As one of the only works of non-fiction shown at the EIFF this year, The MAD World of Harvey Kurtzman stands out among its competitors for its imaginative approach to the life of a creator we have all seen but might not know. Following a standard biographical approach, The MAD World of Harvey Kurtzman plunges us into the life and mind of a man that changed comic strips and satire forever. I had the pleasure of speaking with director Bart Simpson on his journey of creating the film.
Recounting his love of comic books from a young age, propelled by his father’s Boxing Day gifts, Simpson was compelled to tell Kurtzman’s story after speaking to a friend of his. He had gotten to speak to Adele Kurtzman, who told him that “no one wanted to speak” about her husband. Harvey Kurtzman passed in 1993, which meant that the conception and execution of this project did not involve him.
Speaking with Simpson, I wondered how he thought that Kurtzman’s absence in the building of this narrative had impacted it — did the fact that the very subject of this film was not present give Simpson a more sincere portrayal of him?
Simpson pointed out the fact that Kurtzman’s life was able to be mapped out from beginning to end, which “narratively [took] a bit of the edge off.” However, he spoke about the limited archival video footage of Kurtzman and how “wanting to portray the complexities of somebody, but also deciding to focus on his work and his influence” was a way of filling in these gaps. A surprisingly important aspect of the film was the music that accompanied the different comic-strip sequences. This was an active choice that Simpson described as an additional way to show who Kurtzman was. He explained that the music was used “to really bring up that rebellious nature of Harvey, because he definitely was, that’s who he was, he was a rebel and a game changer.”
Harvey Kurtzman is best known for his work in the creation of MAD magazine, a piece of satirical comics that undoubtedly influenced political satire. Within the film itself, Kurtzman describes his time at MAD as the “prime” of his career — an interesting statement, considering that he went on to work on projects for a much more extensive time. “When he found MAD, that’s really where his idea of satire started to really gestate and get honed,” explained Simpson, also attributing it to the fact that Kurtzman was only in his 20s when he made his mark. Yet, Simpson stressed that Kurtzman’s work after MAD was what was really interesting to him. The cartoonist moved on to work for Playboy on a comic book series called Little Annie Fanny, which he wrote and illustrated for 26 years. This was a move that “even his biggest fans think it’s like he stayed on too long and it wasn’t very powerful.”
Simpson points to the fact that “at some point in every artist’s life, you have to make a choice,” regarding work and income and passion. The film definitely touches on the more uncomfortable aspects of Kurtzman’s work at Playboy, especially his relationship with Hefner, one that Simpson described as “complicated” and “all around power and money.” Nevertheless, it also proves that Kurtzman continued to hone his skill, oftentimes working on pages for days on end, showing the meticulous nature that he was known for.
For our last section of the interview, Simpson and I spoke on the impact of the portrayal of Harvey Kurtzman. The director worked closely with Kurtzman’s family, spotlighting them in the film several times where they arguably delivered some of the more humanising and intimate portrayals of the cartoonist. Simpson stated that he had full permission from the family as they had told him: “you tell the story the way you want and that’s exactly what you want, and we couldn’t have done it any other way.”
He also said that personally, Kurtzman’s “meticulousness” and “real attention to detail that was bordering obsession” were two attributes that he both admired and resonated with in the making of this film. There was a real sense of understanding from Simpson as to who Kurtzman was, and more importantly, his legacy. This shone in the portrayal that The MAD World of Harvey Kurtzman so delicately constructed.
Images provided for The MAD World of Harvey Kurtzman Press Release.
