Answer:
The juxtaposition of the physical drudgery and tragedy of Robert De Niro’s portrayal of boxer Jake LaMotta, balanced against the supremely romantic and indulgent nagging of Mascagni’s ‘Intermezzo’, has to be one of the greatest in cinema history. Director Martin Scorsese is known for using pop music which fits the time and place of his films, so for him to make such a feature of a major piece of operatic repertoire was a gamble in 1980 – one that has had indelible effect on music and cinema history.
