REVIEW BY J R MARTIN director of Emmy nominated, Wrapped In Steel, a documentary about the Industrial community on the Southeast side of Chicago and Emmy award-winning Fired-up- Public Housing Is My Home, both documentaries aired nationally on PBS. Viewer discretion regarding sexually oriented art work is advised. It always feels appropriate to the subject.Ĭrumb is a worthwhile, profile of an artist, for anyone interested in what influences an artist’s work. The music appears to be pulled from Robert Crumb’s large collection of LP’s. Cinematography and lighting are excellent. Because of this there are many questions left unanswered, the surface of Crumbs world barely scratched before Crumb and his wife apparently leave California to start a new life “in a remote area of France!” Aussi difficile que cela est d’imaginer “une région éloignée de la France.”Ĭrumb is well directed by Terry Zwigoff and achieved a screening at Sundance Film Festival, after which it became popular. The documentary examines the dysfunctional influences Crumb experienced in his childhood and adulthood, but does not draw any conclusions about their impact on Crumb allowing you to decide for yourself what the reality may be. Zwigoff offers a glimpse into the art, influences and world of fantasy that Crumb pulls out of his subconscious shadow world. Director Terry Zwigoff does not glorify or condemn Crumb the man. Perhaps the catharsis provided by Crumb’s comic book world give a release for these taboo subjects.Ĭrumb, the documentary, is a portrait of a gifted artist and the possible influences that led him to create his work. But like most satire Crumbs distorted point-of-view takes a shot at many cultural sacred cows by laying bare the secret fantasies hidden from view. The work could be considered offensive to men as well. Other women state that they find it empowering. Many women find some of Crumb’s work offensive and demeaning to women in a some ways. Much of Crumbs work is erotic or pornographic by some standards but it has a satirical ring of truth as it represents much in modern life through the filter of the relationship between men and women. Through Crumb’s eyes, life experience, apparently dysfunctional family, and his drawing, the filmmakers explore America from the sixties to the present. Of the three brothers, Robert appears to be the only one who has been able to function in the real world. He also visits his other brother Maxon. What emerges is an exploration of the apparently abnormal family life that shaped Robert Crumb and influenced his art. Crumb talks about how Charles was obsessed with comics as a boy and this led him to drawing comics. Finally Crumb visits his apparently reclusive brother Charles who hasn’t left their Mother’s house in many years. He talks about his childhood in Philadelphia and the influences there. His first wife, and their son, are also interviewed at different points in the film Later many of his drawings are shown revealing some of the workings of his mind. He also talks about his involvement in the Adult Cartoon film Fritz The Cat.Ĭrumb’s second wife Aline Crumb is interviewed at their home in Winters, California furnishing more insight into Crumb’s life. It sold millions of copies but Crumb earned only $600 from CBS records for drawing it in 1968. ![]() ![]() Another icon is the cover for Janis Joplin’s Cheap Thrills album. Natural “Keep On Trucking” drawings that became a well-known cultural icons in the sixties. Both sisters declined to be interviewed for the film.Įarly in the film Robert does a presentation for art school students in Philadelphia where he talks and shows slides about his early successes, like the Mr. ![]() Brothers George and Maxon both seem to have mental problems that prevent normal functioning an apparent result of childhood experiences. Robert is one of five children, two girls and three boys. He mentions the influence his brother Charles had on him, but when he calls his Mother to visit her and Charles in Philadelphia, to possibly have Charles interviewed for the documentary, his Mother tells him that Charles doesn’t want to do it. I get depressed and suicidal,” Crumb says, voice over while he’s seen creating a pen and ink drawing. Crumb seems isolated in his own world. “If I don’t draw for a while I get really crazy. The lighting in the room is subjective and high contrast. The documentary opens with a slow pan across the living/working space in Crumb’s home in California, where Robert Crumb is found sitting on the floor, knees to his chest, rocking back and forth. As a documentary film, Crumb explores the gray area of erotic art, fantasy, dysfunction, and reality of Robert Crumb at one point in his life. It is an intimate portrait of a talented artist. Crumb (Robert Crumb) and his often-bizarre, at times sexually obsessed, world.
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