10 Essential Robert De Niro Performances

If Taxi Driver is De Niro’s most iconic role, then Raging Bull is his most accomplished. Playing real life boxer Jake LaMotta granted De Niro the chance to push his body to the limit, to test his Method to the max. What transpired was a performance of sheer shock: a visceral, brutish, bullish display of power. It ranks as perhaps the most intense screen performance of all time, and the actor was rewarded with his second Oscar, this time winning in the more prestigious lead actor category. 

De Niro famously gained and then dropped the weight necessary to portray LaMotta in his two phases (ripped pro and overweight night-club act), but Raging Bull isn’t just about De Niro’s ‘trickery’. Consider a scene at the close of the film, in which LaMotta, fat and fading, rehearses Terry Malloy's “I coulda bin a contender” monologue from On the Waterfront in the mirror. This is De Niro, not so much imitating Marlon Brando (who famously played Malloy), as taking him on, matching him, perhaps even usurping him. 

The opening shots of Raging Bull show us LaMotta shadow-boxing in the ring, alone. He is, like De Niro in his greatest moments, untouchable.

What's your favourite Robert De Niro performance? Let us know down in the comments.