Before surfer and filmmaker Bruce Brown produced and released his classic surfing documentary, 'The Endless Summer' (1964) to eventual worldwide success in 1964, he created five other feature-length marvels that are far less known outside of the surfing community: 'Slippery When Wet' (1958), 'Surf Crazy' (1959), 'Barefoot Adventure' (1960), 'Surfing Hollow Days' (1961) and a compilation film, 'Waterlogged' (1962).
`The Ultimate Summer Bruce Brown Surf Collection' (2010) wisely brings together all of Brown's superb surfing documentaries in one collection. Together, the films represent a kind of American folk art of cinema (subtype: sports; sub-category: surfing).
The early Brown films, which in many ways resemble other amateur narrated travelogues …show more content…
Both visually and thematically, the films' 'amateurish,' unprofessional qualities, which make them akin to folk art, underscore Brown's vision, and perfectly capture the relatively open, casual, modest, and freedom-loving spirit of the time for the surfers who were blessed enough to follow their hearts and minds in a conventional era.
'The Endless Summer' (1964) was Brown's first nationally distributed surf film, and also the first on which he spent more than six months on the filming and editing. After a slightly shaky start, 'The Endless Summer,' which features a haunting instrumental theme by the Sandals, eventually became a worldwide hit both critically and commercially, and is recognized today as a sports documentary classic.
However, 'The Endless Summer' isn't necessarily better than Brown's excellent first five surf films. In fact, Brown's earlier efforts are in many ways somewhat better. Though 'The Endless Summer' is more professionally filmed, more tightly framed by the quest alluded to in the title, and somewhat more polished and 'dignified,' it also has some faults the earlier, far more exuberant films lack.
The portion of the film set in South Africa, culminating of the trio's discovery of Cape St. Francis and its "long, utterly perfect waves," is the highpoint of 'The Endless
`The Ultimate Summer Bruce Brown Surf Collection' (2010) wisely brings together all of Brown's superb surfing documentaries in one collection. Together, the films represent a kind of American folk art of cinema (subtype: sports; sub-category: surfing).
The early Brown films, which in many ways resemble other amateur narrated travelogues …show more content…
Both visually and thematically, the films' 'amateurish,' unprofessional qualities, which make them akin to folk art, underscore Brown's vision, and perfectly capture the relatively open, casual, modest, and freedom-loving spirit of the time for the surfers who were blessed enough to follow their hearts and minds in a conventional era.
'The Endless Summer' (1964) was Brown's first nationally distributed surf film, and also the first on which he spent more than six months on the filming and editing. After a slightly shaky start, 'The Endless Summer,' which features a haunting instrumental theme by the Sandals, eventually became a worldwide hit both critically and commercially, and is recognized today as a sports documentary classic.
However, 'The Endless Summer' isn't necessarily better than Brown's excellent first five surf films. In fact, Brown's earlier efforts are in many ways somewhat better. Though 'The Endless Summer' is more professionally filmed, more tightly framed by the quest alluded to in the title, and somewhat more polished and 'dignified,' it also has some faults the earlier, far more exuberant films lack.
The portion of the film set in South Africa, culminating of the trio's discovery of Cape St. Francis and its "long, utterly perfect waves," is the highpoint of 'The Endless