Riding Giants

This is one of my favourite documentaries. My love of documentaries and my love of surfing rolled into one. Directed and co-written by Stacy Peralta, Riding Giants is about the history of big wave surfing. Brilliantly edited by Paul Crowder, the story is told in three different chapters, featuring three different surfers to represent their era and location.

The first chapter begins with a short animated clip called "1000 years of surfing in 2 minutes or less". It then picks up from the early 1950's in southern California to document that period, and takes a nostalgic look at the migration of southern California surfers to Oahu, the discovery of the North Shore and the creation of the surfing subculture. Peralta is able to tell this story so well with the aid of Greg Noll's many hours of archival footage shot on 8mm during these surfing trips to Hawaii. Greg Noll is the featured surfer of this chapter, as he is thought to be one of the pioneers of the North Shore and carved the mold from which all big wave riders are cast. His flamboyant attitude and bigger than life persona allowed him to create a business making and selling surfboards. The archival footage is helped brought to life by interviews with Greg Noll and the other surfers who made the pilgrimage to Hawaii, Pat Curren, Micky Munoz, Peter Cole and Ricky Grigg (surfer and oceanographer).


The second chapter of the film concentrates on Jeff Clark and his discovery of surf spot Mavericks in northern California. It also contains interviews with other Maverick surfers like Darryl Virostko (Flea), Evan Slater, Peter Mel, Grant Washburn, Dr. Mark Renneker and the only female surfer to be interviewed, Dr. Sarah Gerheardt. They give illustrated definitions on key terms in surfing for laymen. It also touches on the story of Mark Foo's tragic drowning death at Mavericks.


The third chapter goes back to Oahu and focuses on Laird Hamilton's life as a young fatherless boy transplanted in Hawaii to his emergence as the greatest big wave rider the world's ever seen. It also documents the beginning of tow in surfing, the discovery of Peahi and Laird's amazing ride at Teahupoo. This segment features interviews with Laird's partners Dave Kalama and Darrick Doerner and other Peahi surfers Buzzy Kerbox, Kelly Slater and Gerry Lopez. The other interviewees who help bring the stories to life are surfing writers Sam George (who co-wrote the movie with Peralta), Steve Pezman (big wave rider and editor of Surfer's Journal), and Grant Warshaw (editor, encyclopedia of surfing).

Overall, this film is excellent in showing a different side of surfers than the images usually thrown at us through various surfing exploitation movies. The "surf bum" stereotype is shattered through the surfers who present themselves as dedicated athletes passionate about their sport and find solace and life changing transformation through riding big waves. The editing and soundtrack are excellent. The DVD special features contain two great feature commentaries, one with director Peralta and editor Crowder, the other with writer Sam George and surfers Laird Hamilton, Jeff Clark and Greg Noll, deleted scenes and a 'making of' featurette. A must see, especially if you enjoyed Peralta's other documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys.

More ramblings to come.....