The King Of Comedy

THE KING OF COMEDY

Year : 1983

Director : Martin Scorsese

Genre : Black Comedy

Rating : ****1/2

Throughout his long and prolific career, Martin Scorsese has always made fantastically interesting movies with well rounded characters. Whether it be the psychopathy of Travis Bickle or Tommy DeVito, Scorsese manages to portray madness in a realistic and disturbing way without them being pushed into parody or farce. 'Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull' and 'Mean Streets' may be considered to be Scorsese's true masterpieces as they are without a doubt some of the best movies ever made. Now however, having watched 'The King Of Comedy',  I believe that I have now watched Scorsese's best movie and the greatest performance of Robert De Niro's career. It is a heartbreaking movie which shows the dangers of the eternal search for fame, being a celebrity and obsession.

'The King Of Comedy' is primarily about a young wannabe comedian Rupert Pupkin (De Niro) who is continually trying to force his way into the comedy circuit. After meeting his comedic hero Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), he is convinced he has now found a door into the professional comedy circuit. However, after several rejections and dismissals from Langford, Pupkin is forced to do something he never thought he would do to get the fame he so desperately craves.

In 1980 during the filming of 'Raging Bull', Scorsese was speaking to De Niro about his next movie which would be a pet project called 'The Last Temptation Of Christ' in which he wanted De Niro to star. However, after such intense roles such as Travis Bickle and Jake LaMotta, De Niro wanted his next collaboration with Scorsese to be a comedy which could potentially be based on a script that he has recently got the rights to from screenwriter Paul Zimmermann. The script was called 'The King Of Comedy' but Scorsese wasn't convinced about the viability of filming due to the looming strike by The Writers' Guild Of America. However, when approached with the possibility of filming completely in New York with a smaller production company (rather than in Hollywood), Scorsese was convinced to make  'The King Of Comedy' and green-lit the movie in 1982. 'The Last Temptation Of Christ' was eventually made in 1988, starring Willem Dafoe and is considered to be Scorsese's least popular movie.

'The King Of Comedy' works very well as both a parody of celebrity culture and also of the insatiable desire for fame. Through the character of Rupert Pupkin, we can see reflected the entire world of the media that engulfs our lives today. He wants to be famous, earn lots of money, become a household name and meet his idols and just like the B - list celebrities who 'star' in programmes such as 'The Only Way Is Essex', 'Big Brother' and other so - called reality shows which have made everyone and their dogs famous, Pupkin is determined to do whatever it takes to get there. It may a very sad commentary on our culture, but the fact is that people today are willing to debase themselves to become celebrities and I can't think of another movie which crystallises this ideology as clearly and as scathingly as 'The King Of Comedy'. In an unexpected but remarkable scene, Langford is walking through the streets of Manhattan when he is stopped by an old woman who asks him to speak to her sick daughter on the pay phone she is using. When Langford declines, the old lady shouts 'I hope you develop cancer!' This moment is apparently based on a true event that had actually happened to Jerry Lewis and it just perfectly shows how fans will just abandon their idols when they let them down; thus showing the fine line between the love and hate that fans have for celebrities. We all know stories throughout the sporting world where fans have turned against their own teams because they have lost a game and this is cultural proof that we can idolise someone until they let us down and our dedication is only paper thin and ultimately, trivial and subject to change at the drop of a hat.

I am a huge Scorsese fan, from 'Taxi Driver' to 'Casino', 'Hugo' to 'The Departed'. To me, Scorsese can not only make brilliant movies, but can create characters that become instantly iconic. Rupert Pupkin is the greatest and scariest of all of Scorsese's characters; perhaps due to De Niro's delivery of  the character as a tragic, damaged and fragile individual who is desperately finding a way to achieve his ultimate but impossible dream. I for one can relate to Pupkin and I'm sure many others can having tried their best in life, but faced with insurmountable obstacles placed in front of them. Whether we like it or not, we see a lot of ourselves in Scorsese's characters and I think that Rupert Pupkin may be the one of the most relatable characters; not only the movies of Martin Scorsese, but in the history of the motion picture. As with 'Hugo', 'The King Of Comedy' may be a disappointment to old school Scorsese fans who preferred the grindhouse aesthetics of 'Taxi Driver' or the claustrophobic nature of 'Goodfellas' or 'Casino'. There isn't a particular display of visual flair or memorable, quotable dialogue that Scorsese has become known for. In this sense, 'The King Of Comedy' may be Scorsese's most mainstream movie and those who may not like Scorsese's usual pseudo - gangster movies may find 'The King Of Comedy' a more relaxed and gentler movie. But if you are more inclined to the hard boiled Scorsese picture, this movie may not be for you. 

Despite it's name and light-hearted promotional poster, 'The King Of Comedy' is first and foremost not a comedy. To me, it is a deeply depressing movie which will stay with me for a long time. It is a black comedy in it's darkest form and even though there are a few laughs in it, most of the time I felt sad and empathetic towards Pupkin whilst watching 'The King Of Comedy'. It is a fantastic movie; I highly recommend it, but it's emotions are bleak and it certainly wasn't what I was expecting from one of the greatest directors who has ever lived.