This is a deeply moving and original movie on so many levels. At its most fundamental, it's about the relationship between a filmmaker and his subject. I wish this was something more filmmakers addressed as probingly and with as much self-honesty as Justin Schein does here. Where is the ethical borderline between bearing witness and intervention to avert a wrong? But that's just one axis on which this film turns. What if what seems wrong -- in this case, we are talking about the desire of a charismatic, funny, biting and incredibly, overwhelmingly lonely veteran political activist to take is own life -- what if what seems wrong isn't wrong? What if it's both wrong and right? How do you even know? Another review calls the movie "depressing.'' Yet the audience I saw it with burst into laughter at many points. That's because Mayer Vishner, the Yippie leader Schein profiles, is genuinely funny -- we can see why Schein is drawn to him -- and because Schein, often at his wits end, also manages to keep his sense of humor. Parts of the film are hard to watch, yes. It is unflinching. So are its two protagonists. But that is precisely what makes you want to keep seeing more.
Final note: The archival footage of Yippie activism and the context in which it rose and fell is amazing in its own right. Highly recommended.
