nobody's looking. You know what to do. - Listen to Joey.

Just like home. All over the fucking' moolie.

Knock the motherfucker out. You understand? Knock him out.

Hey, you wanna go in there? You wanna go in and do it?

Help!

We need a knockout. Let's go get a knockout. That's where it's at.

Tenth and final round.

- — - Good luck to you both.

La motta fighting out of a half-crouch.

Reeves is up against a tough fighter,

a man who doesn't know how to back up.

La motta continues to bore in.

La motta, out of the hob and weave, hooks a left hand to the jaw,

and Reeves is down!

The crowd is urging Jake on.

The referee is tolling o ver ree ves. He is got to get up.

La motta comes at h/m once again, Reeves misses a fight,

takes a left, and another left, a hard left hand to the jaw,

and Reeves is down for the second time.

And a determined Jake la motta is making a great comeback

here in the tenth round

Reeves is up again. La motta comes at him.

A left hook to the jaw, another left, and a fight to the body

three more lefts to the midsection, a hook on the jaw,

two more lefts to the head, a fight and a left to the jaw by la motta

and Reeves goes down for the third time.

And the referee is pulling la motta away.

Two, three,

- —four, five, six, seven... - The referee is counting over Reeves.

- But time is running out. - —...Eight, nine...

And there is the bell.

He can't walk, but ree ves has been saved by the bell.

But did la motta do it soon enough?

Jack, Jack, come here.

It's no good. This is Ohio, not New York!

- You waited too long! - That dumb bastard!

Put my robe on right, huh? Put my robe on right!

Ladies and gentlemen.

Under the rules of the Ohio boxing commission,

after ten rounds,

the winner, by unanimous decision,

- Jimmy Reeves! - The colorful Jake la motta,

- the Bronx bull, has lost his first fight. -

That's Jake's fight! Come on! That's Jake's fight!

Jake won that fight!

Don't leave. Don't get outta the fuckin' ring. Stay here.

You won. Let him go first. Stay in, I'm telling you.

La motta fioored Reeves seven t/mes in the fight,

but la motta still lost the fight.

Jake! Jake! Jake! Jake!

Help!

He's on his fuckin' back. They pick up his arm, he's dead.

They tell him he won the fight. People went crazy.

That shit would've never happened if Tommy was there taking care of it.

He's gotta be with Tommy to fight in New York, to get a title shot.

He's gonna wind up fuckin' punch—drunk, your brother.

- —I know. - You know.

You gotta make him understand it's the best thing for everybody involved.

- —I said I know. - You know.

But you gotta make him know. Tell him. Make him understand it.

Jesus Christ, you know when to stop?

When the fuck you gonna stop with all that stuff?

I told you, I understand everything.

He just wants to do things for himself, that's all. Hard to understand?

It's because he's got a head like concrete.

You make me laugh. You think it's easy? Why don't you talk to him?

- You know what to say. - —you know I can't talk to him.

- Why can't you talk to him? - 'Cause he don't like me.

Nobody likes you. You ought to be used to that.

- -

They knew.

They knew who was the boss.

The judges didn't know. Who knows what happened with them?

The people knew.

You don't believe me. You thought I was over there fooling around, huh?

You thought I was fooling around, didn't you? Tell me the truth.

I ain't doing no fooling around.

- —That's in your mind. - Yeah? So what?

With that championship belt on me, that's when I fool around.

Is it done?

No, it's not done.

Don't overcook it. You overcook it, it's no good.

It defeats its own purpose.

What are you doing? I just said don't overcook it.

You're overcooking it. Bring it over.

- You want your steak? - —bring it over.

Bring it over!

It's like a piece of charcoal! Bring it over here!

- You want your steak? - —yeah, right now!

Good. There's your stupid steak.

- Can't wait for it to be done? - No, I can't wait.

Good. Okay? Happy?

Happy? —that's all I want.

That's — there. No, more. There.

Bothering me about a steak, huh?

- You're bothering me about a steak? - —yeah!

I agree with you. He should be with Tommy.

If he's in a good mood, I'll talk to him. What the fuck you want me to do?

Joey, Tommy tells me every day to talk to you

and speak to Jake to straighten this thing out.

I'm gonna wind up in the middle of this thing.

You're in the middle? I'm his brother.

- He's got me fuckin' nuts. - You're his brother.

If you can't talk to him, who's gonna talk to him?

- I'll talk to him. - Do what you can, that's all.

- —That's all I'm asking you. - I'll see you tomorrow.

- Let me go up. - All right? Where you gonna be?

I'll be at the gym or the otherjoint, one of the two.

- I'll catch you by the gym. - —all right. Sal?

- —Yeah? - Go fuck yourself.

Complain some more. I wanna hear.

- Complain? You call those carrots? - —that's right.

- You call that food? - You ate 'em. Did you eat them?

You call that food? I got no choice!

- I'm sick of you already! - I got no choice!

- I can't believe you! - I got no choice! I got no choice!

You got no choice? Get away from me!

- Please! - Get in there. Get in there!

Get your hands off me! Get away from me!

- —Fuck! I'm sick of you! -

What's the matter with you, you animals?

- What? - Jack, come on!

- — You animals! - Come on, huh?

This son of a bitch is calling me an animal.

- Hey, you! - Come on, Jack.

I'm gonna get a hold of that dog, and I'm gonna eat it for lunch!

You hear what I'm saying? You hear me, Larry?

—larry?

You crazy animal!

Who's an animal? Your mother's an animal!

You son of a bitch! —oh!

You're gonna find your dog dead in the hallway tomorrow, you bum.

I can't take it!

- The whole block, people could hear you. - I'll kill the whole family.

I can't take this!

You break anything in there, I'm gonna kill you!

I swear to god, I'm gonna come in there and kill you.

Yeah, sure.

- - You wanna calm down?

- —Oh, fuck! -

- — What'd I do? -

Come on, honey. Let's be — let's be friends.

Truce, all right? — It's not all right!

You can't. I'm telling you.

You can't fuckin' eat and drink like an animal,

put up with this fuckin' bracio/e here.

You can't do this. I'm telling you.

Forget about the Reeves thing. You got a million other fights coming up.

You just can't keep doing this.

What's wrong?

Something's the matter. What's up?

You know what's bothering me?

My hands.

Your hands? What about 'em?

I got these small hands. I got a little girl's hands.

I got 'em, too. What's the difference?

Know what that means?

No matter how big I get, no matter who I fight,

no matter what I do, I ain't never gonna fight Joe Louis.

That's right. He's a heavyweight. You're a middleweight. We know that.

I ain't never gonna get a chance to fight the best there is.

And you know something? I'm better than them.

I ain't never gonna get a chance.

You're asking me what's wrong.

You're crazy to even think about something like that.

He's a fuckin' heavyweight, you're a middleweight.

It's impossible, it'll never happen, so why go crazy thinking about it?

It's not normal.

Do me a favor.