The ending of Martin Scorsese movie ‘The King of Comedy’ explained
Not every great movie is instantly recognised as such, with the failure of The King of Comedy standing out as a sore point for Martin Scorsese more than 40 years on from its initial theatrical release.
It may have been well-received by critics at the time – with its reputation since being enhanced to a status as an all-time classic and one of Scorsese’s best – but it was an unmitigated catastrophe at the box office. The $19million satirical black comedy could only cobble together $2.5m in ticket sales, with the director lamenting that “people hated it when it came out” before calling it “the flop of the year”.
The King of Comedy was good enough to be named by no less of an authority than Akira Kurosawa as one of his favourites, though, with Robert De Niro’s Robert Pupkin slowly descending into madness and kidnap in an effort to realise his lifelong dream of becoming a television personality. The role would also go on to become the biggest influence behind Todd Phillips’ Joker, which ended up as the highest-grossing R-rated release in cinema history.
Even now, the final moments of The King of Comedy are capable of generating intense debate, and Scorsese hasn’t done the argument any favours by refusing to confirm or deny where he stands on whether or not the final scene is taking place in the real world, or exists as one last fantasy from Pupkin before he takes his final bow and the credits roll.
Having kidnapped Jerry Lewis’ host, Jerry Langford, Pupkin finds his act going down a storm with the studio audience, who remain under the impression that the entire ordeal is all part of an act. After being taken into custody by the FBI, The King of Comedy climaxes with a news report on the situation, covering his six-year stint behind bars and early parole, having served two years of his sentence.
A montage seemingly reveals that Pupkin has captured the celebrity he so desperately wanted to attain, with his autobiography King for a Night hitting shelves. Subsequently, he takes to the stage in front of a live crowd, where he’s introduced as “the King of Comedy” to the adulation and applause of the gathered masses. He smiles, waves, bows, and then it’s over.
As straightforward as that seems, it remains entirely open to interpretations. Given Pupkin’s regular flights of fancy, it’s reasonable to assume that accomplishing his goals is merely one last fantasy. That being said, the presence – or lack thereof – of Langford could be the key. In each of Pupkin’s previous daydreams, Langford is there in every single one. However, his in-person absence is notable in the last scene, which could indicate that it’s entirely real.
Then again, given all that transpired over the course of the film, it’s just as believable that Pupkin is making the whole thing up, presumably from the confines of his cell. Scorsese vaguely addressed The King of Comedy‘s ambiguity on the Criterion Collection edition of Black Narcissus, where he noted that director Michael Powell always ensured his fantastical sequences were treated as real as possible, leading the filmmaker to espouse that “the fantasy is more real than the reality”.
If Scorsese refuses to reveal his thoughts, then The King of Comedy’s conclusion is left entirely up to the audience to discern. Fascinatingly, opinion remaining so divided decades after its release indicates that a consensus is no clearer to being formed, and it’s almost entirely left to the interpretation of each individual viewer to decide which side of the fence to fall on.
