San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
California Streamin’: Surf films for those stuck at home.
California beaches are finally reopening, with surfing being one of the activities that has been approved. Social distancing and mask rules still apply, but it’s the slow beginning of some return to normalcy.
Surfing is one of California’s most beloved sports, probably associated with the state more than any other besides Hawaii. As the summer and waves beckon us into hopefully calmer, lessplaguey waters, let’s go through some of the excellent surf films that are available to stream.
“The Endless Summer” (and “The Endless Summer II”): Though it’s easy and a little cliché to start with, there is a reason that Bruce Brown’s “The Endless Summer” and its 1994 followup still top bestof lists in the genre more than 50 years after the original premiered. These aren’t even films so much as they are cultural artifacts that changed the lives of thousands of people, similar to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” or “The Velvet Underground & Nico.”
Both movies were truly lightning in a bottle, and it’s especially rare for a documentary to hold up this well decades later. It also set the standard for what a nonfiction surf movie is as Mike Hynson and Robert August leave California to embark on a wave hunt around the world. To the extent that surfing has a scripture, this is it. Some things really are as good as the hype makes them out to be, and “The Endless Summer” is one of them.
Watch it: Available to stream on various services, including Amazon Prime Video.
“Under an Arctic Sky”: Directed by Pismo Beach’s Chris Burkard, this is easily my personal favorite surf film. Rather than the balmy beaches most associated with the sport, Burkard and crew head out to the Westfjords of Iceland as massive winter storms threaten but also promise waves unlike those anywhere else.
The frozen landscapes are deliciously incongruent with the surfer image, and Burkard’s trek into the most desolate parts of Iceland is a pil
grimage. After seeing amazing board work from Timmy Reyes before the whole team has to flee a sudden, devastating turn in the weather, the film culminates with a night surf under the aurora borealis. The northern lights illuminate the crest of the waves like a spotlight, creating a oneofakind collage of man, sea and sky that is utterly breathtaking.
Watch it: Available to stream on various services, including Amazon Prime Video.
“View From a Blue Moon”: John Florence is arguably the best surfer in the world and the man who finally toppled Kelly Slater as the public face of the sport. His instinctive movements through the waves, often ending with gravitydefying flights, are pure magic to watch.
“View From a Blue Moon” follows Florence throughout the world as he lives the quintessential surfer life hunting for adventure. Codirected by Blake Kueny, the photography in the film is second to none. Everything is gorgeous and even mystical. Underwater and sky shift from top to bottom as Florence moves through both realms as if he was Aquaman. While Florence’s skill with tricks is exciting, it’s the loving way he and Kueny are able to capture the magic of their environment that truly makes the movie stand out.
Watch it: Available to stream on various services, including Kanopy.
“One California Day”: Capturing the history and culture of California surfing is an arduous task, but Mark Jeremias and Jason Baffa do it better than just about anyone. From Crescent City to Imperial Beach, from the North
Shore to Baja, they move up and down the coast connecting with the way the sport has grown since it took root in the Golden State. Jeremias and Baffa have a deep appreciation for history and tradition, and, unlike a lot of surf documentarians, they use local people and customs as storytelling pieces instead of props for scenery. They leave no stone unturned and are as happy discussing the crowded public beaches full of oldtimers as they are looking for hidden, exotic pockets of paradise.
Watch it: Available to stream on various services, including Vudu.
“Fading West”: I started watching this Switchfoot documentary in a pissy mood because I couldn’t find a streaming version of the legendary ’90s surfer film “The Search for Tom Curren,” and it was the thing that popped up next in my suggestions instead.
Surprisingly, the California band’s mixture of live music and escapes to surf away from the cheering crowds was infectious and moving. Surf films are predominately populated by people who live and die for the sport, and it’s heartening to see a group dedicated to another lifestyle using the waves as a way to calm the anxieties in their path.
Watch it: Available to rent on various services, including Google Play.
“Psycho Beach Party”: You could watch all the classic beach party films … or you could watch the absolute best parody of them ever made. Lauren Ambrose plays a Gidget standin who wants to join the local surfer group but suffers from blackouts that correspond with gruesome serial murders. Hilariously overthetop right down to terrible greenscreen surf sequences and a musical number featuring a band in wrestling masks at a luau, it condenses everything wonderful about the ’60s beach films but adds the thrill of a horror movie and topnotch comedic writing. If you watch only one fictional surf film, watch this one.
Watch it: Available to stream on various services, including Amazon Prime Video.
Jef Rouner is freelance journalist based in Houston.