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The King of Comedy

post #1 of 23
2/11/08 at 3:26am
Thread Starter 
I finally got around to seeing this film and enjoyed the hell out of it. I was struck by how complex every idea in it is, and it was interesting how a character can be so creepy, funny, moving, and pathetic in the same scene. DeNiro is really good in this, and I wonder why this performance doesn't get more credit. Same goes for the movie as a whole. I understand that it is very similar to Taxi Driver on the surface, despite being about something very different, and as such could get overlooked, but this has gotta be the best Scorsese comedy at the minimum.

It also has the surprisingly "happy" ending, like Taxi Driver. Or does it? Does anyone think the ending is just another fantasy? I almost want the ambiguity, but I think like Taxi Driver, what we are presented with is the literal truth and searching for an alternate way of perceiving it is adding my own ideas rather than Scorsese's. Has he ever spoken about this ending, in an interview or some such?
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post #2 of 23
2/11/08 at 4:11am
"Dolores? That was my father's name."

Unlike TAXI DRIVER I do think the ending here is fantasy. It's too extreme to be legit.

Love the film. Underrated for both Scorsese and DeNiro. It's accepted as a good film by in large but doesn't get enough notice whenever people start tossing out the usual suspects while praising Scorsese.

The whole sequence when Rupert takes his date to Jerry's house. So awkward.
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post #3 of 23
2/11/08 at 4:16am
Putting a retard like Rupert Pupkin on TV after all of his issues is not all that far from the truth or Flavor of Love. In its way, the ending is more biting than that of NETWORK, in my humble, and couldn't be more apropos.
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post #4 of 23
2/11/08 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
What's so cool about it is either ending has thematic significance. Because it lacks the trappings of the real world coexisting with the fantasy (that all the other fantasy scenes have), the ending could either be objective truth, in which case it's a satire of fame and celebrity, and the Network comparison is very apt. Or it could be that Pupkin no longer exists in reality, and lives entirely in his fantasies, which is basically the Brazil ending, but without showing it's hand.

Both ways deepen the film. The more I think about it, the more I think the ambiguity is intentional. Terrific movie.
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post #5 of 23
2/11/08 at 12:56pm
I love this film because it flips the script on me: I end up rooting for Rupert.

Key scene: when Sandra Bernhard's character tries to seduce Jerry. Yes, its creepy, but we know that she and Rupert really don't mean to do Jerry any harm.

However, when Jerry gets out of his restraints--he instictively reaches for that gun and, without hesitation, pulls the trigger.

What makes that scene so chilling is that you can feel the disgust and disappointment that Jerry has when he realizes that the gun is fake. He WANTED to kill Bernhard. This is evident when he coldly slaps her, and walks out like nothing had happened. Sure, Bernhard's character had a few screws loose, but I get the feeling that Jerry kind of has this contempt for ALL of his fans.

Which is why I think that the ending is a satisfying reality. In all probability, I'm sure Jerry's crew had enough of him as well.



Edit: I would love to make a double feature out of KOC and After Hours
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post #6 of 23
2/11/08 at 7:20pm
This is the film that introduced me to the brain-melting incongruity between Sandra Bernhard's body ... and her face.
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post #7 of 23
2/11/08 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post
The whole sequence when Rupert takes his date to Jerry's house. So awkward.
They show that sequence on The Departed DVD's Scorsese retrospective. I went out the next day and rented it for that scene alone.
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post #8 of 23
2/12/08 at 3:25pm
Thread Starter 
That Departed Scorsese thing is really great, isn't it?
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post #9 of 23
2/13/08 at 4:28pm
It is. It skimmed over some lesser stuff that would've been nice to see a little commentary from Marty himself, considering he's put some distance between them (read: Bringing Out the Dead). Still great though.
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post #10 of 23
2/13/08 at 7:09pm
Thread Starter 
I could spend hours listening to Scorsese talk about Boxcar Bertha, let alone his classics. I mean, I'd probably wish he would start talking about those classics, and maybe try to steer the conversation in that direction, but if he wanted to make his point on Boxcar Bertha, I'm sure that woudl be fascinating as well.
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post #11 of 23
2/13/08 at 7:19pm
I bought this back in November for about 4 dollars online. I had wanted to see it for such a long time simply based on the fact that De Niro plays a character named Rupert Pupkin. That might be the best character name ever.

But yeah, great movie. And overlooked, which describes most of Scorsese's work anyway (somehow?!). On the special features there's an interview with Scorsese where he talks about watching TV while getting dressed for a party, and on the TV some program named it "flop of the year".

My favorite scene besides the Bernhard creep-a-thon with Jerry, is the one where Pupkin is in the basement, trying to record his act while his mom yells at him to keep it down. Scorcese just had his mom in the other room reacting naturally, not really knowing what the fuck they were doing. The house scene is excruciatingly long and painful (in the best way possible) and also his date was the girl he hits on in Taxi Driver at the movie theater concession stand.
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post #12 of 23
2/24/08 at 2:01pm
This is my favorite Scorcese movie. It is the only movie that always feels fresh to me no matter how many times I watch it.

I know that Jerry does not get harmed, but while I'm watching the movie I have a sense that this time the gun is real and loaded. I've never experienced a film that seems continuously spontaneous like that.

The aspect of the movie I enjoy the most is that all the "minor" characters are funnier than Jerry or Rupert. The guy making faces in the restaurant, the lawyers, and the cop who brings in Rupert in, display real humor while Jerry and Rupert try and try but are unfunny, awkward and (in the case of Rupert''s monologue) , painful.

I think the ending is real. Rupert got what he wanted, and now will not doubt have Masha coming after him.
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post #13 of 23
3/28/08 at 3:46pm
If there is one character in film history that hurts me in a personal way, it's Rupert Pupkin. This film is like the world's most unflattering mirror.

Just...Jesus. Fucking incredible.
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post #14 of 23
9/30/08 at 10:57pm
God help me, I found Rupert's stand-up act in the finale a wee bit funny. Certainly no worse than Letterman on a bad night, and with less boring audience-whooping to sit through.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post
Unlike TAXI DRIVER I do think the ending here is fantasy. It's too extreme to be legit.
I'm the other way around. It's kinda off-topic, but could you explain why you think TAXI DRIVER's ridiculous ending is a believable outcome to you?

On the other hand, KING OF COMEDY establishes that Rupert has retarded fantasies all the time, so the final scene being a fantasy is a little valid. Problem is, I find it reasonable, and I'll have to admit to kind of liking Rupert, so want it to be true.
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post #15 of 23
9/30/08 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul McCartney View Post
I'm the other way around. It's kinda off-topic, but could you explain why you think TAXI DRIVER's ridiculous ending is a believable outcome to you?

On the other hand, KING OF COMEDY establishes that Rupert has retarded fantasies all the time, so the final scene being a fantasy is a little valid. Problem is, I find it reasonable, and I'll have to admit to kind of liking Rupert, so want it to be true.
TAXI DRIVER's ending is legit because it doesn't really solve anything. Travis is seen as a hero, gets a nice letter, and gets to show Cybil Shepherd that he's a swell guy but essentially he's just back where he started from. I buy that as an outcome to what came before.

What tips me in terms of thinking the KOC ending is in his head is the announcer and music for Rupert's new "show." It just doesn't feel right. Feels like it's in his mind and not being broadcast on television.
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post #16 of 23
9/30/08 at 11:30pm
I do remember the theme tune to his show being vaguely bizarre and uncomedic. Like the original theme song to SEINFELD before they changed to the familiar one. Should watch it again.

TAXI DRIVER's end is total fantasy. It has to be. Everything turned out too good to be true. Like a nerd's fantasy of what learning kung fu and building homemade spring-loaded gun holsters to impress women would be.

Anyway, KING OF COMEDY is a good little movie, and one of the few times De Niro's succeeded at showing actual range beyond "grouchy guy who doesn't say a whole lot". The bit with the cue cards cracked me up.
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post #17 of 23
9/30/08 at 11:39pm
Yeah, Travis gets to clean up the streets and impress the hot babe but he hasn't really turned any corner. He's just that "Guy who was in the papers."

Do like the early Seinfeld music analogy though.
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post #18 of 23
9/30/08 at 11:44pm
It sounds like the theme song to a sitcom about a wacky rapist who sneaks up on women in dark alleys!
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post #19 of 23
9/30/08 at 11:55pm
I always feel bad for that waitress in the pilot who got axed in favor of Elaine in the series. Oh well, she was also the evil bitch from COBRA so she can't be too unhappy with how she led her life.
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post #20 of 23
4/4/10 at 3:21pm
Super fucking entertaining. De Niro is fucking brilliant in this, engendering sympathy for a character who could come off solely as creepy (although he is still pretty creepy, he's also pretty harmless). The fine line the monologue treads between being really pathetic and a bit endearing is pretty amazing writing. Bernhard is terrifying in her derangement- 'I wanna be black....I wish I was Tina Turner..' and it's pretty apt how she, as the most bugnuts character, gets the funniest lines.

As for the ending, I tend to think it's literal for a couple of reasons:- firstly in that it's a continuation of the mirroring of Taxi Driver, and secondly, Rupert's monologue gets a really good reaction from the audience (irrespective of whether the viewer thinks it's any good or not)- this guy would have been a media sensation.

I also kind of feel that there's a whole generation of American Idol and talent show addicts who would really take this movie the wrong way.
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post #21 of 23
4/4/10 at 4:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moltisanti View Post
What tips me in terms of thinking the KOC ending is in his head is the announcer and music for Rupert's new "show." It just doesn't feel right. Feels like it's in his mind and not being broadcast on television.
Enh, it could be the case, but dream sequences are often the lamest narrative technique. I think it's real, but it's not a happy ending. Pupkin got what he wanted, which the director meant as a critique of the entertainment industry. Pupkin isn't talented, and I felt that Scorsese knew many Pupkins in his Hollywood career - the untalented artist who nevertheless perseveres, because he wants to become famous. Eventually he's given a stage (as events conspired to allow Pupkin some prominence) and people just eat his act up, because they don't know what's good (ie. Langford's act). All Pupkin has going for him is fame for being famous. Pupkin is happy, but Scorsese is kinda giving out a "Fuck you" by his terrible, terrible act being applauded. If you actually like Pupkin's act, sure, great, but Scorsese still has a middle finger out for you. This is his most "punk" movie.
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post #22 of 23
4/4/10 at 6:40pm
Totally agree that Pupkin's pretty shitty act being a success is about mediocre people achieving success as well as a comment on American taste, but I kind of love that Scorsese puts himself onscreen laughing at Pupkin's introductory bit.
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post #23 of 23
5/5/10 at 2:40am
One of the most interesting parts to this movie, for me, is when Rupert's monologue is playing on TV and Jerry Langford stops to watch it for a moment.

We look right into Jerry's eyes, and he feels NOTHING. They're cold, emotionless. Langford's a pretty interesting character in general. He seems to be a man completely dead to the world. In many ways, Rupert is so much more alive then Jerry is.

Fascintating film.
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