Zachariah (1971 film)

Infobox Film
name = Zachariah


caption =
director = George Englund
producer = George Englund
Lawrence Kubik
writer = Phil Austin
Peter Bergman
narrator =
starring = John Rubinstein
Patricia Quinn
Don Johnson
Dick Van Patten
music =
cinematography = Jorge Stahl Jr.
editing = Gary Griffin
distributor = Buena Vista Pictures
released = 1971
runtime = 93 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 68011

"Zachariah" is a 1971 film starring John Rubinstein as Zachariah and Don Johnson as his best friend Matthew. The film is loosely based on Herman Hesse's novel "Siddhartha", surrealistically adapted as a musical Western. The band Country Joe and the Fish perform as an inept gang of robbers (more adept as musicians) called "the Crackers," who are always "looking for people who like to draw." In the same vein, Zachariah boasts: "I can think, I can wait, and I'm fast on the draw." This is a parody of Siddhartha's famous line: "I can think, I can wait, I can fast."

Underneath the gunplay, the jokes, and the music, an important message is delivered: a life of pacifism, quiet contemplation and vegetarianism is preferable to a life of violence.

This film is defined as being part of the Acid Western genre. More precisely, in its own publicity releases, it was called, "The first electric western." This was, in no small part, due to the fact that this film featured several appearances and music supplied by successful rock bands from the era, including the James Gang and Country Joe and the Fish. Fiddler Doug Kershaw has a musical cameo that advances the plot of the film. The movie also features a former John Coltrane sideman as Elvin Jones plays a part as a gunslinging drummer.

External links

*imdb title|id=68011|title=Zachariah
* [http://jclarkmedia.com/film/filmreviewzachariah.html A lengthy review and analysis of the film]