24 on the American Film Institute’s 100 greatest American movies of all time list, tells the true story of former boxing champ Jake LaMotta.
“This is a true cinematic masterpiece that’s going to live on for centuries,” said Leonardo DiCaprio, another longtime Scorsese collaborator, who moderated Sunday’s Q&A.
“The one thing that I always felt is that we didn’t know how well it’d do but we knew it’d be a special movie.
After losing his middleweight championship title to Sugar Ray Robinson in 1951, LaMotta moved his family to Miami, where he ran a nightclub and performed as a stand-up comic and singer.
“The book, for some reason, it wasn’t great literature, but something about it, it had a lot of heart,” De Niro said.
“I was lost, in a way.
“I made it as if it was pretty much the end of my life: It’s over.
The film is by no means a flattering portrayal of LaMotta, who is depicted as short-tempered, paranoid and abusive.
“At the end of the day, Jake was happy the movie was being made,” De Niro said.
“Raging Bull” screened outdoors at New York’s Battery Park to a packed crowd on the last night of the Tribeca Festival, which offered in-person and outdoor events.