Crumb (1994)

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nTitle: Crumb (1994)

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nDirector: Terry Zwigoff

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nReview:

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nRobert Crumb stands proudly high and above the world’s cartoonists, leading the pack as the world’s best doodler. The guy is angenius; his drawings and cartoons comment on the American way of life. Crumb is the ultimate watcher, his view is that of a god viewing American society from up above. This is probably the reason why he didna self portrait which depicts him as having a third eye on his forehead. He doesn’t pass judgmentnwith his comics; he simply states and shows things for what they are, if youndon’t like it, well, tough luck, but that’s the way life is. His art is not filtered;nhis comics are blunt, over the top exaggerations of real life. How did Crumbnget so good? Well, the guy has never stopped drawing. If you were to ever meet thenguy in person, you are likely to see him with a pen in hand, doodling somethingnon anything, be it a sketchbook, a napkin, or a place mat in a restaurant.  Crumb’s been drawing comics since he was ankid, he and his brothers had their own little comic book company, and the threenwould draw and write their own comic strips and sell them to their friends. Coolestnpart about the whole thing is that he never went to art school; he learned byndoing, the pure definition of ‘a natural’.

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nThe guy is one of my personal heroes because my artisticnlife echoes his in some ways. I also did comics when I was a kid and sold them to my friends, I love drawing ‘old school’ black and white comics, with pencils, paper and ink. No computer boloney, just old school, hand drawn, home grown sketches. I will be self-publishing a magazine this year which will be available to you, my dear readers sometime soon, so look forward to that! But watching a documentary like Terry Zwigoff’s  Crumb is inspiring in many waysnbecause here’s a guy who is completely devoted to doing what he is best at.nHere’s a guy who draws for a living, and he does it 24-7; literally, I don’t thinknCrumb ever stops drawing! Proof of this is his work, if you one day decide tonexplore Robert Crumb’s body of work you will see that it never seems to end,nthere’s volumes and volumes of his stuff! I admire the guy for all thesenreasons, because he is a true blue talented individual with dedication tonspare. The other side of the story is that all this talent comes with a lifenthat many would consider downright bizarre. One of my greatest heroes isnundoubtedly a ‘weirdo’. But hey, that’s the name of one of his magazines, so it’snnot like he’s hiding the fact.

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nAnd this is where Zwigoff’s documentary comes in and opensnthe flood gates of Crumb’s life for everyone to see, and it’s a pretty freaky affair.nI mean, I love the guy’s work and how truthful and unfiltered it is. One thingnI love about his stuff is how autobiographical it is, he isn’t afraid to exposenhimself to the world. Reading some of his comics is like taking all yourninhibitions and throwing them out the door, it’s talking about all those things aboutnsex you wanted to talk about but were afraid to ask. When asked about some of hisnmore offbeat ideas and sexual habits his answer is “I don’t know, you tell me!”nAs if saying, why are humans the way they are? I don’t have the answer, if younhave it then I’m all ears! But honestly, who’s to explain humanities often timesnbizarre behavior? On this documentary you’ll learn about Crumbs obsession with voluptuousnladies, especially those with a –pardon my French- huge ass. He has a foot fetish;nthe guy even likes riding piggy back on girls! Crumb has a love/hatenrelationship with women; he admires their beauty, but at the same time he comesnoff as misogynistic. So be ready, Crumb truly exposes himself here, he is whonhe is whether you like it or not. But that’s nothing, Crumb is “normal”nwhen compared to the rest of his family, which by the way you get to meet onnthe documentary.

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nAnd here’s where the documentary gets extra weird in such anstrange way that you won’t want to stop watching. You won’t believe how freakynsome people in the world can get. For example, we meet Robert’s Crumb’s brother,nCharles Crumb; an obsessively reclusive individual who lived with his mothernmost of his life. He never left his apartment, didn’t care much for personalnhygiene, basically, this was an individual filled with self loathing. The saddestnpart about the whole thing is that before the documentary was released he committednsuicide! And that’s just brother number one, Crumbs other brother, Maxon Crumbnlikes to sit on a bed of nails and eats a string every now and then so that itnwill “cleanse his system”; “it takes three days to come out the other end” hensays. And let’s not get started on Crumb’s mother! Crumb also has sisters, butnfor whatever the reason they declined to appear on the documentary. One wondersnwhat other levels of weirdness they would have brought to the table! You kindnof get the feeling that even with all his sexual antics, and his dark outlooknon life, Crumb turned out pretty much alright.

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nCrumb was directed by Terry Zwigoff, the director behindnGhost World (2001) and Art School Confidential (2006), two films that have anlot to do with Crumb and his world. Ghost World is a film that’s about thisnyoung girl who has an affair with an older guy named Seymour. Seymour is one ofnthese hard core collectors of old records and old art, one could easily thinknthat Steve Buscemi is playing Crumb, hell, the character even looks like Crumb!nArt School Confidential is all about an art school student who painfully discoversnthat art school isn’t as cool as he thought it would be and that it’s all verynfake. He ends up meeting a reclusive character who resembles one of Crumbs ownnfreaky brothers. Basically, Zwigoff has always been an expert on Crumb; he tooknsix years to make this documentary! This is the reason why the rest of hisnfilms are somehow related to Crumb’s artwork and lifestyle. Three films thatnare all linked together. Seeing them back to back is a good idea, you’ll feelnlike you’re watching films that exist within the same universe. Sadly, ArtnSchool Confidential turned out to be such a somber and downright depressing filmnwith a not so happy ending that it ended up being a flop, so Zwigoff hasn’tnmade a film again. But Crumb garnered critical acclaim and attention when itnwas released. Jeffrey Anderson, critic for the San Francisco Examiner callednthis “the greatest documentary ever made” and “one of the most bravest and honestnfilms I’ve ever seen” which is absolutely true, I agree, Crumb the documentarynis a lot like Crumb’s comics; he isn’t afraid to put himself, and his flaws outnthere for all to see. I agree very much with Roger Ebert’s take on this film.nIn his review he says that this documentary “gives new meaning to art asntherapy”, which is exactly how Crumbs comics function, you kind of get thenfeeling that Crumb works many of his own issues through his art, as many goodnartists do. Brave in deed, and well worth a watch; highly recommended. 

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nRating:  5 out of 5   

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