[macamadamia]

"It's a well-made movie but it's very violent and infused with a great sense of self-flagellation."

Amazingly, he's NOT talking about Raging Bull. Raging Bull is a good movie in my opinion, but if Jake LaMotta (as Schrader/Scorcese envision the man) did not engage in "self-flagellation" than Schrader has some cryptic (gnostic) notion of the word.

Personally, I think he's just dancing fast to hide his snobbery. "Hey, Gibson, my violence is better than your violence. It's intellectual! Your's...is just...just so low brow."

[presidio9]

Amazingly, he's NOT talking about Raging Bull. Raging Bull is a good movie in my opinion, but if Jake LaMotta (as Schrader/Scorcese envision the man) did not engage in "self-flagellation" than Schrader has some cryptic (gnostic) notion of the word.

I fail to see how the scene where Joe Pecsi repeatedly slams a guy's head in a car door in Raging Bull is any less violent than the scourging scene. As others have pointed out, the "violence" obsession is a creation of people who are dedicated to keeping people from seeing this movie. It emerged when the antisemitism charges didn't take.