Travis Bickle, Jake LaMotta, Max Cady… none of them are quite as sinister as the protagonist of the fourth of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro’s collaborations: wannabe stand-up comedian Rupert Pupkin, a fantasist convinced that he is destined for stardom. A serendipitous encounter with his idol, talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), is enough to convince him that his big break is just around the corner, and he sets about trying to worm his way onto national television. But when his advances are rebuffed he, along with fellow Langford devotee/stalker Masha (Sandra Bernhard), look to ever more extreme measures to get what they want.

A box office disaster on its release in 1983, the film’s reputation has grown ever since, and now arguably ranks alongside Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and Raging Bull as the finest work of this most celebrated of director-actor partnerships. But so too does it stand on its own as both a wicked satire and an eerily prescient vision of the celebrity culture of today: a disturbing glimpse at the convictions of those who crave instant fame and the desperate means which they will go to to achieve it.

Doors open 30 minutes before film start time