The world’s most respected living director, Martin Scorsese, turns eighty this November, and KVIFF Classics joins the congratulations with a special screening of his unique The King of Comedy. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Rupert Pupkin! Scorsese’s protagonist is a well-dressed thirtysomething with the moustache of a con artist and the demeanor of a obstinate eccentric living with the ingrained notion that a bright career as a television comic awaits him. It is a dream for which he is willing to do anything. This unusual example of the by-now legendary cinematic duo of Scorsese/De Niro is a bitter satire of the alluring yet cruel world of show business. Though it aroused controversy when it premiered forty years ago, today there is agreement that The King of Comedy is as important a part of Scorsese’s impressive filmography as Taxi Driver or Raging Bull.