I have never been a surfer. I don't know much about surfing, apart from movies like Big Wednesday and Point Break. I haven't been that interested in surfing. So sitting through a documentary about surfers didn't grab me. Yet, this turned out to be quite interesting.
In 1974, surfers were considered as drop-outs who didn't do anything but hang out at the beach, and hit the waves. This is, until a group of Australians and South Africans came to Hawaii and changed all that, wanting more than just the thrill of the ride, but wanting a career, and to have surfing recognised as a sport, and not just a waste of time.
This is simplistic documentary film making. Director Jeremy Gosch has got the men involved, now a lot older but maybe not wiser, to talk about that time in the 70s, and how the events affected not only the ideals of surfing, but their own personal growth.
The tales of how they dealt with their passions are well documented, sometimes funny, sometimes quite poignant, as they took on the fellow surfers, and how the Australians upset the locals in Hawaii and they basically had a death warrant on their heads.
As far as documentaries go, this isn't too bad. It's short and it does fly by, but these are just men telling their stories and with home movies to prove their points, it does keep the attention. Edward Norton gives a fairly minimal commentary, and it is left the the 'heroes' of the waves to be the stars.
If you are a fan of surfing, then this is one for you. You will lap up the excitements of the waves, the emotions of the information but for the general film going public, the subject matter may not be inviting enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment