Weirder than fiction and more revolting than most horror movies, “Crazy Love” is a documentary with as bizarre a set of characters as you’d ever want to see. Except you wouldn’t want to cross paths with them.
The film is based on a notorious crime of the late 1950s, but its story has continued to the present day. Although there’s a hint of violence in the opening moments, the movie unfolds at first like a wacky look back at the 1950s.
That’s when an ambulance-chasing lawyer named Burt Pugach first spotted a 21-year-old brunette named Linda Riss. He pursued her, and their courtship is detailed as a round of nightclub visits and flowers.
Of course, the fact of Burt’s marriage complicated things. When Linda broke off the relationship and began dating someone else, Burt wouldn’t take no for an answer. So he hired a thug to throw liquid lye in her face.
She was partially blinded, Pugach was arrested and sent to prison, and her new boyfriend abandoned her. That’s where it stayed until 1974, when Pugach was released from jail after 14 years. Then the movie gets really strange.
If you’re not creeped out already, the news that Pugach’s marriage proposal to Linda was accepted is the twist that should do it. “Crazy Love” captures this saga by going to the people involved – including Pugach and his blinded bride, who both talk extensively on camera.
For their interview subjects, director Dan Klores and co-director Fisher Stevens could scarcely have hoped for more flamboyant people. Burt and Linda Pugach are both from the Bronx, and they wear their thick accents and gold jewelry like identifying coloration.
Of course, Linda also wears large sunglasses, because her eyes have been mostly destroyed. By Burt.
The film has a wealth of archival stuff, including some unsettling photographs of Pugach around the time of his arrest. Interviews with friends and family fill out the tale.
Veteran columnist Jimmy Breslin is also here, and he’s just about the only person to state the obvious: that Burt Pugach is about as insane as a person can be and still be walking around outside the asylum.
The strange story is enough to make “Crazy Love” worth a look. But the film’s jaunty style, which plays up the campy old days and the loopy songs of the past, leaves a sour taste. The film does depict a horrifying incident, and the style keeps you at a distance, at which vantage we are encouraged to look at the circus sideshow.
Linda and Burt Pugach are the stars and subjects of “Crazy Love.”
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