Daily Dialogue — August 16, 2011
“Some people aren’t that lucky… like the one Brando played in “On the Waterfront,” a down-and-outer. Remember the scene in the car with his brother Charlie? It went like this. It wasn’t him, Charlie. It was you. Remember that night you said,”Kid, this ain’t your night. “We’re going for the price on Wilson. “This ain’t your night.” My night. I could’ve taken Wilson apart. So what happens? He gets a title shot. I get a one-way ticket to Palookaville. I was no good after that, Charlie. You reach a peak, then it’s downhill. It was you, Charlie.You was my brother. You should’ve looked out for me just a little bit. You should’ve taken care of me… instead of making me take dives for short-end money. You don’t understand. I could’ve had class. I could’ve been a contender.”
— Jake LaMotta (Robert DeNiro), Raging Bull (1980), screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage, based on the book by Jake LaMotta
The beginning of the scene with the monologue from “On the Waterfront” here.
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is movie references, suggested by Todd Wallinger. Raging Bull suggested by ric.
Trivia: Mardik Martin wrote the most traditional, linear script for the film (more of a traditional Jake La Motta biography), but backed off on the project due to exhaustion after months of research. Paul Schrader made several changes to the script, including making, Joey La Motta, Jake’s brother, the second most prominent character (by combining his actions with that of Jake’s friend, ‘Peter Savage’) and starting the story in the middle of La Motta’s career rather than at the beginning. Although they kept Schrader’s overall structure, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro spent 5 weeks rewriting his version of the script until they had exactly the film they wanted (Scorsese and De Niro are uncredited as screenwriters for the film).
Dialogue On Dialogue: Ending a movie with a monologue takes some chutzpah, especially quoting another movie, but it totally works here. I’ve always looked at it akin to a “Rosebud” moment, the Fallen Man. But whereas Charles Foster Kane acknowledged his loss at the end of his life, LaMotta still lives in the fantasy of who he was (witness his shadowboxing just before he goes on stage). But of course, the main point: “I could’ve been a contender.” Multiple layers of meaning to that here.