Steve Pulaski
"Every f---ing day of my life," Wendy Maldonado told the 911 dispatcher when the woman asked how often did her husband hit or abused her. This call came almost immediately after Maldonado bludgeoned her husband Aaron's skull in with a hammer, aided by her seventeen-year-old son Randy, before his bloody carcass was picked up and transported to a hospital and Wendy taken away in handcuffs. Her murdering her husband, while costing her ten years in prison, was a release of twenty years of unconscionable, unforgivable violence and abuse that was not an irregular or infrequent occurrence, but an every day tribulation for the middle-aged mother of three boys. Every F---ing Day of My Life, the edited and re-cut version of a film called One Minute to Nine, aired on HBO in 2009 and told the story that was so often silenced in the wake of beatings and inconceivable torture.Upon Wendy and Randy's arrest and subsequent acceptance of a plea bargain on manslaughter charges, with Randy arrested a week after Aaron's death, both souls were given four days before their sentencing hearing. Those four days are the focus of Tommy Davis's documentary, which is a collection of home movies revolving around what life was like in their Grants Pass, Oregon home. Wendy, who looks like any other woman you'd see in the supermarket or living on your block, details twenty years worth of trauma in just sixty minutes, showing us the grapefruit-sized holes in her walls, now concealed by drawings from her children, that were made by her head, bruises and cuts that were inflicted by her husband, and a wealth of broomsticks, knives, and flyswatters that were boxed away in the basement, out of reach from an unpredictably violent man of ostensibly no conscience.Randy speaks on the incident through a phone in the jailhouse, behind a thick sheet of bulletproof glass. He states that he was ready to murder his father when his mother voiced her desire, which came only minutes before the bloody death. He states how he can recall several nights sleeping with his shoes on, atop his covers, not underneath them, waiting for something to happen that needed his immediate action. He even recalls him and his two younger brothers forced to sit on the couch as they watched their father kick, beat, and terrorize their mother, a reaction I couldn't even begin to fathom watching passively unfold, even as a young child.A recurring moral of the documentary is the instillation of fear and helplessness. What made Wendy endure twenty years of abuse before finally acting, albeit in an extreme manner? She states that she could've ended it all ten years ago or even put up with it for another decade, but some impulsive instinct forced her to act and, in turn, bash her husband's brains in with a hammer one faithful evening, with the assistance of her older son. The act is recounted in horrifying detail, with gruesome crime scenes to boot, with both Randy and Wendy remarking how they saw Aaron hyperventilating and struggling to maintain irregular breathing after being struck so many times. When Wendy was being taken away by the police, she feared that her husband was still alive and that this incident would most definitely lead to a beating that she wouldn't survive. Sure enough, a coroner arrived and Aaron was pronounced dead soon after, an irreparable result to a drastic action that ended two decades worth of unjustifiable domestic violence.Most films show domestic violence as momentary spouts of violence, often impulsive and quickly apologized for, even in the most sinister dramas. Here's a documentary that holds the issue up to a magnifying glass, forcing the viewer to reap at the ugliness and unfathomable cruelty of the situation. I'm reminded heavily of Frederick Wiseman's lengthy documentary Domestic Violence, which concerned a battered women's shelter in Florida, the victims, and the treatments the women underwent in order to try and better themselves. Here's a documentary that zeroes in on perhaps a unique situation; a neverending display of brutal violence towards an innocence person that was tolerated for twenty years before something was done.However, at the end of the day, Wendy Maldonado and her son Randy are still killers, guilty of homicide, regardless of what the victim did to them or for how long he did what he did. Randy was eventually sentenced to six years with a release date set for August 2011, while Maldonado would serve ten years with a projected release date in March 2016. Upon being released from jail, I guarantee it will be the most liberating moment for Maldonado, if said moment hasn't already occurred.Every F---ing Day of My Life is one of the most frightening documentaries I have yet to see. It's a film that reminds many of us that we don't know domestic violence outside of films, news articles, and soap operas, and shows the real physical and psychological ugliness that burdens these situations. I end with the simple, but imperative statement for all to simply respect and cherish the people in your lives because nobody deserves to go through this kind of insufferable pain.NOTE: The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233; you know who you are.Directed by: Tommy Harris.
evening1
Here is a powerful documentary on a case of domestic violence that dragged on for 19 years before Wendy Maldonado bashed her husband's head in with a hammer. We see and hear a lot about the facts of this sordid situation, but this documentary is seriously diminished by its lack of attention to the psychology behind such terrible events. Why did Wendy stay with her brutal husband when the injuries he caused would have sent him to prison many times over? If she couldn't afford to leave, OK, I think the viewer could accept that. But ask her, at least!Clearly concerned friends, family, and neighbors of Wendy are interviewed on camera, and they all knew about the brutality. Yet Wendy takes a plea deal because, she says, after so many years of abuse she couldn't believe that anyone, including a jury, would care or demonstrate sympathy. As a result, she's now serving a 10-year term with no possibility of early release. The film gives no clue as to what caused Wendy finally to crack and give her husband a taste of his own medicine. Nor is any information given about the role of her oldest son, Randall, who also accepts a deal and also had to go to jail. These are serious and inexplicable omissions. I'm glad I saw this because domestic violence is a terrible problem in our society. Yet I can't help wondering if the filmmaker agreed not to ask certain questions in order to gain access.
Antioed
This is a fantastic film...so sad, so wrong and so *real*.Everyone knows a documentary tells a true story. To me, a *good* documentary tells a true story that evokes a strong emotional response from the viewer. This one resonated strongly with me.How easy it is for those who have not *lived through* extreme domestic violence to judge Wendy for staying with Aaron. They have not experienced the constant humiliation, torment and manipulation at the hands of an abuser. Abusers like Aaron are not dumb - they are *psychotic* and often masters of intimidation and manipulation. I should know, I grew up with one. Perhaps after having all your teeth knocked or broken out you might understand; or maybe the constant threats on your life and the lives of those you love if you leave? We all say "well I don't understand - I would just leave him"...of course we don't understand - we are not Wendy; we didn't marry that guy at eighteen and have kids with him. We can never know what it's like until we walk a mile in her shoes...the point of the film. I thought the ending was executed brilliantly by the director...brutally real...frustrating. It left me in total consternation with our so-called "justice" system. Wendy and Randy should not have been imprisoned...they should be in therapy.
