Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father-- Directed by Kurt Kuenne

What is the context?

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is a documentary directed by Kurt Kuenne. The documentary is a homage to Kuenne’s childhood friend, Andrew Bagby who was murdered by his ex-girlfriend. Through various court proceedings, it is discovered that Bagby’s ex-girlfriend, Shirley Turner, was pregnant at the time of the murder. Their son, Zachary, is the one that initially began Kuenne on his extensive journey to collect various recording and mementos of Andrew after his murder. The documentary follows Kuenne as he visits various childhood friends, family members, fellow medical students of Andrew, etc. in order to gather as much information about him as possible so that Zachary may have something to learn about his late father. The documentary also follows the court case of the murder as well as the subsequent events in the Bagby family’s life. Following its release in January 2008, the documentary was nominated for numerous awards and won the National Board of Review Award for a top five documentary film. Moreover, it has been met with excellent critic reviews and revered as one of the top documentaries of the decade. Overall, Dear Zachary is an excellent true crime documentary.

What is the artist communicating? How?

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is one of the best documentary films I have ever seen (just for reference: I watch a lot of documentaries). Kuenne is able to tell the story of Andrew Bagby’s life as well as capture his very essence in less than two hours. The two themes Kuenne attempts to convey in his movie are awareness and tragedy. Kuenne allows viewers an intimate view into the life of a murder victim. The documentary is meant to create awareness for Bagby’s unfortunate murder but mostly to show his uplifting life. Throughout the film, Kuenne cuts and combines various loved ones’ words to create a true picture of Andrew. Moreover, his simple editing and lack of obnoxious or overpowering music during climactic scenes allows Andrew’s life story to be told in an intimate and genuine manner. The second theme in Dear Zachary is tragedy. The story is a tragedy from the very beginning but Kuenne very successfully is able to make a commentary on the entire situation. Shirley Temple was allowed to walk free even though she murdered Andrew. Kuenne is able to perfectly capture the very heartbreak of that allowance in the lives of Andrew’s loved ones. Simple interviews with Andrew’s parents clearly showed the pain Shirley caused them.

Why do you find it beautiful?

As previously mentioned, Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, is not the first documentary film I have watched. However, it easily ranks in my top three favorite movies of all time. Kuenne did a wonderful job in involving the viewer in the story. Within the first half of the film, I felt like I was one of Andrew’s friends that knew him so well. Moreover, it is extremely easy to be invested in this film from the very beginning. Perhaps that is why I find the movie so beautiful. It allows me to gain an intimate view into someone’s life and look beyond the sensational murder story. The film truly tugged on my heartstrings. I have never cried in a movie before, but I came close while watching Dear Zachary. The ending is absolutely heart wrenching and that is what makes it beautiful. Truth be told, there is no happy ending in Dear Zachary nor does Kuenne attempt to create such a false ending. The documentary is raw and real and that is why it is so beautiful. It is able to play on one’s emotions without being overly dramatic. Furthermore, it captures the ugly reality of death in a family and the difficulty it takes to overcome such a tragedy.