The six fights that are shown in full are Jake versus Reeves, Robinson twice, Janiro, Fox, and then a final fight with Robinson. The first fight is very straightforward, with little or no change in continuity or pace. When Jake loses by technical knockout a riot ensues, and the discontinuity that will be used in other fights comes in. The camera follows a chair flying through the air, but with a pure black background it is impossible to know where it is going until it crashes down in the ring. The camera jumps between Jake, a woman being trampled, Reeves being carried off, the announcer starting the music, the piano player with the ring in the distance behind her, and someone being tossed into the crowd. It’s ended by a sudden cut to Jake’s home.
The next fight is against Sugar Ray Robinson. Fast cuts to close reaction shots break up a master shot which tracks the fighters from right to left and then back across the ring. This tennis match back and forth is rhythmically matched to the pounding of the fighter’s fists. The scene builds until the bell and then they back off. Jake is in slow motion in his corner, and then he rounds the edge approaching Robinson at regular speed. The two collide and the fast pounding continues. The slow build up to a furious attack adds to the rhythm of the fight.
The third fight is against Robinson again, but between the two is a three-week gap. The only scene from those three weeks shown is the intimate bedroom scene where Vickie kisses his bruises. This pause between fights stands out because it runs at such a different pace. Tension is built because of the adrenaline rush of the first fight and the suspense leading up to the next. After their conversation Jake closes the door and the film cuts to the fight.
The camera is zoomed in to the fighters, so the black background leaves no stationary objects for them to be moving in relation to. Disorienting the action in this way matches the alternating pace to rebuild the adrenaline of the previous fight. When Robinson goes down the scene leaps forward with a jolt, interrupted by camera flashes, and then Robinson rises slowly. The ballet-like movements continue until the announcement at the end of the fight that Robinson is the winner. This is followed by a sudden cut to Joey smashing a chair in frustration.
Each of the fights is followed by a sudden cut to a very different scene, usually in the locker room after the fight. Sometimes the scene is quiet like Jake’s apartment or house, or it is jolting like Joey breaking the chair. After Jake beats Janiro to a pulp the scene is Jake in the steam room. All sense of setting is lost, it is just Jake in smoke, until his trainer enters and Jake asks for water. After Jake loses to Fox by technical knockout there is a sudden cut to him crying. Each scene matches the fight that preceded it with Jake’s character being revealed through the Kuleshov effect.
The point of view of Raging Bull changes slowly like the pacing in one of the fights. During the fight scenes and immediately after, the POV is very close to Jake. As the energy of the fights wear off the film backs away to see Jake in a more objective light. After he loses the title in his final fight with Robinson the POV moves further back from Jake until the final scene. There the camera is stationary, watching the overweight, broken man recite a scene from On the Waterfront.
The editing in Raging Bull works with the cinematography to carefully guide the audience through the darker parts of Jake La Motta’s personality and career. It uses uneven pacing and discontinuity to tell the story of a man with violent mood swings and a fractured life. The result is a film that is not watched, but instead it is experienced.
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