Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980)
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 | "If you win, you win. If you lose, you still win!
"--Joe Pesci as Joey LaMotta
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On rare occasion editing, cinematography, performance, script, direction, and technical brilliance come together to create a movie greater than the sum of its parts. Citizen Kane is one of those movies, Raging Bull is another. Like Citizen Kane, Raging Bull is an unapologetic and unflinching glance at the nature of obsession and the irredeemable aspects of human nature.
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Ironically, Raging Bull is a psychological passion play of high art that uses the most primal and instinctual sport, boxing, as its subject. In thematic content, the jealousy, brutality, tragedy, and gritty underworld elements of the film speak more to the archetypes of Pluto and Scorpio, however, the sheer and searing brilliance of the film—the editing, storyboarding, and the performances—could only emanate from Uranus.
The brilliance of the film is derived from its unforgettable performances, flawless execution, and technical achievements. Scorsese, an obsessive student of film, borrowed techniques liberally from every conceivable influence and added his own unique innovations to create a truly transcendent vision. With Raging Bull, Scorsese consistently deviated from traditional film conventions to create nothing less than poetry on screen. The boxing sequences—built from differing film speeds, impeccable editing and storyboarding, stylized choreography, uncharacteristic sound effects, and extreme camera angles—are unmatched masterpieces. However, the seamless and extraordinarily intuitive stylistic and technical aspects that hold the film do not overpower the performances. Raging Bull is one of the few films that contains tour de force acting from a number of performers to match the equally stunning and impressive stylistic elements.
Working on their fourth project together, both Scorsese and De Niro experienced significant Uranus transits to their natal charts during the creation of Raging Bull. The visual brilliance of the film is not something that can solely come from a lifetime of study but must be dependent upon other intervening factors. The uncanny and flawless execution of the direction and visual elements of the film suggest a person in the throes of a tremendous influx of inspired perception and imagination. As reviewer Michael Thomas comments, Raging Bull is a film "with imagination and life, revealing the thunder, sensitivity, and artistry of a director on a continuous creative high."(7)
Indeed, as the natal chart suggests, Martin Scorsese was experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime Uranus transit conjuncting his natal Sun. (see chart: solar only) Recovering from drug addiction and very close to ending his career as a filmmaker, Scorsese made the comeback that Jake Lamotta, Raging Bull's subject, failed to make. Scorsese has made pictures that have been equally as powerful and as emotionally gripping as Raging Bull, however, nothing he has touched has equaled its artistic perfection.
De Niro turned in arguably the greatest performance of a long and remarkable career with his portrayal of Jake LaMotta. As Scorsese was receiving the powerful conjunction from Uranus to his Sun, De Niro was receiving a square transit from Uranus to his natal Sun. (see chart) The performance earned De Niro an Oscar and cemented his reputation as the greatest actor of his generation. The complexity, subtly, and searing intensity that De Niro brings to the role of LaMotta was truly a once-in-a-lifetime performace, mirrored by his once-in-a-lifetime Uranus square Sun transit.
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