The ‘Raging Bull’ scene that was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’
Although Martin Scorsese introduced a lot of innovations to American cinema, he has always been the first to acknowledge his debts to the classics. From Howard Hawks to Alfred Hitchcock, Scorsese has been a devout student of cinema from an early age. While many criticised Scorsese for his analysis of the Marvel movie franchise, the one thing that even his detractors cannot deny is his undying passion for the cinematic medium and film history.
One particular example which displays Scorsese’s love for Hitchcock’s cinematic vision is Raging Bull, a film which draws inspiration from the unique editing style of Psycho. Hitchcock completely changed the game by inserting that iconic shower scene in Psycho which used more than 90 cuts and breaks in just 45 seconds, redefining the linguistic frameworks of the thriller genre. Of course, this innovation wouldn’t just be restricted to thrillers, given that the French New Wave incorporated it into their very ethos.
Scorsese once said (via Cinephilia & Beyond): “Once you’ve sort of mined the classics and they become like logos that you see everywhere, the beauty of Hitchcock’s work is that the more subtle moments are even more powerful and more lasting, I think, ultimately, in the less bravura scenes in pictures like Psycho. In Psycho, we have two or three very strong bravura moments, which, of course, are the shower scene, the killing of Martin Balsam, the shocking ending.”
The filmmaker claimed that he was more inspired by the driving scenes, adding: “But the sequences that continually give me inspiration are the sequences in which she’s driving. The camera is very, very dead centre on her, it’s very precise. And when you see her point of view, it’s dead centre. It isn’t slightly off; that’s a big difference. These are very specific shots, and they exist in almost an abstract way. You know, here it’s stripped down black and white. It’s like a dream, and yet you’re still awake.”
While the driving sequences are the perfect guidebook for the creation and maintenance of cinematic tension, Raging Bull had a direct reference to the shower scene in Psycho. In many interviews, Scorsese has pointed out that the reason why the shower sequence is so effective is that Hitchcock manages to weaponise the numerous cuts. In doing so, the real murder weapon isn’t the knife shown in the frame but the violent breaks that separate them.
Scorsese utilised that philosophy in a fight sequence in Raging Bull, where the power of a boxer’s fist is translated into the energy of the cut that defines the scene. As always, the genius of Scorsese’s longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker is on full display here.
Watch the clip below.
