Review of Crumb (1995) by Lowell N — 03 Mar 2009
In the grand history of the Baby-Boomer, there's probably no one more structurally unique than Robert Crumb and his Family. In this documentary we are given an intimate look at a genius spawned through personal turmoil and disfunctional values.
Whether he meant to or not, Robert Crumb takes you on his personal odyssey of surviving extreme introversion in the company of his brothers while being unmercilessly put upon by a straight-laced, narrow-minded Father who was callously insensitive to the needs of a spiritual bond.
By way of catharsis and escape Robert inspired by Brother Charles' obsession with comics, finds his outlet in the fine art of portraiture as well as using blatant cartoon imagery to assault social prejudice and lay bare the cruelty of superficial moral attitude.
By the same token, Crumb had a way of capturing the ravages of time and stress in the subtle nuance of his pen when sketching likenesses. As any fine artist would be, he was subjected to the most heinous of critique and praise, but his work always wrenched out the truth from the most diplomatic and he never went unnoticed in his lifetime, which even the great Masters could only achieve posthumously.
Although there is no blood or gore, this film is not for the squeamish. This is a grassroots story of survival pure and simple. Miraculously, Crumb managed to hold on to his own values while holding his audience in check on theirs.
He is to all intents and purposes, an American Master.
This review of Crumb (1995) was written by Lowell N on 03 Mar 2009.
Crumb has generally received very positive reviews.
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