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Surfwise (2007)
23 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
It's More Than a Surfing Movie, 15 November 2007
Author: steve-belgard-1 from United States
Don't be fooled by the title. Surfwise is much more than a surfing movie. It chronicles the amazing journey of "Doc" Paskowitz, his nine kids and his beautiful and understanding wife Juliette. After two failed marriages, the doc packs up his "normal" life and goes Bohemian, living off the earth while teaching people how to surf. The highly religious man meets his life partner in Juliette and they immediately start having kids - one after the other. But that's where the normalcy ends. They travel around the country in a 24' cramped trailer – all eleven of them, eating healthy, the kids getting home schooled, surfing everyday, and staying below the radar from truant officers. To make money, the Paskowitz' start a surf school and "Doc" would occasionally take low-level medical positions. As was the case with "Doc," the kids became champion surfers and the family was profiled numerous times in magazine articles and television segments. Although many outsiders found this nomadic lifestyle idyllic, the kids started to rebel against "Doc." He was unyielding, he didn't offer them options, and it was either his way or "off" the highway as it were. It also didn't help that their parents were having sex just about every night in a small trailer with the nine of them watching and listening. As their hormones kicked in, they needed sexual release as well, but those needs were not met because they were constantly travelling without any chance to make their own relationships. One by one, they left the fold. Many of the kids became estranged from their parents and each other. But through it all, the kids turned out to be smart, intelligent, good parents, creative and successful in many ways. The cynicism in many would think that out of this dysfunctional upbringing would come the typical end game of suicides, failed marriages, or any other downers. But this couldn't be further from the truth.
What lingers is the fact that I really liked these people. I wanted to get to know them better and hang out with them. What "Doc" was preaching years ago is now fact – eating well, preserving the planet and loving one another is essential to survival. And although he didn't give his kids a choice and forced them to live life "his way," one can't really fault him for trying to give them the best that he thought was right.
Doug Pray makes great documentaries and I look forward to his next one.
Screened at the Starz Denver Film Festival.
Bluesdoctor has it right, 2 July 2008
Author: surfprn from United States
Bluesdoctor said it all. He is the only one not to be mesmerized by the movie and sees the good doctor for what he is. Too bad the others are so taken by the dream of a lifetime of surfing that they cannot see how the lives of his children were ruined by his narcissism and selfishness. I never met Dr.Paskowitz. However,I am a surfer. Many of my friends and a few of my sons have met him. I have 7 children and they are all surfers also. I'm a doctor too but I have spent my life working for the poor and disadvantaged. My kids are well adjusted and happy even thought they have to work like the rest of us. We surf as much as we can but we have another life also. I guess that it's too late for Dr.Paskowitz to try it. I am surprised by some of his statements because he doesn't seem like a scientist and we doctors need to be scientists as well as healer. He should have remembered the old adage, "Physician,heal thyself."
3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
surf's up, 23 May 2008
Author: MsMaryS from United States
Surf is up, way up, in fact - two thumbs up!
Very cool story. I've never heard of any thing quite like it.
I was lead to this movie by my surfer son, and every mother should watch it. (if only to say to your kids, "see, I could've raised you in a teeny trailer, no more complaining"). But seriously it gives you a new perspective on parenthood and life in general. I think it was very bold for this family to allow cameras to document all their personal thoughts and events. Would I do it? Probably not, but I'm glad they did. I really enjoyed their story. Surfwise is one of the coolest movies I have seen in a long time. For once I'm not wishing I had my two hours back.
0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Ubelievable -, 23 May 2008
Author: MstrMovie23 from United States
It is unbelievable that this all really happened! You couldn't write a better story than this. Doctor turned "hippie on the road". To have 9 kids in itself is very out of the ordinary (I guess not as much back then, but still)and how they choose to raise these kids is down right unheard of! I can't get over the dialog of the wife saying that for 10 straight years she was either pregnant or breast feeding! Ten straight years! That is amazing. This family explains one mind blowing thing after another and they speak of it as if it's not strange at all. Which is of course because to them it is not strange, it is their life. I am so glad this family chose to document this amazing story of theirs.
0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Not really a surfer movie..., 23 May 2008
Author: horrorbuffff from United States
Surfing is not the main focus of this movie. This is a documentary about a family that fed up with the normal life that we all lead, packs up and takes it all on the road. The NINE kids are home schooled and taught to eat healthy, and live well. Yes, they all surf and this is a big part of their lives, but there is so much more to be told. I am impressed with the guts of this father. Leaving his life and career behind to better himself and his family, however unconventional, still very impressive. It teaches the lesson to follow your dream, even if the rest of the world thinks your nuts! And what better to teach your children then courage and confidence to do what is right for you. Very interesting story, you have to watch it!
0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Moving Tale, 23 May 2008
Author: PhilMcK623 from United States
After seeing this doc, I have Surfwise and the Paskowitz family on the brain! Their choices and their way of life is so thought provoking, maybe not 100% agreeable, but definitely thought provoking. The fact that this family is so different, and so hard to understand is what makes this story so intriguing . However, some of the points made by the parents are very important and hold a lot of weight. This man was a doctor, weighted with incurable anxiety and insomnia, he decided a new way of life would cure his ales and it seems he was right. A doctor walking away from modern medicine and turning to unproven, pipe dream cures. Very interesting, glad I watched it, this movie will give you a new out look on life.
0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Beautiful, and unique, 21 May 2008
Author: Taj1978 from United States
This story is so unique everyone must see it. I think it will appeal to surfers right away, but I think it is important to point out that this is not just a surfer movie, not at all. This is a documentary that details the upbringing of a very unique family. Once a doctor, the father decides he is ready for a major very unconventional change, and leaves his career to travel and disconnect. On the road this couple has and raises 9 children, with no schooling, no work and very unique beliefs and values. Although very a typical and easy to criticize, there is a lot to be said for this families view points and lifestyle. I took a lot away from this film, and believe that it holds a very important message, that with an open mind everyone can learn from.
2 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A Cruel and Selfish Hero, 26 June 2008
Author: bluesdoctor from A Place is Just A Place
The problem with "Surfwise" is twofold: First, the main protagonist, Dorian Paskowitz, is narcissistic, cruel, shortsighted and shallow. Second, the film barely recognizes this, but, instead, more often than not, idolizes him.
This film falls into a long tradition of American introspection, the questioning of the American Dream, which, in this case, fits within the larger polarity of Classicism vs. Romanticism. To simplify, 18th century Classicism held that man and nature are inherently evil and can only be made good when shaped, contained, and controlled by extrinsic society; reason rules over emotion. In contrast, 19th century Romanticism held that man and nature are inherently good and corrupted by society; emotion rules over reason. The epitome of the 18th century is the well-manicured and geometric garden, in which nature is subjugated to reason. The epitome of the 19th century is the weed garden, in which nature is allowed to manifest its glory with the least inhibition or interference.
Dorian Paskowitz attempts to return to what he conceives of as man's natural state, a 19th century idealization of primitive man, pure, uncorrupted, and unfettered by possessions or conventional social responsibilities. A physician, he turns away from the American Dream of success and wealth to surf and lead a nomadic life off the grid.
He is one of those simplistic creatures who can only exist in extremes, a purist, with no interest in or tolerance for any of the irresolvable paradoxes, ironies, conflicts, or compromises of life. For instance, he, and the movie, reject American medicine as materialistic and greedy, when in fact there are ample opportunities to practice mainstream medicine not for profit but in the service of mankind. There are countless academic institutions where one can do research; there are innumerable public health facilities where one can provide care to the indigent. Dr. Paskowitz in effect threw away a fine medical education (subsidized by the American taxpayer, by the way) in the search of self-fulfillment and personal gratification. This was a selfish, not altruistic, decision.
Ironically, Paskowitz, and the film, exploit the prestige and status of his having been a doctor, at the same time that both claim to be above these things. An overachiever by nature, he channeled all his energies into surfing, a nascent sport at the time with little more than a hundred participants, in which he easily became a champion, drawing the public's attention, in which, of course, he basked. He would rather mindlessly bob in the waves than struggle with the ugly realities of life.
He has a narcissist absolutist preoccupation with his body. He makes a religion of not eating fat or sugar. Because he notices that apes do not eat the skin of an apple, he won't. Never mind that simian social systems are based on force, on the rule of the jungle, the strong dominating the weak.
By the age of 25 he has been rejected by 2 American wives (or lovers; the movie is in this, as in many places, vague). He finds his final mate (were they ever married?) in a mestizo Mexican woman who teaches him cunnilingus and reciprocates his animal lusts. She bears him 9 children, which they raise on the road in a 24-foot trailer, as we are endlessly reminded.
It is as a father that this man has his most significant failings. We never once see him loving his children. We never ever see him playing with, holding, or kissing any of them. His rule is tyrannical, absolute. He uses the oldest son to enforce his orders, often with brutal force. During the day, the children are largely left to their own devices, where the strong dominate the weak. Crammed into a small space, the father and mother freely copulate amid their children, mimicking apes, impervious to the trauma this may cause the children. One little boy, lying on the camper floor at night, folds his ears over and over inwardly upon themselves, in order to shut out the sounds of his parents having intercourse.
Most significantly, the good doctor provides no formal education for his children; they never go to school. As adults, this hurts and limits them immeasurably. Unlike their father, who enjoyed the full benefits of an American education, they are left ill-equipped to deal with society. Most struggle with poverty, many with anomie. He doesn't even allow or encourage them to leave the nest, but instead selfishly holds on to them for as long as possible.
Not surprisingly, the family is estranged from one another when we meet them in present time. The resentments are deep and lasting. The movie stages a sappy reunion, an unconvincing maudlin ending.
The American idolatry of the rebel, the Bohemian, here discovers, if it were the least bit honest, a man who selfishly had his way at the expense of others, whose irresponsibility directly contributed to the suffering of innocents.
2 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Another good one by Doug Pray, 23 May 2008
Author: choul from United States
I agreed with a lot of things this family tried/did do, some things are a bit much for me. But I have seen a few of the Director Doug Pray's doc's and agree with the families choices or not, this was another great film.
Although the father could be widely criticized for his choices on raising his children, all in all I think it was done with good intentions. I think the big picture is: live well, eat healthy, be good to your fellow man and the earth. These are great standards to live by.
This was truly a great movie. I highly recommend it to documentary lovers, and non-doc lovers alike. Glad I watched it :)
0 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Inspiring, 23 May 2008
Author: hareyT from United States
This was quite the inspiring real life story. Surfing is a big part of it, but there is much more to tell than just surfing tales.
A doctor "Doc P." leaves his traditional life and starts a new on the road. This highly religious couple bears 9 children (yes, count them nine!) and raises them outside the school system in a tiny mobile trailer. You wouldn't think this even possible, but they make it work by enforcing their unique rules: everyone must surf, only eat certain foods, and treat each other with respect.
All nine kids were home schooled. My favorite quote from one of them, who is now an adult was something like this: most parents say don't swim with the sharks because it is not safe, our parents said, swim with the sharks, it's safe, but don't go to school, that's not safe.
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