Thelma Schoonmaker: Scorsese deserved Oscar for Raging Bull

Last Updated on November 21, 2023

It’s one of the most damning travesties in Academy Awards history that Raging Bull didn’t win Best Picture. Generally considered one of the greatest films ever made, it’s far more in the conscious and more of an essential piece of cinema than the winner that year, Ordinary People, a remarkably safe choice that fits the Academy’s general M.O. Safer, too, was giving Robert Redford the Best Director honor over Martin Scorsese, who had to wait until 2006’s The Departed to take home his long-denied prize. Now, its editor – who did win an Oscar for Raging Bull – is coming out to say that Scorsese wanted a win to come for the 1980 classic.

In a new interview with Thelma Schoonmaker, the legendary editor said, “I think he would have liked to win for Raging Bull…When we were standing there, those of us who did win, I was waiting for Marty to come with his Oscar. And he didn’t. It was the worst night of my life. It was devastating that he didn’t win. A movie like that, that is so brilliantly directed. But it was a tough movie. And Ordinary People, I understand it’s a very good movie, I’ve never seen it…” You can praise Ordinary People – which took home four Oscars that year against Raging Bull’s two (Best Editing and Best Actor for Robert De Niro) – and what it may have meant at the moment, but when all is said in done, Raging Bull is the champ compared to that glorified soap opera. (It is also far superior to other nominees Coal Miner’s Daughter, Tess and The Elephant Man, which wouldn’t have been nearly as objectionable of a pick.) Adding to her belief as to why the film may have lost, Schoonmaker said, “But people were maybe a bit put off by the toughness of Raging Bull. But look how it’s lasted. It’s a benchmark movie.”

Schoonmaker first worked with Scorsese on his debut, 1967’s Who’s That Knocking At My Door, before collaborating on 1970’s Woodstock, which several people have editing credits on but only Schoonmaker got nominated. But they wouldn’t pair again until Raging Bull, truly kicking off a collaboration that lasts to this day with Killers of the Flower Moon, which has taken some hits for its runtime. Of their entire body of work, Schoonmaker cited The Departed as their hardest film to make – although that’s not why there haven’t been sequels. But it clearly paid off, as both won their respective Oscars for that film, a singular feat in their extensive careers.

How many Best Director Oscars do you think Martin Scorsese should have by now? When was the first time he should have won? Give us your picks below!