|
Highwater review
:. Director: Dana Brown
:. Genre: Documentary
:. Running Time: 1:30
:. Year: 2008
:. Country: USA
|
The surf documentary Highwater is all about the visual power of surfing. Dana Brown's documentary quickly sinks into affable Orange County mediocrity; there is no substantial analysis, no journalistic cred; just a super casual hang loose mentality (enveloped in nonjudgmental love) that hovers over the entire production. At the same time, Brown's stunning footage of surfers in their prime almost balances out those pesky elements people appreciate in their documentaries.
Brown loves to talk, talk, talk about surfing and how great it is and how even women are getting better and better each year. The film focuses on Oahu's North Shore from roughly Halloween to Christmas and the culmination is the Triple Crown competition.
He feasibly "interviews" (a term that's used loosely) every surfer under the sun but the only ones who really shine are Sunny Garcia, Jon Jon Florence, Kelly Slater and Sofia Mulanovich and Carissa Moore. There are far too many surfers to keep track of, and since the interviews aren't too in depth, it would have been better to focus on a handful.
Highwater is a part of a family affair. Dana Brown's father is Bruce Brown, legendary surf documentary maker and his son Wes serves editor on the film. As for the power of judicious editing, aside from slicing a good 40 minutes off of the film, banal shots of Brown's daughter goofily laughing at the camera have no rhyme or reason for being in the film.
Tragedy strikes when Tahitian surfer Malik Joyeux is killed in the ocean, and it is one of the rare, moving moments in the film when there is a sense of authentic community, especially the Hawaiian funeral in the water.
As for the rest, the whole is the sum of many superficial parts drenched in blue water under a Hawaiian sun.
Anji Milanovic
 Documentary Reviews: 1998 - 2011
Documentary Reviews: 2012 - present
|
|
