CRUMB (Criterion/E1, 1994) D: Terry Zwigoff. Rating: NNNNN DVD package: NNNN Rating: NNNNN
The leading artist of the 60s underground comics explosion, Robert Crumb is best known for Fritz The Cat and the Big Brother and the Holding Company album cover. He’s been called the Bruegel of the 20th century, famed for his affinity for the grotesque and his mixture of satire and horror. He’s also reviled for the misogyny and racism some find in his work.
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Terry Zwigoff gives Crumb’s defenders and detractors ample time to air their views, but he’s more interested in the artist’s life as the wellspring of his work. Crumb is very open about his personal demons, including his strange sexual proclivities and his outsider childhood.
Zwigoff spent six years shooting and several more editing. The result is a movie that raises complex questions and moves fluidly from past to present and from personal life to work with good humour and a lively tempo.
There’s lots of overlap between the 2006 commentary that Zwigoff did with Roger Ebert and the new one, where Zwigoff flies solo, but together they’re a rich source of insight into Crumb and a good look at Zwigoff’s process.
EXTRAS Two commentaries, deleted scenes, essay booklet with artwork by Robert and brothers Charles and Max Crumb, facsimile of Charles Crumb’s Famous Artists School aptitude test. Widescreen. English audio and subtitles.
