"Pee-wee as Himself," about Max: the testament of a misunderstood icon

MAX – ON DEMAND – DOCUMENTARY

Digging through the archives of Le Monde after watching Pee-wee as Himself , the beautiful documentary Matt Wolf shot in the months leading up to the death of Paul Reubens, the creator of the Pee-wee Herman character, on July 30, 2023, I came across the few lines I had written when Big Top Pee-wee was released in France in 1989. Angry, they are quite characteristic of the incomprehension of French critics and the French public regarding the eternal child in the red bow tie. In two hundred-minute episodes, documentarian Matt Wolf, a specialist in forgotten artists (which is not quite the case with Pee-wee Herman), bridges this gap, through patience (his subject is far from always cooperative) and inventiveness.

Directed by Randal Kleiser ( Grease ), Big Top was the second feature film to star Pee-wee, after Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1987), which also happens to be Tim Burton's directorial debut. Pee-wee Herman had coaxed two well-known actresses—Penelope Ann Miller and Valeria Golino—to star with him. With the latter, he shot what he intended to be the longest kiss in cinema history, much to the dismay of Warner Bros., which was producing the film. This sparked the awkwardness that comes when comedians with somewhat unattractive looks use their fame to earn themselves the role of leading man. Except that Paul Reubens was gay. This secret became public knowledge in July 1991, when he was arrested by Sarasota, Florida, police in a porn theater and charged with indecent exposure.

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