Black comedy?


Did anyone else think this film was meant to be a black comedy? Harry was so over-the-top it was ridiculous but that is why I thought it was so funny.

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Being French, I can tell you that this film did not aimed at being a black comedy as per our 'standards' and cultural points of reference. I agree Harry is completely over the top though there's nothing really funny about it. Anyone who'd come across such a character in real life would feel very uncomfortable with massive inner alarm bells ringing. If you are interested in French black comedies, I can recommend Lautner's films though it will lose a lot of it's amazing dialogues through translation.

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i take the major plotline - that harry is enthralled enough by his ol' high school buddy michel's writing talent to kill to aid his creativity - to be very darkly comic, and something you'd never see in an american (black) comedy.
so, that's something that an experienced american filmgoer would spot, that a french filmgoer wouldn't be aware of.

gregory 71409.

p.s., happy bastille day :-)

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There was definitely some very dark comedy going on. Especially at the end. Just contrast the first car scene with the last. Harry really DID help!

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[deleted]

I thought it a black comedy. Deliciously so.

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Me too. Some very funny scenes. My favorite is the one where Harry and Eric are driving back from the funeral and Eric pulls out Michel's teenage poem, the one Harry loves and has memorized, and starts reading it out loud while also talking about how crappy it is and how he's going embarrass Michel with it later. He's got no idea what the poem means to Harry and you can practically see Harry's temple vain bulge, his teeth gritting as he silently seethes. Very funny scene but also very tense too. Always a trick when you can pull those two off simultaneously. :)

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The film is openly billed as a black comedy...nothing profound here.

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"Just contrast the first car scene with the last. Harry really DID help!"

Yeah, but that's irony or something. Not comedy IMO.

I mean, I can see it as a black comedy, but despite its bizarre and absurd moments which could be seen as comedic, it was too disturbing for me to call it comedy in any sense.

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