Raging Bull

MUSIC IN:
"Stone Cold Dead in the Market" by Louis Jordon

THE TITLES appear on black. They are intercut with

CLOSE-UPS of a fighter's body.

EXAMPLES:

Feet move.

Credit over black.

Body lunges.

Credit over black.

Fists swing and punch at the air.

Credit over black.

WE CATCH A GLIMPSE of young JAKE LAMOTTA.

THEN CUT:

TO:

INT. BARBIZON PLAZA THEATRE - DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT

(1964)

JAKE LAMOTTA, wearing a tux, is shadow-boxing.

We are unsure of where he is -- he moves in and out

of the shadows. At 42, he's overweight and out of

shape, but the balls of his feet still pop up and

down like they were on canvas and his tiny fists

still jerk forward with short bursts of light. He

is rehearsing a nightclub monologue.

JAKE:

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

It's a thrill to be standing here

talking to you wonderful people. In

fact, it's a thrill to be standing!

I haven't seen so many people since

my last fight at Madison Square

Garden. After that fight, a

reporter asked me, 'Jake, where do

you go from here?' I said, 'To a

hospital!' I fought one hundred and

six professional fights and still

none of them bums figured out how

to fight me -- they kept hitting me

in the head! And that's why I'm

here tonight...

(starts to sing)

'When the fighter's not engaged in

his employment, his employment,

although he was Champ and quite the

rage, he must go somewhere else to

seek employment, seek employment.

But a fighter's life is not a bowl

of cherries, still I'd rather have

an egg than a fist upon my face...

That's Entertainment!'

INT. CLEVELAND ARENA - NIGHT (1941)

Bam! JIMMY REEVES, a fast, black middleweight, jabs

LAMOTTA, 19 years old, in the face. JAKE staggers

forward. No matter how hard LAMOTTA is hit, no

matter how often, he always staggers forward --

like a bull. The bell sounds.

Battered, JAKE slumps on the stool in his corner.

It's September, 1941. Europe and Asia are already

at war. Young SOLDIERS, freshly recruited, dot the

hostile audience -- each screaming at the FIGHTERS

in the ring.

Suddenly, words are exchanged, a GIRL screams, and

a SOLDIER and a CIVILIAN stand and start swinging.

AND IN THE RING:
JAKE LAMOTTA takes a swig of water

and spits blood into the bucket his younger

brother, JOEY, holds for him. TONY, his trainer,

works the cuts.

JOEY:

You didn't have to come to

Cleveland to get beat by a "moulan

yan," Jake!

TONY:

He's got you, Jake! You're

outpointed! You're coming up for

the tenth. You gotta knock him out!

The bell sounds for the tenth. JAKE pulls himself

up and charges at REEVES.

REEVES slides away, jabbing, punching, piling up

points.

In JAKE's corner, JOEY stands and yells at JAKE:

JOEY:

A grand apiece! We got a grand

apiece on this, Jake! A f***ing

grand!

JAKE suddenly corners REEVES and unleashes a

desperate, wild alley-fighting attack. One

ferocious punch after another.

The SPECTATORS go wild; everyone's up for the kill.

REEVES staggers, then falls to the canvas.

The REFEREE counts:

REFEREE:

One, two, three, four...

The GAMBLERS call out new odds; ten to one for

REEVES, the underdog. JOEY, excited, sees that time

is running out and steps in front of the bell. He

swings his arms, pretending not to realize he

literally holds back the TIMER's arm for a few

seconds. This gives JAKE more time for a knockout --

but not enough. JOEY is pushed back and the bell

rings at the count of nine, ending the match.

Boos and cheers. The BETTORS scramble back to the

BOOKIE to get their money.

JAKE dances around the ring, kissing his gloves and

thrusting them toward the CROWD. JOEY rushes out

and hugs him.

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