Surfwise

A look at a fascinating family, headed by a hardcore noncomformist - Dorian Paskowitz, a washed-up doctor, surfer, adventurer, and oddball who, along with his wife, created one of the weirdest families ever. The Paskowitz clan (2 parents and 9 kids!) travelled around the USA in the 1960s and 70s, surfing, just barely scraping by, not going to school, and having legendary adventures. Eventually they kind of settled down and opened a surfing school. This vivaciously edited documentary shows both the good and the bad, the joys but also the pains of growing up in a brilliant, loony environment. As cool as the surfing and endless summers must have been, many of the boys (and they were mostly boys - only 1 daughter in this litter) ended up at loose ends, butting heads with each other and with the world.

This movie is not about surfing, although that is the background. It is a movie about parenting.

"Doc" Paskowitz drops out and becomes a surfer. he marries and has nine children. They all travel about the country in a 24' trailer.

Now, one can imagine the effect on the children as their brothers and sisters were being made right before their eyes in that trailer. They had sex every single night. "Doc" had his life, but what about them? No schools, no friends, just traveling from place to place so daddy can find himself.

Of course, you may accept his beliefs that "cultures (like ours) that are all f*cked up about f*cking, will decline and cause wars." And, maybe you can accept that having a bad family is better than no family.

But, you have to agree that his method of parenting had serious implications for how his children lived in the real world.

I couldn't have went back.

Just as the Godfather is a movie about family not crime, so is Surfwise a movie about family not surfing. And although this movie (or the vast majority of all movies) doesn't come close to the cinematic value of the Godfather, it's still one hell of good ride.

The film follows the lives of the Paskowitz family, detailing their strange upbringing that is in equal parts inspirational, radical, and debilitating. There family is so large, personalities so varied, talents so strong that it's easy to get lost between everyone yet the film manages to tie it all wonderfully together.

Full of home video footage, mixed with interviews and some lines causing me to spew whatever I was drinking in laughter and astonishment, this documentary keeps you engaged and thinking the entire time.

It's a powerful story, a mind-boggling piece of 'what if' psychology, and easily appreciated even if you are not a fan of surfing.

Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz has been riding the waves for nigh unto three-quarters of a century now. In 1956, at the age of 45, he abandoned a career as a doctor to pursue a life dedicated almost exclusively to surfing and raising a family - and he hasn't looked back since. In fact, Doc and his family have achieved a notoriety of sorts (in surfing circles, at least) for their nonconformist, iconoclastic lifestyle, which involved all eleven of them living together in a cramped 24-foot camper trailer, avoiding any kind of formal schooling, and flitting from one beach to another in search of the perfect wave. Now, in his mid 80s, Doc, along with his wife, Juliette, and their nine kids - eight of whom are named after Biblical figures - discuss their lives and upbringings in the fascinating documentary "Surfwise" by director Doug Pray. Life literally has been a beach for these people.

The thing that strikes us most about Doc is that he is no self-conscious radical trying to make an ideological point with his life; rather, he's a fairly average guy who's honest enough to admit that he never much cared for school or the money-grubbing rat race of the corporate or business world and that he is simply much healthier and happier when in the water. And it is these values that he has chosen to instill in his children, along with a devotion to their Jewish heritage and a healthy attitude towards sex (apparently, he and his wife were less than shy about showing their affection for one another in front of the children, much to the kids' consternation at times).

But there has been a definite downside to this nonconformity as well, and the movie does not shy away from depicting it - whether it be in Doc's dictatorial, even violent, methods of maintaining his authority over the kids or in the children's understandable desire to break free of their upbringing to lead a lifestyle more in accord with social norms. And, of course, there's the resentment they've come to harbor in their later years towards a father who, by willfully choosing to separate them from the outside world, rendered them ill-equipped to function in that world once they became adults (one son laments that he could never attend medical school because he was too far behind all the other applicants in basic knowledge to successfully compete with them). The movie raises the thorny issue of just how much right a parent has to deny his children the privileges and benefits that come from being socialized into the society around them. Was Doc practicing a form of child abuse - or simple providing his kids with a rare and perhaps enviable opportunity to live life as one long summer camp? (The family does actually run a camp of sorts dedicated to teaching the fine art of surfing to crowds of eager youngsters). Even the kids themselves can't agree on the answer to that question, with some feeling the need to defend their dad and the way in which he raised them and others choosing to lash out at and lambaste him for the same reason. Yet, the children could hardly be classified as dysfunctional adults, with each of them pursuing respectable careers and raising apparently stable and healthy families. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the documentary is that it leaves it up to the viewer to formulate his own assessment of Doc. We're never pushed to take sides in the conflict.

Through Doc's story, "Surfwise" provides a fascinating look at what it means to be a family, what it means to be a parent, and why it's important to find a balance between the overindulgences of the modern world and the deprivations of a simple life, not completely ignoring one at the expense of the other. The movie ends on an upbeat note with a long overdue reunion where old wounds are healed and old grudges put aside - all in the name of Family. Which is, I suppose, as it should be.

Generally speaking, I'm not that big on documentaries but I can of course appreciate a good one and can get intrigued by a great and interesting concept. And while it's not like this movie has an incredible subject, it still manages to be a great watch.

This is not a documentary about an all important subject or world changing event, or a legendary, influential person. It's the story of a not so very ordinary man, living a not so very ordinary live, with his wife and 9 children.

It's the story of a man, giving up basically everything he had in life and had build up with other persons, to explore himself and to do just the things he wants to do. That means surfing and traveling from beach to beach, in a camper, without a steady income or responsibilities to anyone else. He's living by his own ideologies and has his very own, sometimes very peculiar, ideas about what true happiness, wisdom is and how to achieve it all and what is good for you and not. It would be fine if he lived this life on his own but having a kid and 9 children living in a small camper with you, living by the same ideologies it's of course a bit troublesome and perhaps even irresponsible.

But it's not like the documentary is picking sides with anyone or condemns anything. Actually the things I really liked about this documentary was that for its first half it showed one big, happy family, that were really living the life and everything seemed just perfect. But then suddenly the second half started to show a far more less happy side of things and suddenly everything seemed not as cool and perfect as it did before. It shines two different lights on the same subject basically, which was an admirable and a bit of an unexpected thing for this documentary to do.

It's also a documentary that is good and pleasant to watch due to its pace. Some documentaries tend to dwell on for too long because they are so love in love with their subject. This documentary doesn't do this. It doesn't put anyone on a pedestal and actually does a rather surprising good job at giving as many people as possible an equal amount of screen time. This is a documentary about a large family, consisting out of 2 parents with 9 children but everyone gets to tell their side of things- and their own personal story, without ever making the documentary feel overlong. It tells you just enough and everything you really need to know.

Just in case you hadn't figured; a great documentary to watch!

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/