Narrative technique · used in 16 films
Putting jokes and comic performance inside dangerous or desperate situations. The humor works as a way of resisting, and you never forget what the characters are laughing through.
Examples
Charlie Chaplin · 1936
The Depression is never far away. The Tramp loses jobs, gets arrested by mistake for leading a protest and meets a young woman who steals bread to eat. The jokes arrive in the middle of hunger and police, and that is why you laugh and worry together.
Where to see it: The demonstration. After his breakdown, the Tramp picks up a red flag that fell from a truck and is mistaken for a communist leader and jailed.
Billy Wilder · 1953
The prisoners stage rat races, brew alcohol and spy on the women's compound through a homemade telescope. The jokes help them survive, and you never forget they are prisoners whose friends have just been shot.
Where to see it: Rat races and barracks antics: Sefton organizes rat races for gambling, runs an improvised distillery and rigs a telescope to spy on the Russian women's compound.
Billy Wilder · 1960
Baxter's funniest scenes are also his most desperate. He strains spaghetti with a tennis racquet, and he juggles the revolving door of executives using his apartment. The comedy is how a man copes when he has made himself complicit in something he can't afford to name.
Where to see it: The spaghetti straining sequence. His resourcefulness comes out of complete loneliness, so you can't separate the comedy from the sadness of the moment.
Woody Allen · 1984
Danny pretends to be Tina's boyfriend as a favor to Lou, and her gangster ex orders a hit on him. He spends the middle of the film in real danger and still cracks jokes. The comedy never lets you forget the threat.
Where to see it: The warehouse. Danny and Tina are held captive, and Danny blames a talentless ventriloquist to save himself.
Robert Zemeckis · 1988
Eddie has to use comedy to survive. He finally beats the weasels by making them laugh so hard they die, using the cartoon logic he used to hate. It turns the film's central joke into a weapon.
Where to see it: The weasels' laughter: At Acme's factory, Eddie performs a comedy routine that makes the weasels laugh themselves to death.
Krzysztof Kieślowski · 1994
Karol's trip home is played as slapstick even though he is broke and trapped. You laugh at a grown man folded into a suitcase while you also feel how low he has sunk. The joke never lets you forget the humiliation.
Where to see it: The suitcase trip: Mikolaj helps Karol return to Poland hidden in a suitcase. Airport workers steal it and open it, find nothing worth taking and beat him up. They leave him in a dump in the Polish countryside.
Roberto Benigni · 1997
When Benigni does comedy in the camp, the danger is real for his character. If Giosué stops playing along or the guards catch on to the joke, both of them are killed. The comedy never makes light of the camp. Every joke is risky and made up on the spot, and what drives it is a father's total determination to keep his son innocent.
Where to see it: Guido's translation scene. He jokes in front of the guards, one slip away from death.
Woody Allen · 1997
Facing a gun, Harry distracts Lucy by telling her a story he is still writing about a young man called Harvey. The film stays funny while someone could be shot. The humor is also Harry's way of escaping.
Where to see it: The roof. Lucy confronts Harry with a gun, and he distracts her by telling her the story of Harvey.
Wes Anderson · 2004
Pirates attack the ship, a rescue mission follows and Ned dies in a helicopter crash. The film keeps its dry jokes and flat tone through all of it. The humor works as the crew's way of coping, and you never forget what they are laughing through.
Where to see it: The helicopter crash: After the pirate attacks and a rescue mission, Ned dies in a helicopter crash.
Sidney Lumet · 2006
Jackie jokes in front of the judge, the prosecutors and the mob bosses while years in prison hang over him. The humor is how he survives and how he reaches the jury.
Where to see it: Jackie wears everyone down: His arrogant, vulgar behavior irritates everyone, and prosecutor Kierney has his prison privileges revoked.
Bong Joon-ho · 2006
The Park family is a bickering, clumsy bunch, and Bong keeps their bickering going while they try to save a child. The jokes make them feel real. It also makes their danger hurt more when the comedy stops.
Where to see it: The family hunt for Hyun-seo. The siblings and their father search the sewers while arguing the whole way.
Ridley Scott · 2015
Watney jokes through his video logs while he is starving and alone. Author Andy Weir wrote him as someone who is not lonely and depressed, and the film keeps his humor. Scott still shows the isolation through the dust and distance. The jokes are how Watney keeps going.
Where to see it: The video diary: after waking alone in the Hab, Watney begins a video diary to record his thoughts on survival.
Sean Baker · 2015
Sin-Dee drags another woman across town and the scene is loud and funny. Underneath it, she is hurt and angry about being cheated on. You laugh and still understand what she is feeling.
Where to see it: Sin-Dee hauling Dinah onto a bus. She is furious and has a tight grip on her, yet the two women trade jokes and insults the whole ride.
Danny Boyle · 2017
The film keeps its jokes close to danger. After rival brothel owner Doyle kidnaps Renton and Sick Boy and forces them to drop their scheme, they walk back to Edinburgh naked. The humor is how these men cope, and you still sense that they are stuck.
Where to see it: The naked walk home. Doyle ends the brothel scheme and leaves Renton and Sick Boy to walk back to Edinburgh with no clothes.
Paul Thomas Anderson · 2025
Bob is on the run with soldiers closing in on the town. He calls the French 75 hotline for help, and the voice on the line won't help him without the code phrase. Bob can't remember it, so he loses his mind at someone who is only following protocol. You laugh, and you never forget the danger outside.
Where to see it: Bob's calls to the French 75 hotline. The voice keeps asking "What time is it?", and Bob, his memory fogged by years of weed, can't give the answer.
Wes Anderson · 2025
Korda survives assassination attempts and sabotage with deadpan calm. The film treats each close call as a funny interruption of his business trip. You laugh at it, but the danger stays real as his family secrets come out.
Where to see it: The sixth assassination attempt: Korda survives yet another attempt on his life and tries to reconnect with Liesl.
Questions