editing in raging bull
The fight scenes in ‘Raging Bull’ make use of very carefully chosen editing to produce a reaction from the audience; in particular, the last fight about in the movie where Jake is being beaten by Sugar Ray Robinson. Jake refuses to go down, standing to face the barrage of punches. Early on in the scene as Jake is on the ropes, we cut to Sugar Ray Robinson in slow motion, preparing to throw a punch and staring into the camera, providing a subjective view, giving the audience a sense of what it might feel like to know that you are about to be hurt. As Ray moves back, three lights are revealed with a scintillating effect, like three crosses of light. This is part of a recurring theme in the movie about religion, as though Ray is a dark angel about to wreak vengeance. The camera cuts back to Jake, a reverse shot. This time though, because we care more about Jake, it feels like much more of an objective shot than subjective.