The King of Comedy (1982) - Martin Scorsese

Rupert Pupkin lives in his mother's basement, spending most of his time with cardboard cut-outs of various celebrities, rehearsing his completely mediocre comedy.  Rupert fully believes that he only needs one appearance on the most popular late night talk show, Jerry Langford, to catapult him to stardom.  One night after the talk show concludes Rupert helps Jerry escape from a swarm of fans, getting a chance to talk to his idol one-on-one.  While Jerry nonchalantly brushes off Rupert by telling him to call his office, in an effort to get rid of him, Rupert takes this patronizing as a true promise for an audition and begins stalking Jerry's office.  As Rupert begins to recognize he doesn't have the in he expected, he hashes up a more outlandish scheme in an effort to make his stand-up fantasy into a reality.  While it's not the most popular of opinions, I consider Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy to be one of the greatest films the legendary filmmaker ever made.  This is a film that completely immerses the viewer into the psyche of a troubled man.  The film effortlessly blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, using seamless transitions which give the audience whiplash, effectively capturing the troubled mind of Rupert.  I guess what I'm trying to say is the way the film is made, feeling uncentered for example, perfectly envelopes the character it portrays, a true testament to a filmmaker taking a risk that pays off in spades.  Scorsese's film is a biting culture satire of a society that celebrates celebrity to an obsessive degree, capturing the great lengths people will go in an effort to become famous.  All Rupert wants is fame an by the end of the film Scorsese delivers a powerful message on the shameless practices of mass-media, who only encourage our society to be obsessed with the easy way up.  Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy features stellar performances from all involved, delivering a creepy but funny culture satire on the power of our societies obsession with fame, which may even ring more true today than it did during the films release. 

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