Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, Raging Bull, Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Cape Fear - Deniro laid down epic performances with Scorsese. Agree that King of Comedy is under appreciated.
@@davidperez5089 He is not staring at the camera, he's watching them on their date. After a bit, he starts mocking Rupert, and she is struggling not to laugh at him. It's that simple. It's just emphasizing how awkward and embarrassing this date is for her.
Scorsese is a genius. He put the guy in the background to demonstrate that a guy sitting in the back is more interesting than anything Rupert's talking about. Puts you in the perspective of his date.
TheBombShhh I thought it was meant to further demonstrate Rupert's neurotic behavior. If he meticulously creates and acts out his convos with Langford, perhaps he has actually gone to the restaurant a number of times and practiced his 'perfect date', hence why this guy (who might work there) seems to have memorised Rupert's movements.
I had thought it was to show that the real Rupert is as unknown as this guy in the background who has no lines. Because Rupert is only interested in fame. Rupert doesn't even know himself.
Terry Zwigoff asked DeNiro what is the story with guy in the background, what did Scorsese mean. DeNiro said it was just a friend of his Chuck Low who needed a job & acted like a dick looking at the camera. He is also Morris Kessler in Goodfellas.
@@borisb1620 I saw it too, and the elements of homage in Joker are nowhere near sufficient to validate saying The King of Comedy is "exactly what Joaquin Phoenix's Joker is going to be like."
Something about that guy in the background was extremely unsettling to me. This scene happens early in the movie and once I noticed the movements in the background I was fully dug into my chair. It creeped me out so damn much, and that it’s not explained or acknowledged by anyone caught me off guard and had me feeling that I was watching something totally unpredictable. So I think that was the intention. To throw the viewer off in order to make you more curious and uneasy.
It's actually to show that Rupert was imagining the girlfriend. He's actually alone making his gestures, and the guy behind finds it amusing, so he's mimicking him in bewilderment. Hints of Rupert's mental problem are given throughout the movie, like when he's talking to himself imagining about Lewis trying to convince him to take on 6 weeks on the show. This scene is copied into the movie Joker by Todd Phillips. In the movie Joker, the fact that the woman is imagined is explicitly shown because most of the audience wouldn't understand these subtle details.
+KingSol He was amazing in this and he was amazing in Midnight Run too.And nobody should give a shit about the Oscars.Pacino did not receive an Oscar for the Godfather but they sure gave him one for the absofuckinglute bullshit that was Scent of a Woman.
2 Reasons he didn't get nominated number one this material went over people's head and number two the people whom understood the material found it too disturbing this may have been his best performance cuz it was diametrically opposed any character he played before Or after... it took me 10 years to understand what a great piece this was on so many levels remind me of a bag full of elbows he made you so uncomfortable and awkward
One of the best parts of this scene is when he's just opening the autograph book and that bloke walks past and stares at them. The way De Niro turns round looking at the bloke is just brilliant.
It's unfortunate that De Niro became synonymous with tough guy, mobster roles, because he really excelled at the damaged, emotionally unstable types. Travis Bickle, Pupkin, even Jake la Motta are very dangerous people, but they're deeply unhappy in their own skin. They're not conventionally tough, ruthless people like Jimmy in Goodfellas, people who'll murder someone for a look. De Niro captured that instability wonderfully. I always preferred seeing De Niro in Mean Streets than goodfellas, even if that film is amazing.
grumpyyyyy fuckheads who dont know how true is this artist only say that. They have never ever seen De Niro of 70s and 80s. How about that I love you nicky scene in the deer hunter before Walken dies? Yaa..yaa he plays the tough guy only. Delusional humps
They didnt have seen him in Midnight run, mean streets, a bronx tale, the deer hunter, once upon a time in America, Lucifer in Angel heart, we are not angels. This guy can be anything. He only did 4 mafia roles. Godfather 2, Heat, goodfellas, Al capone. All were real life portrayals.
I love mean streets and it’s definitely one of his best performances along with Harvey keitel along with bad lieutenant but the story is hard to follow and is a bit loosy goosey after a while. It definitely depicts New York as the seedy dirty place it was in the 70’s though.
Old comment, but then he followed this up with Once Upon a Time in America (my favorite movie of all time). Absolutely the greatest actor to ever live imo.
This scene is so funny in the most genius of ways. I kept thinking of Robert De Niro when Rubert was trying to hint at the person's autograph xD Martin Scorcesse is fucking genius
The ending is debatable. It very well could have been in his head. I do see where you're coming from, and that's why it's such a great, open - ended conclusion to a very complex character study of a film. My wife and I were discussing the movie long after it ended.
We were wrong, Rupert, and you were right, and that's why we'd like apologize to you and beg your forgiveness for all the terrible things we did to you. We'll be back to marry them after this message. Great flick!!!
That dream wedding scene is I think my favourite scene from any movie ever... Rupert's ego and desperate need for validation is so hilariously twisted and relatable.
Visiting Jerry Langford's country estate with Rita. What a fantastic scene. When Jerry Langford stops pretending to be a nice guy and Rupert decides he is no longer going to be one. And the Chinese butler !! Par excellence ❤️
To the people who think the guy in the background is mocking Rupert for being on an imaginary date, this date is real (in the movie at least). He’s mocking Rupert because he’s eavesdropping on them and is making fun of him for being delusional. You can see at 1:38 that he smirks when she say “of course he is”, so she’s clearly there.
I always thought the guy in the background was just a stranger who happened to hear their conversations and he thought Rupert was an idiot. That's why he was mocking him. I don't know am I right or wrong, it is just what I see.
3:13....it's Maurie from Goodfella's in the background mimic's DeNero's hand motions.....i always crack up during this scene. That guy was Scorsese's real estate agent that he put in Goodfella's and this fil...always great
+westben2000 No, that's Ricky Jay, the card shark and magician. And Rupert's date is none other than DiNiro's real life wife at the time, Dianne Abbott. Her cousin is singer Gregory Abbott who had a hit in the 90's called "Shake You Down". NOW you know the rest of the story.
That is not Ricky Jay. This is why the internet sucks, fact checking is a feeling now. If Jay and Scorsese ever crossed paths it wasn't documented. It was DeNiro's agent who also, apparently, got Bobby out of having to enlist.
To go from literally becoming Jake LaMotta to basically a polar opposite and similarly complex character here is just unbelievable. De Niro more or less started out in 1973 and the ten years of output he put out after that was really unbelievable. I don’t know if anyone’s really matched it. Had he just put out Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and then just retired I think he’d still be a contender for that all-time great tier
The stranger is laughing and mimicking him because he sees a man talking to an imaginary girlfriend... The Joker is a copy of this movie they replaced certain things and it's funny how Deniro, went from playing the joker to Jerry Lewis character
I thought it was to subtly demonstrate the extent of Rupert's behavior. I think the girl is real, there are scenes where other real people aknowledge and adress her. I think the more interesting angle is that Rupert, much like his made up interactions with Langford, has been 'practicing' this date in the restaurant for a while and this dude picked up on it, hense why he seems to already know the movements, even eying the girl as he walks in and taking a seat as if to say 'oh shit, it's really happening this time'
@@theeoddments960 I thought Joaquin Phoenix was brilliant, and the score great, but the script was pretty much "outcast gets shunned by society", with not much depth to its writing. A good film, but the odd scene here and there aside, not a classic.
Can someone explain what the guy in the back is doing? I’ve heard that he’s just making fun of him for either talking to his “imaginary girlfriend” or that he’s memorized his movements because Rupert already practiced this conversation many times and the guy watched. But idk it kind of unsettled me at first I thought it had like a deep meaning or something
He’s mocking Rupert to his date. He was eavesdropping on their date from the beginning, as you can see him watching them and listening intently. Halfway through he realizes that Rupert is a delusional loser, so he silently mocks him to his date to almost tell her to dump him.
This girl, Rita is DeNiro's wife Diane Abbott at the time in the 80's. DeNiro's character is a dreamer and that is what it takes to START a career but it must have talent mixed in to "make it" in the entertainment business.
Yeah me n a buddy of mine were faded asf watching this n was real tripped out by the guy in the background lmao wonder if theres a solid explanation for that lol
Guy in the back was matching Ruperts emotion and mannerisms. Is he supposed to be what he thinks he sees as a stranger looking at their dinner conversation?
this film wasnt well received at the box office and the humore in it was misunderstood by many. but its hands down on of de niro's best performances if not the best hes never done. hes purfect in it.
The guy in the background is Chuck Low. He plays Morrie in Godfellas (the guy that De Niro hilariously strangles with the telephone wire). I've no idea what he is doing in this scene or what it is supposed to mean. It is very fucking weird!
She died tragically alone like many of the world’s most beautiful women. I don’t want to see that happening to you, Rita. Man, Rupert is such a smooth smoothie.
One of the funniest movies, maybe the funniest movie I’ve ever seen. This guy is so incredibly obnoxious and out of touch with reality it’s just hilarious. It’s cringe worthy in the most humorous way. Incredible writing by Scorsese and even better acting by De Niro. If you have a dark sense of humor you’re guaranteed to love this.
this scene confused me. I thought the guy in the back was supposed to be some talent agent who then went to call someone about Pupkin being a new talent or something.
