Kermode Uncut: Comedy Junction

Drawing on the world of both Saturday Night Fever and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's new movie Cemetery Junction is a delight, but just because it's them, does that mean we should expect it to be the definition of comedy?

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• bbc
• blog
• mark kermode
• Arthur Daley
• Cemetery Junction
• Ricky Gervaise
• Stephen Merchant
• The Invention of Lying
• Ghost Town

[CinemaCritic]

So, if a comedy film isn't at all funny should it be classed as a "comedy"?

We could ask the same question with how scary a horror is or how exiting an action film is.

I think the question is: Should we label a films according to the intent of the makers or the reaction of the audience?

I think the former.

[mrhowlett]

I haven't seen Cemetery Junction yet, but I have in my mind Stand By Me. A film which has some hilarious moments, but is more powerful and memorable and brilliant for the feelings it evokes. Not a comedy, more a scene from our collective childhoods, remembered through the haze of an endless summer. That's the feeling I think Cemetery Junction will leave me with. If it doesn't I want my fucking money back.

[ExtremeAnalDischarge]

This is a very stupid question. I'm not saying it's the stupidest question but it's definitely up there. Does a question have to be.... You know what? I was going to write something, but Kermode's question is so fucking ridiculous and specific to the circumstances of the makers of this film, it has no point or purpose to anything or anyone and I have already given up.

[ActionMirror]

Cemetery Junction made me laugh lots

[magicbibledotcom]

@CinemaCritic Yeah but I've seen comedies which don't make me laugh out loud but unless they're UNfunny, I think they work. I think you can have endearing characters which you like, in situations that make you smile or smirk and that the end result can be a successful comedy to some degree. I just think, the more it makes you laugh, the more successful a comedy it is. But 'Cemetery Junction' isn't supposed to be a comedy primarily anyway. They said from day one it's a drama.

[navylaks2]

calling Knocked up a comedy is in my opinion wrong.

[MrVinushka]

Quite a lot of my favourite comedies, even stand-up comedy, don't make me laugh out loud (although I rarely do laugh out loud when I'm on my own anyway).

[pacmansays]

I laughed quite a few times during Cemetery Junction but found myself feeling more touched by the story and desires of the characters than amused at the end.

[DulBeat]

A Serious Man definately doesn't fit under the old definition.

[jackosilva]

Cemetary Junction wasnt supposed to be a comedy, its supposed to be a drama. It made me laugh a few times, but ultimately, AS A DRAMA, i came away feeling let down by it.

[malus19891]

Annie Hall and Manhattan arent laugh out loud comedies but I would still consider them comedies

[yt090584]

Light drama would certainly fit the ancient Greek definition, but we don't live in ancient Greece. Language is constantly evolving and the modern convention in English is that comedy does indeed need jokes, although the French word comédien just means a member of a theatre and by extension any actor.