Need a Good Cry? Rent “Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father”
Did I say a “good cry”? I’m sorry. I meant a “total destruction of your soul.” I sobbed for two hours straight and terrified my Chihuahua with my mucus profusion while I was watching this documentary, which is superb, though agonizing. Here are excerpts from the best review I’ve read of it, by Dustin Knowles:
Dear Zachary is one messed-up motherfucking documentary, people. And the less you know about it, perhaps, the better. Or maybe not. I knew nothing about it going in, and made the mistake of forcing Mrs. Pajiba-hyphenate to watch it with me. Within 11 minutes, she was sobbing, begging me to turn it off. Before I could find the remote, however, she’d been sucked back into an all-too engrossing story of a man’s freakish, tragic murder. But by minute 32, Mrs. Pajiba-hyphenate was inconsolable but transfixed, watching the next 45 minutes of the documentary with bleary, tear-filled eyes. Before the documentary ended, those tears turned to silent shock. And, for the both of us, it was perhaps the first time we’d ever been completely paralyzed by a film. It is an experience unlike almost any other, and your emotions will run the gamut, from sadness, to pride, to despair, to anger, to ache, and to complete disbelief, and unbelievable, mess-you-the-fuck up shock.
Sounds like fun, right? To further emphasize how hard this movie is to watch, Knowles talks about his wife’s reaction:
What happens later in the documentary will knock you on your ass … Mrs. P-h, however, thought that the emotional impact was too heavy, too burdensome; she felt the unsuspecting viewer needed an opportunity opt out of an experience that had the potential to scar.
Indeed, Knowles writes,
Dear Zachary is a documentary worth watching, that it’s one of the most powerful, gut-wrenching movies I’ve ever seen, but I’ll also warn you that, if you’re softhearted, and if movies have a tendency to remain with you for days, then maybe Dear Zachary carries with it an emotional bell you don’t want tolled. It’s one diddle you can’t undo, homeskillet.
That’s for sure. I don’t know how to recover. I can tell you there’s a murder and that the murderess is most certainly mentally ill, though what exactly is wrong with her, I don’t know. It’s enough to make you believe in the concept of evil.
liz | 12:49 PM | violence
I watched this with my 12 year old granddaughter. I had no idea what this was about and we were handling things well until we arrived at the shocking unknown event. We both became totally distraught and had to stop the documentary immediately. We don’t know how much more was left but knew we could go no further. I almost want to give away what happens because I would have liked to have know the whole story before starting the movie. But I guess some people like to be shocked.
Good recommendation, Liz. For the benefit of folk like Granny Annie, here’s a link to the trailer http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/dearzachary/
The story is amazing and the documentary is effective. Its editing is often mentioned in reviews — I’d say that the picture is made in extreme “documentary style”. At times it’s like watching Dogme 95. But it works. As for the story, the bureaucratic persecution those folk had to endure was extreme, beyond anything Kafka imagined.
I believe in evil. I was brought up by a sexually sadistic sociopath. Her entire family was sociopathic, with the occasional victims sprinkled about like raisins in a fruitcake.
Mundo NULLA Fides
the ending of the movie did not surprise me in the least
I watched the movie last night. It was sad, but also a beautiful tribute by friends and family. The “twist” was an additional heartbreak, but I can not imagine NOT wanting to see this movie. There were parts I actually laughed out loud, Andrew re-telling of burning down the forest….hysterically funny and it made me understand why his family and friends LOVED HIM so much. This movie will stay with me and I think that’s ok.
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