âWhat, are you crazy, move the camera? Just leave it there!â Martin Scorsese on The King of Comedy Upon its release, celebrity satire The King of Comedy seemed a striking new turn for Martin Scorsese. In our Summer 1983 issue â reprinted here and in our new special issue Martin Scorsese: A Life of Movies â Terrence Rafferty spoke to the director about âstarting all overâ after the likes of New York, New York and The Last Waltz. 12 March 2021 Robert De Niro as Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy (1983) Martin Scorsese has stopped moving. The whirling, volatile camera of Mean Streets, Alice Doesnât Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver has been slowing down gradually over the years, steadying itself, settling into the fixed position it finally assumes in The King of Comedy: an almost classical mise en scène, cut to the stately, regular editing rhythms of the traditional American narrative film.