Masculinity, Violence, Resistance: Raging Bull

Abstract

Having shot The Last Waltz and American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince while involved with the post-production of New York, New York, Martin Scorsese had in early 1977 three films in various stages of incompletion. If this suggests another reason why The Last Waltz was not released until April 1978, and American Boy only premiered at the New York Film Festival in October of the same year, then in 1977 Scorsese besides became involved in his sole foray into theatre. The Act was a vehicle for the female star of New York, New York, Liza Minnelli. Like New York, New York it was a box-office disappointment. Moreover, not only was Scorsese replaced as the play’s director two weeks before its Broadway opening, but he was publicly blamed for its problems. Julia Cameron in turn cited his affair with Minnelli in her divorce action against him. She also cited his drug use. On Cameron leaving Scorsese in January 1977, Robbie Robertson, who had temporarily separated from his wife, moved into Scorsese’s Mulholland Drive house, whereupon the pair pursued a round of drug taking, nocturnal film viewing and party going. Things came to a head on Labor Day weekend in September 1978 when Scorsese, after ingesting some ‘bad’ cocaine at the Telluride Film Festival, was hospitalized in New York with internal bleeding. A life-threatening incident Scorsese has described as impelling him to stop ‘fooling around and trying to kill myself’ (Smith 1998: 30), it also saw him — upon the urging of Robertson and Robert De Niro — commit to a project about which he had been vacillating.