Crazy Love (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
I couldn't believe me 'eyes' as I watched 'Crazy Love', a documentary directed by Dan Klores. Simply put, 16 yrs. after Linda Riss had blindness-inducing acid thrown at her face (by way of Burt Pagach), the couple married & are still in love today. She's crazy for even contemplating a marriage with him; and he's mildly insane. Watching & hearing them (and their equally nutty Jewish friends) gab at the camera for all of us to see is something else. This story created a media frenzy 48 yrs. ago & it still is today. Nothing about this film is revelatory or educational, but it is very watchable.
NY, 1957: Burt is a nerdy, self-conscious, oddball lawyer/nightclub owner, & Linda is a lovely Jewish woman (dark features, slender physique, heart-shaped face, etc). As explained by her friends, Linda always liked the boys, but never thought about 'the sex'. She was a virgin, as was he. When they met, he fell instantly in love and wined & dined her to the hilt. She's not wild about him, but he's persistent, & she likes the attention. Before long, things turn ugly, she falls for another man, and he hires someone to throw lye in her face when she innocently answers her front door. "If I couldn't have her, nobody would". After a 14 yr. imprisonment, he's released.; still in love with her, he finds her, asks for her hand in marriage, & she inexplicably accepts. You see, most men found her disfigured face/blindness to be an abhorrence, & she KNEW that Burt would always love her, so she accepts.
What's fascinating (& disturbing) about the film is that their story gets progressively bizarre as it goes. At first you think Burt's just love-struck, but then his true colors shine through; then he's suicidal; and then he's lucid, again. At first you think Linda's a normal girl, but what person (who initially wanted him dead) would forgive, defend, & marry the man who wanted her (and her fiancee) killed!? You can't make this stuff up. So, by way of archival footage, old tapes, newspaper clippings, interviews of all persons involved in this mess, we watch in shock that this is a true story. In the end, I guess they were just codependent on each other. I'd say it's heartwarming, but everything about their depiction is just sick. Not 'ew' sick, but a funny sick.
The story is told point-blankly, with little flair. What's most interesting about these 2 is that they seem to realize they are sickos, & are enjoying any and all hooplah that has surrounded them for the last 4 decades. Because of this, we can view the film and have ABSOLUTELY no sympathy for Linda; it's hysterical, actually. Burt speaks to the camera with a sort of sociopathic twinkle in his eye. And as Linda speaks to us, we have nothing to do but gaze upon her 2 ft. high hairdo, her 70's styled sunglasses, her hairy upper lip, & her knack of lighting cigarette after cigarette. This documentary is not compelling, but it IS mildly fun.
NY, 1957: Burt is a nerdy, self-conscious, oddball lawyer/nightclub owner, & Linda is a lovely Jewish woman (dark features, slender physique, heart-shaped face, etc). As explained by her friends, Linda always liked the boys, but never thought about 'the sex'. She was a virgin, as was he. When they met, he fell instantly in love and wined & dined her to the hilt. She's not wild about him, but he's persistent, & she likes the attention. Before long, things turn ugly, she falls for another man, and he hires someone to throw lye in her face when she innocently answers her front door. "If I couldn't have her, nobody would". After a 14 yr. imprisonment, he's released.; still in love with her, he finds her, asks for her hand in marriage, & she inexplicably accepts. You see, most men found her disfigured face/blindness to be an abhorrence, & she KNEW that Burt would always love her, so she accepts.
What's fascinating (& disturbing) about the film is that their story gets progressively bizarre as it goes. At first you think Burt's just love-struck, but then his true colors shine through; then he's suicidal; and then he's lucid, again. At first you think Linda's a normal girl, but what person (who initially wanted him dead) would forgive, defend, & marry the man who wanted her (and her fiancee) killed!? You can't make this stuff up. So, by way of archival footage, old tapes, newspaper clippings, interviews of all persons involved in this mess, we watch in shock that this is a true story. In the end, I guess they were just codependent on each other. I'd say it's heartwarming, but everything about their depiction is just sick. Not 'ew' sick, but a funny sick.
The story is told point-blankly, with little flair. What's most interesting about these 2 is that they seem to realize they are sickos, & are enjoying any and all hooplah that has surrounded them for the last 4 decades. Because of this, we can view the film and have ABSOLUTELY no sympathy for Linda; it's hysterical, actually. Burt speaks to the camera with a sort of sociopathic twinkle in his eye. And as Linda speaks to us, we have nothing to do but gaze upon her 2 ft. high hairdo, her 70's styled sunglasses, her hairy upper lip, & her knack of lighting cigarette after cigarette. This documentary is not compelling, but it IS mildly fun.