The King of Comedy

 
The King of Comedy
1983  
Director: Martin Scorsese  
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard

I don’t know what’s more frightening about this movie – De Niro’s completely nutso Rupert Pupkin, Scorsese’s all-too-accurate illustration of American society as dangerously celebrity-obsessed, or Scorsese’s prediction of our current culture of reality television and the fulfillment of Andy Warhol’s decree that everyone will indeed be famous for fifteen minutes.

We first meet Rupert Pupkin (De Niro) at the stage door of Jerry Langford (Lewis), a late night talk show host. It soon becomes abundantly clear that Pupkin, while claiming to be an aspiring comic and performer, is really a delusional who manufactures a relationship with Langford in his head and the basement of his mother’s house. After being turned down by Langford’s show, Pupkin and a like-minded obsessive friend Masha (Bernhard) resort to kidnapping Langford himself in order to make it in the biz.

Goodfellas

Goodfellas
1990  
Director: Martin Scorsese  
Starring: Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino

I’ve seen my fair share of movies, but no matter how many I’ve seen, I’m always deluged with “OMG, you mean you haven’t seen X, Y, or Z yet? What the hell?” when making conversation. Well, one of the biggest X, Y, or Zs that I hadn’t seen was Goodfellas. I am happy to report that I can now cross it off my list, that behemoth of Scorsese’s, that titan of American filmmaking, that huge film. I must say, I feel a sense of accomplishment simply having watched this one.

Henry Hill (Liotta) is growing up in Brooklyn across the street from a gangster-run taxi stand, and he envies their lives. Desperate to join, he is accepted by Pauly (Sorvino) and taken under his wing. He learns the ins and outs of the business, hooks up with a tough chick turned on by the violence inherent in his career (Bracco), and falls in closely with fellow gangsters Tommy (Pesci) and Jimmy (De Niro).

Kundun

Kundun
1997
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong

Kundun tells the story of the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Tibetans believe that the spirit of Buddah is reincarnated into the Dalai Lama, and after the death of the thirteenth, holy men are searching for the next spiritual and secular leader of the country. A young boy is found and taken to a monastery where he is trained in Buddhism. When he is older, the Dalai Lama (Tsarong plays the Dalai Lama as an adult) faces Chinese invasion and seizure of his country Tibet. He must decide whether to stay and stand up for his country or flee in the face of increasingly hostile Chinese gestures.

Having said all of that, there is shockingly little plot in this film. Things pick up when the tensions with China start to mount, but the first hour of the film, at least, is a large meandering episode with little to no focal point. I was interested but never entranced. I was following along, but not enthralled. I was never bored, either, but the film never got under my skin. Frankly, I have a bit of a problem with this. Scorsese clearly thinks he’s telling a gripping tale. He’s not. It does pick up when tensions with China begin to mount, but the opening half of the film is, quite simply put, vague. We are given no background about the traditions of Buddhism and the constant shuffling of the Dalai Lama’s teachers and mentors gets confusing.

Scorsese used nonprofessional actors for most of the roles in this film, and the product is a nicely understated and low key film, at least from the vantage point of performances. No one ever gets incredibly angry or upset, there is no overacting or mugging for the camera, and doesn’t that seem to fit perfectly for the Dalai Lama? In terms of performances, there is a very even keel throughout the film. Few ups, few downs, with everything staying nicely in the middle of the road. That might sound a little boring, but it is very reflective of the persona of the Dalai Lama himself. Modesty and inward meditation are more important than outward shows of wailing and passion.