Though Terry Zwigoff''s outstanding 1996 documentary "Crumb" pretty much delved into every facet of the artist's life, this briskly-paced BBC doc, written by Crumb eleven years earlier, is more lighthearted and acts as an intro chapter to the feature-length doc.

"Confessions" is a bare-bones disc, with no special features other than an effectively animated main menu, with multiple characters from Crumb's dossier spewing from his exploding head, and Perry Como singing "Magic Moments." That tone is pretty consistent throughout the doc, with Crumb and his wife essentially inviting us into their home (after a short musical performance from their doorstep). The brief introspections include his early years as an illustrator, the success of Fritz the Cat (with film clips), and his female relationships, with wife Aline being his most idealized, and successful.

Some liner notes regarding the film's history would have been helpful, and the sparse technical info leads us to assume the print source is a generic 16mm print. The nature of that format often means there's visible grain, weak colour densities, and average mono sound. Several of the night shots (including the humorous midnight walk at the end) show artifacting, and HVE has attempted to smoothen these defects without lessening the documentary texture of the visuals.

© 2002 Mark R. Hasan