Review: ‘Must Read After My Death’

Ram  Man:

I received an email from Gigantic Releasing wanting to know if I would screen their new documentary ‘Must Read After My Death’. I told her I am a “Movie Geek” and I never refuse to see a film. I thought it seemed like a good title and found out when I got the DVD it was an even better story.

Morgan Dews, the writer-director-producer and most important “grandson”   of Allis and Charley on which the documentary is based. Dews who discovered a cryptic box of letters, photos,recordings and super 8 home movies that Allis has labeled “Must Read After My Death”   Dews has now shared his discovery about his  family with the world told in a very unique way as told in the film of the same name ‘Must Read After My Death’

Charley and Allis (no last names were given out of consideration of the surviving siblings) were married following World War II and had moved to Connecticut to raise their four children Anne, Chuck, Bruce and Doug. Allis was the homemaker and stay at home mom raising the kids while Charley had to spend 4 months or more out of the year traveling to Australia. Charley invested in a Dictaphone recorder to make records in order to communicate back and forth with the family during his long absences away over seas. These recordings and home movies allow the audience to see inside the picture perfect family and see the real dark secrets bubbling to the surface. Charley had begun drinking, sometimes heavily. And during an Australian trip in the 60’s decided to shack up with a local gal there and begin swinging. He informed Allis of all of this in one of his records home along with a rendition of “Tie Me Kangaroo Down” by Charley and Merle (the Girlfriend).

Charley was not the only problem for the family. Allis was struggling keep the house going and raising the children. One of the boys was raging to the point they had to have him inturned for psychological testing. This was the 60’s and a very male driven world. Allis is repeatedly told by medical professionals that everything was her fault and she was causing the problems with the children. The family would suffer even further turmoil in the years to come with Anne moving away from home just to try to lead a normal life (and give birth to filmmaker Morgan Dews). There is also the untimely death of the oldest son Chuck in a car accident. Once your half way through this film you feel is if your part of the family and could only imagine what shock Dews must have gone through sifting through his grandmothers tales she had left him.

‘Must Read After I’m Dead’ is a surprising look at the family unit told in the most unique way. The only real knock I have on the film is sometimes the timeline seems  a bit confusing . But I really liked this film and the way director/producer Morgan Dews put the films and recordings together to let Allis and Charley tell their story. ‘Must Read After My Death’ opens today in New York and L.A.,  and is worth the hunt to find what local theater is showing the film. Gigantic Releasing is also making the film available digitally through a weekend download for the rest of the country. You can purchase a digital ticket for $2.99 at www.giganticdigital.com and it will allow you unlimited viewing of the film for 3 days beginning today. The film is streaming in HD quality and has no ads or commercials. So if your on one of the coasts go find this film! If not, I encourage you to download it and enjoy.

[Overall 4 stars out of 5]

  

Nick:

‘Must Read After My Death’ is an intimate look into the dark heart of the American family. This documentary’s only agenda is to expose the raw emotions of a family teetering at the brink of a complete meltdown. It is insightful, heartbreaking and even frightening.

The film is directed by Morgan Dews and assembled from an extensive collection of home movies and audio recordings. This collage of archival material introduces us to Allis and Charley, a seemingly typical family in 1960s America. They have three sons and one daughter.

Charley has a job that takes him to Australia for four months out of the year, so the couple purchases Dictaphone recorders to stay in touch. The husband and wife are frank and open in their relationship, encouraging each other to find solace in the company of other men and women during their extended separation. Trouble brews on the horizon.

What starts as a habit in which a separated family can feel closer together, becomes a cathartic exercise in which all members of the family can voice the ways they’ve grown apart. The recordings become confessionals. They range from melancholy to bitter and to hopelessly desperate.

Late in the film, much of the conflict comes from the institutionalization of one of Allis and Charley’s son. Misdiagnosed, their son spends years away from home. He goes from being a frustrated boy to a young man who has disassociated from his family and brimming with rage.

I hope this powerful film, the 2008 Grand Prize winner at the International Documentary Festival in Marseilles, finds the same audience that lauded ‘Capturing the Friedmans’. It is every bit as involving as that film and a far more rewarding experience than its close, fictional cousin ‘Revolutionary Road’.

‘Must Read After My Death’ is distributed by Gigantic Releasing. Interestingly, they are the first distributor to open first-run films simultaneously in cinemas and day and date online. Gigantic is able to do this through their Gigantic Digital broadband theater. Gigantic Digital streams in ultra high quality, commercial-free and at a modest price. $2.99 gets you a three-day, unlimited ticket. Do take note that cities in which the film is or will be playing in theaters will be blacked out so that the digital release does not compete with cinema bookings.

[Overall: 4.5 stars out of 5]