After a short debate with myself over whether to include televised-film reviews in the blog I decided “what the hell”. I’m just “conquering the useless” here so, read it, don’t read it, here it is anyway.
180 Degrees South
I caught this documentary on Netflix yesterday. The title refers to an expedition from California to Patagonia taken by the surfer/climber/all-round-cool-dude Jeff Johnson.
I know I’ve said it’s a documentary but imagine a laid back zen version one of those wonderful ensemble movies that they used to do so well in the 70’s and 80’s like “The Magnificent Seven”, and you have an idea of the tone that director Chris Malloy has achieved.
Jeff Johnson is the laid back, Hegel quoting, mountain-climbing surfer-dude who decides to mount an expedition to follow in the footsteps of Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins and who ends up having an adventure in the true meaning of the word where “all sorts of shit goes wrong”. He’s the Steve McQueen character obviously.
Chouinard and Tompkins, who also appear in the film, are the grizzled old-timers, been there, done it and have the thousand-yard stare to show for it. These are Butch and Sundance, portrayed obviously by the young and old Redford and Newman.
They sign up a zen-surfer dude Keith Malloy who spends the entire documentary searching for the next big wave. Although he says barely a word throughout, in our house he was unanimously voted the coolest character in the film – which is saying something in a movie packed full of loveable characters. Think of Keanu Reeves in Point Break…
Johnson takes an unexpected detour to Rapa Nui where he hooks up with Makohe. She is the stunningly-beautiful, horse riding, mountain climbing, surfing, guitar playing female-lead in the movie. Impossible to cast, she would be akin to Katherine Ross’s Etta Place to Butch and Sundance’s loveable outlaws.
In Tim O Neil they even have the annoyingly nebbish character who’s just there to provide some vital technical skill (in this case ice-climbing) and to make the others seen even more likeable.
The other main characters in what is a stunningly beautiful film are the Pacific Ocean, Rapa Nui and Patagonia.
A film with a quite a deep but depressing message about consumerism and the endless damage it is wreaking on the environment around us, but a film packed with characters that make you optimistic that we’ll “turn 180 Degrees and take a step forward”.
Absolutely loved it.
Eat see hear Cardiff 