'One California Day' Surf movie
I had the great pleasure of seeing 'One California Day' last night at the San Francisco premiere. Wow. What an amazing film.
They bill it as a collection of short stories about the California surfing experience...which is SUCH a tall order to take on. Somehow, Mark Jeremias and Jason Baffa not only crushed what they set out to do, but they actually over-delivered against my expectations. I left the theatre extremely filled with pride, and feeling incredibly fortunate to have been raised in Southern California, and to have experienced the surf-centric lifestyle which they so effectively define in their film.
The reason why I was so blown away is that surfing is really a multi-dimensional thing. The experience is really different for each individual, based on their perspective, their local influences their environments, etc. However somewhere there is this common thread that unites almost all surfers (whether we like to admit it or not). This film does a great job of distilling down the role that tradition plays in surfing. The ideas, styles and experiences that are handed down from generation to generation. While this is something that has always been front and center in the Hawaiian culture (and more specifically, the role that the ocean and surfing in particular plays in that overall cultural tradition), One California Day makes a great case supporting the idea that tradition plays a huge role in the California surfing culture..and it is very much alive and well.
The film was beautiful, and certainly stylized (lots of gorgeous time-lapsed film shots of sunrises and traffic flowing in the early hours...showing the energy and vibrancy of California hustle), but not overly so. It was really easy on the eyes to watch. The editing flowed with the material. The sound-track was mellow and bluesy and twangy and full of mellow energy.
From the close up and personal moments with the Noll family, to Joel Tudor to the Malloy family, to Tyler Hatzikian burning rubber in hot-rod (ala Dale Velzy), there was a wonderful rounded-ness to the film that went beyond lulling into lust by showing us perfect wave after perfect wave. They included just enough conversational moments to get to know the personalities behind the surfing experience from all of these individuals without becoming an overly indulgent Joel Tudor-fest.
Run, don't walk to the theatre to support these film-makers. If you can't catch it in the theatre, definitely pick up the DVD. It's one that you'll watch over and over.
You can see a trailer here
http://www.noserider.com/dan-10
Aloha
Noserider
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