The boxing sequences of this brilliant if gruelling ringside drama took six weeks to film but occupy only about 12 minutes, ranking among the most realistic ever put on film. Thankfully, director Martin Scorsese shoots his searing biopic of world middleweight champion Jake La Motta in discreet black and white (apart from colour credits and a brief colour sequence) and Robert De Niro, who gained 60lb for the scenes where La Motta is on the skids, gives an inspired knockout, Oscar-winning performance as La Motta. Joe Pesci gives fighting support as Jake's brother and Cathy Moriaty (cast after Pesci saw her photo in a nightclub) is ideal as La Motta's young wife. Thelma Schoonmaker's inventive, Oscar-winning editing brings Scorsese's unrelenting direction into sharp focus. One of the best movies of the Eighties, indeed one of the all-time greats. Incidentally, Hershey's chocolate was used to make the blood look real in black and white.