TALES OF THE RAT FINK

Caught TALES OF THE RAT FINK tonight at the Brattle. Not the best documentary I've seen. It's got a kickass surfabilly soundtrack, some decent style, and an approach that seems to match the spirit of its subject—Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, a very interesting, and to me, mostly unknown, subject—but overall, the film just glances off the surface of his life and work. It feels more like a high school film strip than a revealing documentary.

The man is a helluva character, but that's about as much as much as we get about the man from the film. The film showcases his Kustom Kar masterpieces and tells you about the progression of his work through them. It's pretty effective, as his work does speak for itself (literally, in this film), but only to a certain degree. Not being a motorhead myself, it isn't enough for me. According to the film, he pretty much invented the graphic tee! But, we don't hear about it from anyone else but the film.

In the way of family life, you find out he got married right out of high school and ultimately was father to FIVE boys. We don't get any of their names, nor any mention of how his work might have influenced them and their relationships. What wee do get is that he built a skateboard for six so that he could skate with them.

There's a significant crossover in his life with Von Dutch (whom I now find less annoying, only familiar with his name because of those f'ing trucker caps). He's, like, the mastermind behind pinstriping as a way of detailing automobiles, and his work is described as something like jazz flowing from a brush. Anyhow, an encounter between the two customizing gurus is mentioned, then a summary of Von Dutch's work is given, but there's no real follow-thru on their meeting beyond the fact that Roth adds pinstriping to his repertoire. I don't really know how or if Roth's work relates to that of Von Dutch.

The film uses some creative montage and animation built from archival and collector's photos, films, and other materials. Kudos for the process. Alas, the timing and editing of some of the segments leaves a bit to be desired. The animation would hold too long on stills, or even an empty screen, without voiceover or other meaning attached to it. Some of the timing of jokey visuals also seemed to be off.

In addition to educating me on Von Dutch, the film also revealed to me the etymology of the "Fink" fonts from House Industries. I vaguely remember reading the name "Ed Roth" in reference to them way back when I first encountered House fonts, and accompanying Fink graphics, but not knowing who he was.

There are some high-powered names associated with the film, including Matt Groening, Jay Leno, and Tom Wolfe. They lend their voices to the cars featured in the documentary. When I saw the names, I assumed that at least some of them would be speaking as themselves, and have something to say about how Roth and Rat Fink influenced or inspired them. We only ever hear a direct remark about Roth from Wolfe, and it's a quote from many years ago.

I think that fans of his work would appreciate the film as a decent visual catalog and timeline. Non-fans will learn a bit here and there about the guy whose style inspired the creation of hot rods and dragsters, custom painted cars and detailing, tee-shirts as art and expression, and probably the Garbage Pail Kids. Look him up online and if you dig him and want to know a little more, in movie form, rent the dvd when it's out at the end of the month.

Keep on keepin on~