Discuss Jake’s tragic flaws. How does the theme of fall and redemption figure in the film’s narrative arc? Discuss Jake’s moral dilemma in dealing with the mob. How does the filmmaker’s use of black-and-white cinematography establish a sense of time and place? Is the film’s tone one of documentary realism, exaggerated (or heightened) realism, or a mixture of both? Discuss Scorsese’s use of unusual editing and cinematographic techniques. How does the film employ sound for mood, atmosphere, and to advance the narrative? How do Jake and Joey’s thick Bronx accents and rapid-fire argot enhance the sense of the special relationship they share? Discuss Robert de Niro’s method of inhabiting the real-life character of one-time middleweight champion Jake LaMotta. To what extent is this film a love story, and how is the love story used to explore Jake’s tormented, divided self? What is the significance of the film’s poetic conceits and leitmotifs? What is the significance of the film’s concluding shot? Research the post-WWII Italian neo-realist cinema movement and the British social realism cinema of the 1960s and explain how they influenced Scorsese, based on your viewing of this film.