Ain't It Cool News (www.aintitcool.com)
Movie News

Mr Beaks takes a STEP INTO LIQUID with Dana Brown!

Hey folks, Harry here... Mr Beaks polishes his board 5 times an hour before stepping into liquid, so it was only natural for him to chat with Dana Brown about the film that's got beauty beyond compare. Here ya go, and check the film out if you get a chance...

I am not a surfer. I have tried surfing on a few occasions, and that I did not kill myself is triumph enough. I can live with being my own, personal Big Kahuna. It might be self-deluding, but at least it doesn’t require wearing a halo for three months. But while I’ve never been bitten by the surfing bug, I have been hopelessly into surfing movies since I was a kid growing up in a small, landlocked Ohio town. The film that did it for me was Bruce Brown’s THE ENDLESS SUMMER, a scenic 1966 documentary about two globe-hopping kids (Robert August and Mike Hynson) hitting some of the world’s most gorgeous beaches in search of the perfect wave. Brown’s film offered me a glimpse into a very Zen subculture that essentially centers on a devotion to riding out whatever nature gives you, and doing it as joyfully as you can. What’s most wonderful to me about surfing is that, save for competition, you’re never under any obligation to tackle the biggest wave out there; the faint of heart can simply hop on a little breaker, and get stoked to their heart’s content. But if you do decide to tackle that fifteen to twenty foot monster, you have to commit to it fully. Otherwise, it could be the coral reef, which, in some extreme cases, means curtains.

In Dana Brown’s inspiring STEP INTO LIQUID (opening in New York and L.A. this weekend, and expanding to other major markets thereafter), we get to see a crazy bastard ride a sixty-six foot wave at the Cortes Bank, which is a good one hundred miles out from the Southern California shore. Even more amazing than that particular feat itself is that, nearly forty years after his father set the surf film gold standard, Dana Brown has succeeded at capturing the kind of awesome natural beauty that compares favorably to his old man’s work. And while not every scene hits the adrenaline high of the Cortes Bank sequence, the picture is never dull. There are amusing jaunts out to Wisconsin for some fresh water surfing, or, unlikely enough, to Ireland, where some Irish-Americans have quixotically combined their love of country with their love for the sport. There are also some genuinely touching segments featuring a paralyzed surfer who’s found a way back out to the waves, as well as a former soldier’s return to the beaches of Vietnam (which, I should add, is not heralded by Wagner). And, most notably, there is Dale Webster, the man who has been surfing for over 10,000 consecutive days over a span of twenty-seven years while still supporting his family, and raising a thoroughly well-adjusted daughter. As with both ENDLESS SUMMER movies, I lapped it all up like the total poser that I am. STEP INTO LIQUID, not the undercooked S.W.A.T., offers up the most satisfying spectacle of the weekend. It doesn’t get any cooler than this.

Actually, it does. Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Dana Brown about his labor of love prior to its premiere in Santa Monica. I’m genuinely excited at the notion of Dana picking up right where his father left off, and he seems more than happy to be following in the legend’s footsteps while establishing his own distinctive voice. Here’s hoping that this is just the beginning of more eye-popping documentaries on the level of STEP INTO LIQUID. It better be because it’s all I’ve got short of getting back on a board and attempting suicide again.

Your father went out in search of the perfect wave back in the 1960’s. You both ventured forth in search of it in the 1990’s. Now, here you are, ten years later doing it again. What is it about more: the journey or the wave?

It’s about the journey. I think the wave… changes. You know, the perfect wave, say, to me at twenty was different then than it is now. Those waves become like a metaphor, which is old-guy talk for… whatever (laughs). When you get kids, and you get more perspective, or you make films for a living, you start looking at it like that. There’s two ways to get into this business. One is a hard-core sell like, “well, the kids like doing this, so we’ll package it that way and make a lot of money on it!” If I was going to do that, man, I’d get into another line of business, something cleaner than making movies. So, I don’t look at it that way. I look at it in more of a “What are we trying to say?”, and to have that kind of conversation, and open up those topics. At least, as a subtext. I don’t want to bore anybody. So, that’s it. It’s probably the journey. But it wasn’t what I thought of when I started doing it. I thought of ON ANY SUNDAY when I started doing it because it was addressed to me in that way… that commercial way. “You’ve gotta do ENDLESS SUMMER 3.” Well, people are saying that because they want it on the poster. They want that name. You get your t-shirt sales.

ENDLESS SUMMER 2… and I’m proud of the film; I’m proud of dad. But the limitations… the things that were negatives about it were purely the compromises made that the powers that be tell you that you have to make to get a film done. That, in retrospect, you go, “Okay, the only negatives were those things.” And… I don’t want to go into this because it’s silly to rehash something from that long ago. That said, if it ever happened again… there’s no reason to do it. So, that’s one reason it’s been ten years. No ENDLESS SUMMER 3. No this, no that. Finally, at one point I even said, “Fine, we’ll call it ENDLESS SUMMER 3”. There was an option bought on it. It was called ES3 tentatively. And they told me, “You have total creative control, Dana. Don’t worry, we’ll raise the money in ninety days…,” blah, blah, blah. And typical: no money in ninety days. All that happened in that ninety days were two hundred fifty meetings over what the movie was going to be about, which was opposite of (how it ended up). What they were proposing was a ninety-minute Coors Light ad. It was the most obnoxious sounding, you know, “BASE Jumping! Chicks in thong bikinis!” I was about ready to scream. No, I didn’t have to do it even when they came up with the money, but the point was, when it was done… “Dude, all we need is thirty more days.” “No. Don’t call me.” I felt dirty. And that’s what I get for backsliding. And in that week, this Ray Willenberg of New Visual called me. I’d done some shows for him in the past. And he says, “Okay, Dana, I’ve got it! I’ve got a company that wants to pay for it.” And I’m like, “You do, Ray? Okay, here’s the deal. It’s not ENDLESS SUMMER jack-diddly, I get total creative control, I don’t want to hear bupkis…” because I’m in this frame of mind. I get done with this tirade, and he says, “Okay.” “Okay?” We had a couple of meetings, and he never changed his mind. But I kept waiting. Where’s that trap door? Somehow I’m wishing for this, I’ve seemingly made this bulletproof, but I know it’s not. Well, in this case, it was. All of a sudden we’re shooting, and it started to dawn on me that, “Alright, Brown, you bigmouth, now you’ve got to do what you said you were going to do.”

There is some discussion in the film, and I’ve heard this lamented by surfers in real life, is that Sean Penn’s “Spicoli” character sort of denigrated the whole surfer ideal.

(Laughs.) It’s a double-edged thing. He did the role so perfectly.

Well, there is *that* guy. But now everybody thinks that that’s all surfing is.

See, I’m of that age. I’m about Sean Penn’s age, so I saw that movie when I was twenty-one… and he was so new. I had a friend of mine that I made a bet with that I won. He bet that he wasn’t an actor – that they went and got (a real stoner) because he was so *spot* on. But surfing… not having to make a team, having no real guards at the beach… you have this stoner “Let’s go hang out ‘cause there’s chicks” kind of thing. But they’re in the parking lot, or on the beach. They’re not in the water. That said, people who don’t surf… they don’t get it. They just call them “surfers”. I think we all laughed like hell at Spicoli, but then all of a sudden that guy’s you. “That’s not us!” “Oh, yeah it is. Because he’s a surfer in that movie. You’re telling me they don’t have surf boards?” “Yeah, they have surfboards, but they’re stoned! They just take them out of their car, walk around on the beach, get stoned and fall asleep.” You’d think the stigma would wear off, but twenty years later, you see it in newscasts! “Dude, what’s the surf report?” “Gnarly, Bob!” These guys live in California, and they act like it’s a bizarre Martian sect! It’s changing a lot, but it’s hung on, and it’s kind of got that embarrassing quality. “Is it true you surf?” Oh, my god! It’s like admitting you… smoke a hookah pipe of opium. I don’t know what it is. It’s somewhere between childish and slightly dangerous. But it seems to be changing for the positive.

Do you think that contributes to why someone like Kelly Slater hasn’t received much acclaim here? He’s a superstar in Australia.

He’s tremendously well paid.

And all of the endorsements. But here… you might have heard of him. ESPN *might* mention him occasionally.

He’s much more famous for, maybe, that video game. It’s amazing to me. That’s part of it. Part of it is… and this is a long answer. As far as not getting mainstream exposure… it’s not just ESPN’s fault. There’s an economic dynamic that drives this stuff obviously. Those dog shows get great ratings. “’Outdoor Games’ with dogs jumping into pools!” But you don’t see surfing. I think maybe one day (the sport) will get it together. It’s a weird sport. It doesn’t translate very well because it’s a judge sport, and those are always the most difficult. You don’t have specific things you have to do because you can’t. It’s a wave. So what’s more difficult? The 360 aerial or a deep tube? They all struggle with that, but they’re such tremendous athletes, it’s just too bad that then it goes from that (difficulty) to being “Well, they’re not really athletes.” John McEnroe’s coming tonight because he has that kind of respect for surfers. The athletes get it, and it’s a shame that the public, or certain parts of the public in this country, don’t appreciate how good these guys are. Because it’s two different things. The movie’s spirit is about how any schlub can have a good time riding a wave, but on top of that… you look at a Michael Jordan or an Alex Rodriguez, and you go, “How in the holy hell do you do that?” It’s that kind of thrill of watching someone like Tiger Woods hit a drive. Kelly’s right there. And Taj (Burrow). They just take your breath away.

If only they could shoot competitions like you’ve shot this movie. It blows my mind watching this footage, especially something like the Cortes Banks. I don’t know how many cameras you have going…

We only had one at Cortes.

You had one camera at Cortes?

All day. We would’ve had a hell of a lot more, but we didn’t know. It had been dry run about half a dozen times. For it to work, our budget… we wanted it all on screen. You know how movies are. It’s obnoxious how much things can cost. We got a mount that day that’s running us two grand, and that’s a deal. The helicopter, if we got it to go out to Catalina, it would only last a half-hour in the air before it had to go back all the way to Catalina to refuel. So, you’re not going to spend five grand to do that. Looking back on it, we would’ve. We also would’ve chartered another boat with a couple more guys, and a jet ski. But there’s nothing you can do once you’re out there because it takes you fourteen hours just to get out there; there’s no bullet train. But God cooperated, so we had this twelve hour shooting day that we were able to get about fifteen, twenty or thirty shots that make up that day, which is just hard work.

Other days, like the first big wave scene… that’s eight cameras – two helicopters at one time. I mean, we’re shooting the hell out of that thing, which is great, too, because you’re left with a lot more footage. But it still comes down to the action in the story. It comes down to, “Oh, we lost a ski”, or “Michael takes this bad wipeout”. You know, the Zapruder film still wins out over IMAX. You’re there to tell the story of what happened. It’s a great tale, and to ignore that and be more worried about doing these ten great helicopter shots. When you do that, sometimes the whole reason is forgotten.

It becomes more about the technique?

Which is what’s nice about writing, or thinking. It’s the purity of it. You wrestle with that in film because it’s more complicated. It is. I don’t care how smart you are, it’s got to be collaborative. You’ve got to rely on your composer, and your tech guys. Even though I shoot, I do a lot of stuff, but, man, I couldn’t do it all even if I had my whole life to do it. Not well, anyway. It’s balancing act.

What about these underwater photographers that just kind of hang out in the water? We see them every now and then in the movie.

They’re above the water, and, then, if it’s right for them, they’ll just sink, or swim down. In Jack’s case – Jack shot that one shot that’s real pretty at the start where you see those guys floating up with the wave – what Jack will do is he’ll go and swim down, hold his breath, grab onto something at the bottom, and then he just lets go and starts to rise. It’s like a natural crane shot; he starts just elevating. On certain days he can control himself slightly. They’ve all got different techniques. Some of them wear weight belts. Very few of them wear respirators of any kind. They could. I think those guys have played with that, but the more cumbersome it is, the more they’re a little bit gunshy (of using it) just because they have to move and stuff. But they’re so good at it. They really are select guys. It’s not something I could do; although, it’s something I could start taking credit for (laughs).

How did you find Dale?

I put the word out with many people I knew. I was really interested in those characters that we all know in life that are like a metaphor for passions in life. In my case, it’s surfing. I wanted the true kind of eccentric, and people mentioned Dale. Bob (Robert “Wingnut” Weaver from ENDLESS SUMMER 2) said to me, “You know Dale Webster.” He told me the story, and I didn’t believe it. Guy surfing every day (for twenty-seven years)? I’m like, “How do you guys know that?” “Well, you don’t. You’ve just got to talk to Dale.” I just thought for sure he was this con-man; a big talker who just wanted to get attention. Did you get a chance to talk to him?

Yeah.

You talk to Dale for five minutes, and you know he’s real. And then you’re just in love with him. I was so happy to see that his daughter loved and respected him, so that was great. And he’s funny, and he kind of acknowledges that he’s eccentric. He’s brilliant.

One thing that I’m curious about, and we don’t see too much of it in the film, is the territorial aspect of surfing.

It’s definitely… it’s a part of surfing. But it’s a part of surfing that’s dwelled on quite a bit. To me, the asshole quotient in surfing is probably equal to the asshole quotient in writing, or filmmaking. It’s maybe five percent. It seems like it’s a lot bigger because it’s one of those “It takes a hundred compliments, but one insult” kind of things. You remember that insult, and you remember those guys. They bug the crap out of all of us. They definitely exist in surfing, and they get a lot of attention in surfing. And I think they’ve gotten way too much attention. I don’t think the cool stuff has gotten nearly enough attention. I think they’re a bunch of assholes, and I’ve only got an hour and a half to tell my story, so I ain’t mentioning those jerks. I think everybody knows they exist. They also know we’re all going to die, and all those guys take smelly dumps every morning, and everything else. I don’t have to show that. You know what I mean? I’m not trying to whitewash it, or deny it, but it’s just one of those things I choose not to mention. I don’t like them. That’d be my statement because I think they’re cowards and bullies, and they miss the whole point of surfing. They’d be angry guys on a golf course, or wherever you’d put them. It’s unfortunate. Hopefully, they start arresting more because what they do is illegal. Going up and slugging people, or slashing tires, and whatever chicken shit things they do. I’m old enough, and mean and gnarled enough, that they don’t… well, it depends on how big they are. (Laughs.) I don’t put myself in those situations. There are some pros, some real psychotic guys, and you just avoid them. But there is that element, like local toughs, and unfortunately society is cursed with those little suckers.

I also think it’s a copout to be… I don’t like movies that go out of their way to be serious. I never understood that by the way; why is serious important? You can be *serious*, and that just means you’re being overly serious. Is cynical smart? No, it’s not. It’s just going, “Oh, *really*!” Do you know what I mean? There’s just that negative mindset sometimes.

Oh, no. I agree.

So, yeah, I was well aware that there could be the joke that this was, “Up with people! Up with surfing! Grab the world a coke and hold hands!” I knew that, and, believe me, I’m the first one to poke fun at that. I looked at it, and we talked about it – and, believe me, we’re a bunch of smartasses – but I said, “Let’s do it! How brave is this? Let’s make this real positive statement.” It’s almost more ambitious. Now, that (the film) is being accepted, it might not seem so bold, but at the time, when we were first showing it, we were like, “Oh, man, it’s going to be a Disney movie gone wrong. Where’s the singing birds?” But, then, it was like, “This is really brave!” Because it’s easy to make fun of somebody, or be cynical. You know what I mean?

Well, that’s the pitfall of documentaries. They often decide to ridicule their subject, or set them up for easy laughs.

Exactly. Or, if not easy laughs, you go find the crack smoking welfare mom, and it’s the most depressing thing. And when you’re done, there’s no solution, except for some general statement like, “If you notice, the people in Washington ride limos, and this lady…” And you go, “Yeah, so what? What’s the answer?” And those are the asswipes that get a two-picture deal for GIRLS GONE WILD movies. They abandon the homeless for Hollywood so quick. They’re all dressed in black living in the Hills, or something, and it makes you want to punch them. I should do a documentary on those guys. (Laughs.)

But my movie is about people having a passion, and embracing it. These guys embrace their own passion at whatever level it is. And it’s all the same. I’m not trying to recruit people to go surfing, and I think the movie gives that off. Just be happy. Go forward with what you’re doing. Don’t sit around worrying about what’s going on in everyone else’s backyard, and what’s cool, and what’s not. I think people by-and-large get that. It’s not to point out that surfing is better than anything else. It’s just to show that being jazzed, passionate, stoked – whatever you want to call it – is a *good* thing. It’s the best thing we have going for us.

Faithfully submitted,

Mr. Beaks

Readers Talkback
comments powered by Disqus