Surfwise DVD > Reviews > Surf Or Die

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Compelling documentary about an unusual man
Disadvantages:	At times very graphic in its dialogue

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Every morning Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz gets up and carries out a stringent exercise regime, using elements of Yoga and similar meditational based exercise. Having completed this work out he heads for the beach where he picks up his surfboard and catches some great waves. You might think this is nothing unusual, but when I tell you that Doc is 84 it might give you reason for a little more thought. Surfwise is a documentary that focuses on the unconventional life of Doc, his love of surfing, and how he packed up his family of 11 in a 21 foot mobile home and travelled the US looking for the best adventures he could find for him and his family.

I watched open mouthed at the exploits of this man, his behaviour as an 84 year old was far less conservative than mine a man nearly a third his age, to be honest he was possibly more fit than me too. It's the way he talks and his manner that leaves you most shocked, you kind of envy the lifestyle he led, and kind of hate the very thought of it too.

The documentary shot by Doug Pray follows mainly the adventures of the family from 1978 to the late 1980's when everything started to go wrong. Pray's delivery of the subject matter is unrelenting, as he shows both the positives of Doc's child rearing and the extreme negatives, the one that sticks out in my mind was where he encourages one son to choke another to death.

Following Doc the documentary allows this old man the opportunity not to atone for his sins but to get to the bottom of them, Doc reflects back to the holocaust and how as a Jew he feels he let his people down. One very poignant scene shows a German soldier (in a photograph) about to shoot a Jewish mother and her baby, tearfully Doc tells how he could do nothing to prevent this, and how he wanted all those around him to be stronger than he ever was.

A documentary needs to be really good in order to hold my attention, especially when it's a documentary made for the big screen, but with Surfwise there was never a moment when I felt distracted or begged for the end. Surfwise is the ultimate learning experience, and I feel I learned so much from watching this documentary, especially when you reflect back to times of childhood when you feel you felt hardship, imagine having to share a bedroom with 9 siblings, now that it true hardship.

Food is a key thing in the movie, everyone reflects on it at some point or another, namely the endless supply of fish. While Doc's brother in law tells how he saw Doc pull a fish from the water eating it raw and in whole including eyes.

Doc spends a lot of time discussing sex, and talks about the act of sex in great detail rather like you and I might discuss a nice meal. From oral sex in extreme detail, to orgy style behaviour when Doc in his real profession as a Doctor carried out a sexual study in order to find out about the sexual needs of women.

A lot of the film is spent listening to the stories of his children, all of whom have now grown up and are all incredibly successful, many of which are in some of Americas leading bands. It's their recollections that sober you up the most, they discuss having to watch their parents making love, operations when surfing went tragically wrong, and their toilet habits. As well as the kids you also see the events through his wife Juliette whom he has been with for over 50 years and still have sex each and every day, it's amazing when you listen to her speak the control one person can have on another human being. Juliette travels from having her own personality and believes to being a more or less carbon copy of Doc, though she seems very happy being so.

The biggest point of the movie is reunion, because as Doc gets older he wants to reunite his family many of whom have separated all ties with other members due to horrific events told in detail during the movie. With reunion in mind how many if any of Doc's children will return?

I was really wowed by this movie; it was beautiful and haunting and certainly will receive another viewing.

Surfwise is due in selected UK cinemas from July, with a DVD release due in October.

Spencer Hawken 06/08