TITLE: Raging Bull
YEAR OF MOVIE RELEASE: 1980
PRODUCTION: A Robert Chartoff–Irwin Winkler Production, produced in association with Peter Savage
DISTRIBUTOR: United Artists
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese
CAST: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent and Nicholas Colasanto
PRODUCERS: Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Michael Chapman
SCREENPLAY: Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin
BASED ON: The book by Jake La Motta, with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage
FILM EDITING: Thelma Schoonmaker
POSTER PRINTER: W. & B. Litho, Australia
FORMAT: Australian One Sheet
GENRE: Biographical Drama / Sport
COLLECTOR’S NOTE
Raging Bull earned Robert De Niro the Academy Award for Best Actor and Thelma Schoonmaker the award for Film Editing at the 1981 ceremony. Its portrait of boxer Jake La Motta explores both his professional career and the destructive tensions in his personal life.
This Australian poster represents two sides of La Motta through contrasting images: the intense, battered boxer in the dominant close-up and the older nightclub performer holding a microphone. The locally printed W. & B. Litho credit and Australian M classification are useful identifying details for this edition.
POSTER DESIGN FEATURES
An enormous black-and-white close-up of Robert De Niro dominates the composition, emphasising his direct stare, wet hair and marked face. Horizontal boxing-ring ropes form a stark background behind the portrait.
Smaller images introduce Cathy Moriarty and De Niro’s older La Motta performing with a vintage microphone, layered above a faint cityscape. The montage connects the boxing career, personal relationships and later life explored in the film.
Large red ROBERT DE NIRO lettering spans the top, balanced by the red RAGING BULL title across a black lower panel. A printed Newsweek endorsement appears at the left, while white production credits and the United Artists emblem complete the design. The restricted red, black and white palette echoes the film’s predominantly monochrome photography.