The King

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AT the centre of most Martin Scorcese films there stand obsessive, often violent, men - people at once fearful and pathetic. Driven by the will to get out from under. -thrashing about in the dark ignorance of that "under": world - they strive for the promise of the American dream.

The central figure of 'The King of Comedy , once again played by Robert de Niro, is Rupert Pupkin. Rupert has drunk the American dream so long he has forgotten what non-liquid food looks like. His idea of success is to be a famous comedian.

If Pupkin is gentler than the hero of 'Taxi Driver" 'Raging "Bull" he is no less compulsive. Forcing his way into comedy star Jerry Longford's taxi, he gets Longford to agree to listen to some material. But Pupkin doesn't know the difference between the words 'fame'". and "failure" • Finally he hijacks Longford in order to get himself a ten-minute spot on his idol's show.

As in "Taxi Driver" , the hero's crime itself leads to popularity: the heroes are no different from the public and the public lives through its heroes. Life isn't a dream, but the life of dreams alone offers redempof Comedy' tion.

Of all Scorcese's films this is the poorest. It is psychologically and socially the most threadbare.

The hi-jinx plot coupled with the zany characters (like Pupkin's girl-friend Marsha) are too over-the-top to achieve any serious purpose. You cannot depict the crushing impact of 'the American dream' on an individual or on human relationships if you fail to depict any believable individuals or human relationships.

It is not the humour itself -"Mean Streets" is, I think, a much funnier film although it is by no means a comedy - but the lack of any developed context for the humour which makes the laughs hollow.

In any case, the funniest thing in the film is de Niro's characterisation, and de Niro as Pupkin is just the same as de Niro of "New York, New York", the de Niro of "Raging Bull" and the de Niro and Harvey Keitel characters of 'Mean Streets"

Scorcese's best films shimmered with brilliant obseration. 'The King of Comedy' manages some amusing sendups of the chat-show and comedy-show format but it is not developed enough to go beyond such easy targets. The strengths of the earlier films is thus sacrificed for light-weight spoofing. without tackling the questions involved.

This can be attributed to the deadness of Bowie's personal life until fairly recently, as a result of being cocooned in the super-star life-style.

Life-style As was evident at the start of the show, this sort of life-style is not fun. The group were noticeably tired after travelling and performing at thirty-five venues all over the world.

The Beat, who were supporting, don't have this problem and were lively and clear throughout their set. The beat in Bowie's group had obviously been mis-