1506 - Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

 

Again I must applaud the beauty that is Netflix.  I was searching for information on something else and randomly came across this film, so I checked to see if it was on Netflix, and then voila I found myself watching it mere moments later.  

Let me start off this "review" by stating that I'm a pretty hard-skinned guy.  I'm by no means a macho guy, or a man's man, but it takes a lot to get me outwardly effected.  Maybe it's that this story involves a baby and now I'm a Dad, I don't know - but this film kicked the shit out of me emotionally.  I sat weeping on my couch through a good portion of this (mostly nearing the end), it was a good cathartic cry, the kind that just leaves you emotionally drained.

Before I go any further I'll give you the cole's notes on the film, but I don't want to ruin anything - I think a film like this is important to let unfold itself.  You can always google the info to find out what happened, but I urge you - if you're curious - just watch the film - you can always look it up after.  But essentially it's about a man who is murdered and the son he would never meet.  The man's friend is a filmmaker and decides to make a documentary for the baby about his father, so that when he grows up he can get an idea of who his father was.  That's the jumping off point, anyway.  What it's about by the end is something so much more.

It's not fair to critique this film the way that you would others.  It's not the kind that you can rip apart and judge, the same way that you wouldn't a love letter written between people.  It's private, and personal.  The worst I will say about it is that it's often over-edited for emotional effect, but that's not what gets to you deep down, I don't think.  I think this material would be powerful regardless of the treatment.  But the treatment certainly does ratchet it up.

In terms of recommending this, it's a hard one for me.  Part of me wants to tell everyone I know about this, but like a love letter, I realize that this is sensitive material.  For example I know how much it affected me, I can't imagine what a film like this might do to my wife.  But I'll tell her about it over breakfast and let her decide.

I'm not sure how easy this film is to find outside of ordering it or on netflix, but if you like documentaries and want something that will test out your emotions then this is a good one.  If you do check it out please do come back and write something in the comments.  I'd be curious to know how this affected others.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father