| Zachariah | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | George Englund |
| Produced by | George Englund Lawrence Kubik |
| Written by | Phil Austin Peter Bergman |
| Starring | John Rubinstein Patricia Quinn Don Johnson |
| Cinematography | Jorge Stahl Jr. |
| Editing by | Gary Griffin |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1971 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
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.
