The Movie
Cartoonist R. Crumb (and his brother and his other brother and his mother) would likely be dismissed by the vast majority of the American public with the handle "weirdo." Even those closest to Robert acknowledge his eccentricity, and yet filmmaker Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) knew enough about the man to pursue a documentary feature, which in turn yielded a torrent of dark revelation.
Crumb shows the artist at work and at play, traveling America in anticipation of an upcoming move to the south of France, where he will be given a house in exchange for a bunch of his sketchbooks. While he admits to enjoying such a level of success, and even some of the fame that has come with it, we soon wonder if he enjoys anything else in life. His family sets a new standard for dysfunction, still tainted by old sibling rivalries and parenting issues, with no Crumb left unscathed.
Zwigoff has structured the movie to give us the basics of the man and his work up front, as Crumb introduces himself to an art class where he's guest lecturing, before we plumb the depths of his psyche. We're given ample glances of his decades-spanning body of bizarre, brilliant work, reflective of a creative powerhouse stuck in an adolescent, sex-obsessed mindset that resonates with a loyal audience. As with the subjects of the radical artwork, nothing is off-limits in Crumb, as his own anecdotes and those of his brothers, supporters and critics combine to unravel the mysteries of one of pop culture's more unusual figures.
The Picture
This newly created HD master was culled from a 16mm film interpositive, which shows remarkably restrained grain considering its humble origins. The quality of the blacks is better-than-expected, while colors are surprisingly strong as well. There's the occasional scratch but overall the 4:3 image--pillarboxed between vertical black bars left and right--is quite clean, with the amount of dirt drastically reduced. We need only check out the deleted scenes in the extras to see how nasty this footage could have looked.
The Sound
The only audio option is Uncompressed Linear PCM mono, but this track is full and strong and clear, again all the more impressive for the fact that it was recorded live in myriad real-world environments, ostensibly with no retakes. It has been cleaned for its arrival on Blu-ray, showing no pops and no hiss. The music comes from a variety of sources, including old 78 records, and here too the sound is quite pleasing. The original track also benefits from the involvement of the great audio maven Walter Murch, who worked on the film for its initial release.
The Extras
The disc boasts almost an hour (about 52 minutes total... in HD!) of Unused Footage, some of these 14 vignettes offering optional audio commentary. On that score, this new Crumb packs a brand-new full-length commentary with director Terry Zwigoff, bringing a fresh perspective, as well as the previously released Zwigoff/Roger Ebert track from 2006. Appropriately enough, there is a Still Gallery as well, mostly photos, with the occasional caption.
And although we don't make a habit of commenting on disc packaging, Crumb includes a reproduction of brother Charles' Talent Test booklet for Famous Art Schools, as shown in the movie, another strange and wonderful surprise.
Final Thoughts
At times offensive, amusing, and outright shocking, Crumb is nonetheless a landmark in documentary filmmaking, an unflinching look at a unique talent, but more importantly the truth about the man at the center of it all. Criterion has valiantly restored the audio and video, while giving us abundant director insights and copious bonus footage that manage to add even more dimension to this fascinating portrait.
Product Details
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