Cavalleria Rusticana is a short story following Turiddu, who upon return to his village finds that his lover, Lola, is to be married to Alfio. In his jealousy, Turiddu begins to flirt with Santa, which leads Lola back to Turiddu. Upon learning of this relationship, Alfio challenges Turiddu to a duel, subsequently killing him.
In Cavalleria Rusticana, Turiddu’s downfall is caused by his sexual jealousy and inability to think properly about the consequences of his actions. For this, I believe is why Scorsese chose to reference this tragedy in Raging Bull. In the film, Jake LaMotta is enslaved by his emotions. He has no control over them which causes him to lash out in ways that he comes to regret. None of his emotions are more uncontrollable than his sexual jealousy, similar to Turiddu. In a critical scene towards the end of the film, Jake has convinced himself that his wife is having an affair with his brother. We watch Jake spiral out of control and the conversation goes from a mild accusation to a full tantrum. Jake is knocking down doors, hitting his wife, and going to his own brother’s house to beat him. Jake is so clearly obscured by his uncontrollable emotions, he won’t listen to any words of reason.
I believe the opening scene of the film is meant to symbolize Jake’s fate. The slow motion amongst the dream like fog is meant to capture Jake’s essence in a moment of time at a place where he is at his highest, in the boxing ring. Jake looks almost angelic in the ring, which so heightens the irony associated with the music. The music from the italian opera indicates the tragedy of Jake LaMotta and his fall from grace, a fall from the dreamlike high that he can achieve only momentarily in the boxing ring.
-Mr. Ryan Singer, '21
Scorsese, Martin, director. Raging Bull. 1980.
Verga, Giovanni. Cavalleria Rusticana. Haldeman-Julius Co., 2002.