Audio Asylum Thread Printer

Documentary made and narrated by Stacy Peralta about the history of big wave surfing. The film, after some brief history of surfing by Polynesians, begins in the late 50's. A large migration of California surfers leaving for Hawaii to surf the big waves. Once there, they stay, without jobs, living off fish they catch, and coconuts, pineapples, and other fruits. Some set of surf shops to pay for their surf habit. Peralta tracked down some obscure footage of these early surfers, and most provide interviews. At that time, they were mostly surfing 30 foot waves. The early film footage was pretty good for it'e time, but surfing in those years was largely a fringe sport, and so there was not much of a following.
Apparently, in the eary 60's, after a rash of surfer movies, surfing in the U.S. exploded from about 5k to over 2 million. The film depicts these surfers as quasi-explorers looking around the Hawaiin Islands for bigger waves. Eventually, they locate 50 foot giants.
The film then shows the developments of the different board styles through the sixties and into the seventies, and moves back to the Northern California shore off the coast of San Francisco, where another surfer had found waves that rivalled those in Hawaii, combined with treacherous rock, known as Mavericks, surfing there for fifteen years before anyone knew it existed. Apparently, the only way to get there is to paddle for 45 minutes, and wait for a couple of hours.
After being discovered by the Hawaiin surfers, they arrive to surf. One of the more famous Hawaiin surfers is killed. A year later, another is killed. Corresponding to their deaths, there is a discussion on the pros and cons of leg ropes tied to the board. Seems the ropes can get wedged in rocks, trapping the surfer below the surface. The other alernative is to not have the rope, be submerged, not know which way is up, then drown.
The film takes us up to Laird Hamilton, considered the best big wave surfer of all time, as he developed the towing method, whereby the surfer is towed on top of the wave, then surfs. Apparently, before the tow method, there was no way for the surfer to get on top of a 50+ foot wave because they could not paddle fast enough to keep up with the speed of the wave.
The photography in the second half of the film is incredible. This is approximately the point of Laird Hamilton, where his every move was filmed. There is one scene of him in Tahiti cathing the biggest wave ever photographed, allegedly too big to measure.
The film provides individual stories on the surfers it chronicles. I am not a surfer, and am not particularly interested in surfing per se, but the film's strength is depicting human beings who are so passionate about their love of surfing that they are willing to do anything in order to enjoy the rush. I personally like watching stories of people who are so committed that they are willing to risk everything, to test the limits of their bodies, and risk everything. Paddling 45 minutes, waiting two hours for the big wave seems like a waste of time, but these men, and occasional woman, need the adrenaline rush, and their committment to their sport is commendable.
As mentioned, the photography is excellent, and through it we can see how difficult, and disciplined, these surfers are. Of course, the scenes of Hawaii, the most beautiful place I have personally ever visited, is well represented.
This is the second Peralta documentary I have seen. The first was Dogtown and Z-Boys, about the skateboarding community developing from surfing in southern California. I have also seen Step Into Liquid, mostly about how surfing has developed in other countries. I think that this is the first to see, then Step Into Liquid, then Dogtown. But the more I see surfer documentaries, the more I realize that surfing is more than the subject of a Beach Boy's song, or something that Greg Brady tried while visiting Hawaii with the family.

Films/DVD Asylum

Riding Giants