Blissfully unaware of his profound lack of talent, Rupert practices his pathetic comedy routines to no avail. In The King of Comedy (1982), De Niro gave yet another wholly original performance-this time, as Rupert Pupkin, a self-styled stand-up TV comedian. Raging Bull has come to be regarded as one of Scorsese’s greatest films. But it is De Niro’s towering, Oscar-winning performance as the self-destructive La Motta, a proud but foolish man undone by forces he can neither understand nor control, that unified this pitiless psychodrama. The acting was also first-rate, particularly that of Joe Pesci as Joey, Jake’s loyal brother, and Cathy Moriarty as Vickie, Jake’s abused wife.

Loosely adapted by Schrader and Mardik Martin from the memoir of former middleweight boxing champ Jake La Motta, this vitriolic essay on the pleasurable pain of violence is immediately impressive for its stunning black-and-white cinematography by Michael Chapman and for its meticulous re-creation of 1940s New York City. Scorsese then made the brutal but beautiful Raging Bull (1980).

SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.

Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them!

Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.

100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.

COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.

Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.

This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.

#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.

Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.

Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.

Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.

Raging bull in color