Scorsese and De Niro first began talking about it in 1974 but it took Scorsese some time to understand the character, and both of them were busy. ** “Raging Bull” was a long-gestating project. Here are seven more things we learned from revisiting the majesty of movies via “Raging Bull.”

“It’s late in New York, Ben,” Scorsese chided at one point. So Mankiewicz could be forgiven for holding the “Raging Bull” quartet on stage while he had them. (And yet, Joe Pesci nearly steals the picture with his prowess as Joey, La Motta’s brother-manager.) Scorsese’s take on the highs and lows of 1940s “Bronx Bull” boxer Jake La Motta endures as masterpiece, a blend of grit, arthouse, matchless fight sequences and an Oscar-winning performance by De Niro that stands as a high-water mark for an actor’s transformation into a character. The movie demonstrated its own legend by screening to a nearly packed (and vaccine-screened) house. As the “Raging Bull” foursome shared memories of making the movie and perspective on its impact after 40-plus years, Mankiewicz couldn’t help going over (by a lot) his allotted Q&A time.

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