World premiers - now just how many of those do we get to go to? Tonight, the Regency South Coast Village Theater was host to the Newport Beach Film Festival showing of surf documentary "The Westsiders" which was premiering for the first time anywhere.
I'm an Ohio native - basically landlocked except for Lake Erie. I played in plenty of lakes when I was a kid but surfing? Nada. Zero. No interest. I am a huge fan of biolgraphical documentaries however and this film does not disappoint.
Covering the years from approximately the mid-80's to the present day, the film details the lives of legendary surfers Darryl “Flea” Virostko, Shawn “Barney” Barron, and Jason “Ratboy” Collins from Santa Cruz, CA. I had no idea who those men were when I sat down but I know now how difficult and twisting their journey was to surfing superstardom. Directed by Joshua Pomer and narrated by Rosanna Arquette the film is both a love story and cautionary tale. Pomer, a childhood friend of the three and a well-known surf director, had tons of archival footage to draw from and seemingly total access to all the people in these men's lives and to the men themselves. It's so rare to have the luck and insight to be making home movies of legends before they were such.
This from the synopsis:
Best friends Darryl “Flea” Virostko, Shawn “Barney” Barron, and Jason “Ratboy” Collins bonded in the icy cold waters of Santa Cruz as kids in the 1980s. Joined by their common tragedies and love of surfing, they supported each other through shattered homes, drug addiction, psychological challenges and hardcore localism. In order to earn their stripes as surfers, they were forced to join The Westsiders, a local surf gang, and go face-to-face with Vince Collier, aka “The Godfather.”
What I never understood about surfing - at least this type of surfing - is how competitive and rigorous it was. I knew the lean, muscular bodies meant an athelete but the guys went so far beyond that, pushing and challenging themselves to be better as certainly as any Russian coach ever pushed a Nadia or a Tatiana.
The teenage lifestyle of these true California natives was both sad and energizing. Left to themselves they did little else but party and cause mischief; but they also had ample opportunity to surf - every day, hours on end. It formed the basis of both their future trouble and glory.
Also, they really created a family who supported and raised themselves to adulthood albeit for some still a dysfunctional adulthood. In lieu of sometimes missing or irrelevant parents, they formed bonds that have lasted a lifetime and continue to give them strong roots.
The film is told with live interviews with family, friends and loved ones, and video Pomer shot himself of the guys as teenagers, archival surf footage and news clips. It moves with the strength and leisure of the ocean itself. Pomer has put together a truly wonderful documentary only losing the narrative thread a few times to what seemed to me to be odd side journeys.
The surf footage ranges from the black and white to stunning color. The DLP projector at the Regency certainly was put to good use tonight. Pomer's surf footage was jaw-dropping - miraculous in some instances with a steady eye on the young men as they were doing the seemingly impossible atop and inside twenty-five foot waves.
The Q&A afterward featured almost everyone from the film but it wasn't exactly electrifying. Too bad. This could have been one helluva interesting panel discussion because the theater was sold out, packed with friends and fans.
Both I and Lennexe Productions owner Eric Hensman enjoyed it and were moved by it. Big ups for this one and whoever on the Newport Beach Film Festival staff chose it.
