DREAM STREAM Enjoy two perfectly paired films, mood food & a classic film frame-of-mind
THE FILMS: Body and Soul (1947) starring John Garfield, Lilli Palmer and Joseph Pevney; Directed by Robert Rossen; Written by Abe Polonsky; Cinematography by James Wong Howe and Raging Bull (1980) starring Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci; Directed by Martin Scorsese; Written by Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin; Cinematography by Michael Chapman.
THE CONNECTION: Though one’s fact and the other fiction, both are black-and-white films that deal with rags-to-riches stories set in the big, bad, fight world of the 1940s starring the premiere Method actors of their generation. The fun is watching the stories unfold in what passed in the movies as groundbreaking reality in the 1940s vs the 1980s.
Body and Soul stars John Garfield. Garfield was the De Niro of his time. In fact, Garfield was also the Brando and the Pacino. He was the original tough guy Method actor. Today, unfortunately, due to the HUAC Hearings in the 1950s, which cut his career, and many believe his life, short, he is largely forgotten. And that’s a crying shame.
In Body and Soul Garfield plays Charlie Davis, a poor Jewish boy who’s fought his way to the top; told in flashback as Charlie reflects on his life the night before a big fight. The story unfolds with fast, furious dialogue with a healthy dose of street poetry circa 1947. Charlie has a socially savvy pal, Shorty, played by Joseph Pevney, who hustles for him and makes the right connections. And there’s a girl. Isn’t there always? Here, it’s Lilli Palmer as Peg. An odd choice given Palmer’s British accent and cultured mannerisms, but somehow it works. When Charlie returns from the road, Peg kisses each new scar on his face as he names the city he got them in.
In Raging Bull Robert De Niro plays Jake La Motta, a poor Italian boy who actually did become the middle-weight champion of the world in 1949; told in flashback as he looks at his reflection in a dumpy dressing room mirror in 1964. The setting may still be the 1940s but the language here is strictly rated-R. It may not be poetry per se, but it tells you right away who these men are: rough, imperfect, uneducated and fighting like hell to get somewhere better. Jake’s got someone who’s always hustling and trying to make the right connections for him, too. It’s his younger brother, Joey, played by the always explosive Joe Pesci. Once again there is a girl. Literally, a “girl.” Vicky La Motta was the neighborhood beauty and only 15 years-old when she caught the eye of Jake La Motta. She’s played here by the then only-19-year-old Cathy Moriarty. When Jake returns from the road she kisses his boxing boo-boos, too – and then some!
Both Charlie and Jake see boxing as a way to be somebody. Neither wants to be controlled by the Mob or take a dive because that’s for “bums” and “mamalukes.” But these are boxing tales not fairy tales. There are prices to be paid and consequences to face for both fighters on their way to the championship.
Martin Scorsese is an avowed fan of classic films who acknowledges the influence of Body and Soul on Raging Bull. I challenge you to watch both films and not see a number of similarities in the story and characters. There are times when Garfield and De Niro even bear an uncanny resemblance to one another with their curly, sweaty, dark hair, beat up faces and bodies struggling against defeat from forces both inside and out. For every time Garfield haunches his shoulders as if he’s coming out of his corner, De Niro, as La Motta, squares his and swaggers in primal glory.
Cinematographer James Wong Howe created a gritty realism in Body and Soul never before seen on screen. Each shot is bathed in a harsh black and white light that makes you see and feel the cold, age and weariness of its people, its places and its things. The true masterpiece camera work, however, lies in the fight scenes, where he put on roller-skates, carried a handheld camera and entered the ring himself, effectively transporting you out of a Hollywood movie and into a newsreel or documentary.
In Raging Bull cinematographer Michael Chapman is an artist painting in black-and-white film. Though clearly inspired by Howe, his vision is his own. Chapman provides a unique pictorial narrative as his camera lingers on Jake’s hand in a bucket of ice, the cups and saucers in the Debonair Social Club, or the ropes of the boxing ring of La Motta’s last fight, dripping with blood.
Whatever you feel about Scorsese’s Oscar for The Departed (2006), once you’ve seen Raging Bull, you’ll agree, the fix was in. Scorsese was robbed in 1980!
MOOD FOOD: Steak, of course. “Don’t overcook it! You overcook it, it’s no good, it defeats its own purpose!” And for dessert? A sultry “piece of cake,” a lá Moriarty.
CLASSIC ATTITUDE: Be a strong black-and-white character and live your life as a champ not a “mamaluke.” Don’t take a dive for nobody! Inevitably, you’ll find yourself up against it. That’s when you haunch your shoulders and snarl like Garfield, “Whaddaya gonna do? Kill me? Everybody dies.” And then be prepared to feel very, very, tough.
