Pitch-perfect performances: the five best karaoke movie scenes
Karaoke is one of the most ‘marmite’ offerings life has to offer, with some people loving nothing more than to leap on stage to sing Robbie Williams ‘Angels’ to a bar full of onlookers, while others can’t think of anything worse. For some, it’s their only opportunity to show off their impressive pipes, which are only ever performed in private, yet others don’t always have such skills to show off nor have the interest.
Translating to ‘empty orchestra’ in Japanese, the 21st-century favourite originated in the early 1970s and quickly gained traction to the extent that, in 2003, the Karaoke World Championship began in Finland. To the uninitiated, the activity involves a performer or a group of people singing along to classic songs using the lyrics that fly by on a screen while the instrumental plays in the background.
In the ironic contemporary world, karaoke has become beloved in pubs, bars, and homes, as well as dedicated karaoke establishments that host parties for people well into the twilight hours. But, when any song can be performed, while some karaoke performances might lift a room of party-goers, other tracks have the ability to encourage everyone to book an Uber home in an existential panic.
Cinema has pounced on this modern form of entertainment, with everything from classic documentaries to blockbuster comedies using it as a device for comedy, drama and heartbreak.
The best karaoke movie scenes:
Bill Murray’s Roxy Music – Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
There’s no doubt that Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film Lost in Translation is one of the greatest movies of the 21st century, with the film speaking to the loneliness and alienation that festers in the modern world. In one of the film’s finest scenes, Bill Murray’s Bob Harris, a depressed actor, takes part in a drunk karaoke performance of ‘More than This’ by Roxy Music as his equally despondent newfound friend, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) empathetically watches on.
Perfectly acted by both Johansson and Murray, with the latter showing off some underrated vocal pipes, the great beauty of this scene belongs in Coppola’s song choice with ‘More than This’ containing a melancholy sadness that speaks to one’s own mortal limitations.
Jim Carrey kills it – The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller, 1996)
There are many baffling aspects regarding the karaoke performance of Jim Carrey in the bizarre 1996 comedy The Cable Guy, with the excellent pipes of the actor being one of the most prominent. Playing a weird cable worker who becomes a little too obsessed with one of his clients, at one point, Carrey’s unnamed antagonist takes to the stage in an apartment to perform ‘Somebody to Love’ by the Jefferson Airplane, as performed in a “little documentary called Gimme Shelter” as his character quips.
No scene has ever better represented the energy, aptitude for physical comedy and eccentricity of Carrey better than this stellar karaoke performance, with the actor taking the entire scene by the scruff of its neck. It’s a genuine joy to behold.
Sophie’s performance – Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022)
From one of cinema’s most enjoyable karaoke performances to its most heartbreaking. In Charlotte Wells’ utter masterpiece Aftersun, a woman reflects on a summer holiday she shared with her depressed father in her youth, with the film exploring the intricacies of the pair’s psychology during their treasured vacation. In an effort to energise her father, Sophie organises for them to do karaoke in front of a crowd, only for Calum to entirely reject the concept.
This leaves Sophie to perform ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M, a song all about unrequited love, as the hope that her father will join her slowly drains from her face. Showing the physical and mental separation between the father and daughter, the scene is masterful and instantly heart-wrenching.
Sue’s Song – 42: Forty Two Up (Michael Apted, 1998)
It’s no wonder that the great Roger Ebert adored Michael Apted’s documentary series, Up, with the iconic critic noting, “No other film I have ever seen does a better job of illustrating the mysterious and haunting way in which the cinema bridges time”. Tracking the lives of 14 ordinary British folk every seven years, Apted’s series began in 1964 and is technically still going today, with 63-Up being released in 2019.
The whole series is better appreciated as an odyssey of human life, but some scenes stick out for their profound artistry. The moment Sue, a working mother who dreamed of once becoming a singer, takes to the stage to perform a karaoke version of ‘Superstar’ by The Carpenters is pure poetry. An interview with Sue is entwined with the performance, where she speaks of her life regrets, future goals and newfound loves, creating a dreamlike karaoke scene that encapsulates the beautiful melancholy that the activity can produce.
“You pay my rent” – Saltburn (Emerald Fennell, 2023)
It was difficult to work out the consensus of Emerald Fennell’s divisive Saltburn back in 2023, with some people loving its Y2K style while others decried its lack of substance. Thriving in its ‘style over substance’ identity, at least in our opinion, Fennell’s re-imagining of The Talented Mr. Ripley, where a young working-class Liverpudlian infiltrates the life of the aristocracy and pines for their reality.
While the film had its flaws, one thing that most people could agree on was that the character of Farleigh, played excellently by Archie Madekwe, was one of its greatest features. One of his most venomous moments comes when he gets Barry Keoghan’s protagonist, Oliver, to sing ‘Rent’ by the Pet Shop Boys in a full fire-lit manor house lounge. Yet, when working-class Oliver, who has been lovingly taken in by the rich family, gets to the line “You pay my rent,” Farleigh’s true intentions become clear.
