Reactions to Two Documentaries

Last night I watched two very interesting, very different, documentaries.

The first was "Nursery University," a film about the cut-throat pre-school application process in New York City. What a trip. I had no idea that this level of pressure and prestige existed at the toddler level! The documentary followed a handful of families as they navigate the system: some of them perfectly in sync with the culture, others utterly lost and perplexed. In the end, one family got into all schools to which they applied, another got a second-choice school (a "safety school" to apply college terms) and another dropped out of the rat race altogether to attend an affordable co-operative playgroup. One of the points that I found most interesting was that many of the administrators at these saught-after preschools have no desire for the process to be as brutal and discriminatory as it is, that the pressure and competition come from the families themselves. Definitely recommend this one to anyone who is interested in education, toddlers, NYC, or overly-involved parents.

The second documentary I watched was "Dear Zachary: a Letter to a Son about his Father." I had eyed this one on Netflix for a while, but could tell from its description that it would be heavy. Last night I decided to take the plunge, figuring that if it disturbed me into insomnia, at least I wouldn't have to work the next day. And oh, it disturbed. I don't want to give away too much, but essentially its a film made by a man whose best friend is murdered. As the title suggests, the film is a memoir of the man's life made for his son, who will never meet him. The production is a little odd, but not distracting. At some points the audio cuts out, seemingly for dramatic effect; at others, the image is freeze-framed and a narration inserted. The filmmaker's intimate relationship with the incident gives him access to intensely emotional family moments, and he presents these scenes in an honest and thoughtful way. That said, this is one of those movies that will hit you at the bone. Watch it when you feel like you can handle some messed up stuff, because this one is full of 'em.


Definitely a weird cinematographic pairing. If I could, I would've switched the order in which I watched them, so that I could've fallen asleep to the sound of children playing and singing in my head, as opposed to primal shrieks of rage.