Article published 7th Jan 09

WHAT
BUSTIN' DOWN THE DOOR

WHEN
OUT JAN 14 AT SELECT CINEMAS SEE HERE FOR DETAILS. FIRST SCREENING TUES JAN 20, MOONLIGHT CINEMA

WATCH THE TRAILER
HERE

WIN
THANKS TO MADMAN, WE HAVE 2 DVDS TO GIVE AWAY. IF YOU CAN'T MAKE IT TO A SCREENING, THESE DVDS WILL BE ON SALE FROM FEB, CHECK MADMAN.COM.AU. TO ENTER, EMAIL WIN@TWOTHOUSAND.COM.AU WITH THE SUBJECT LINE ‘ALOHA IS DEAD'.

In 1975, a brash, outrageously talented group of Australian and South African surfers burst into surfing's Mecca: the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Far from being drug-f*cked hippie dropouts, Wayne ‘Rabbit' Bartholomew, Shaun Tomson, Mark ‘MR' Richards, Ian Cairns and Peter Townend were determined to go pro. But their aggressive style and cocky self-promotion made them enemies among the locals.

Narrated in a bored fashion by Edward Norton, Jeremy Gosch's documentary jutaposes interviews with the protagonists - plus other surfers, promoters and journalists - with splendid archival action footage of these dazzling sportsmen in their prime.

But it's also intriguing to see how much these dudes had riding on professional success. Touchingly, Rabbit cries as he recalls how desperately poor his Gold Coast childhood was. And Tomson - who co-executive-produced the film - needed to show his middle-class family other ways of succeeding.

These days, MR and Ian seem at peace with themselves and their achievements, but Rabbit and Tomson still seem hungry for approval. But there's a certain melancholia in comparing smiling, sunkissed youths to their older, balder, fatter equivalents - especially in the impressive final sequence, as the older surfers catch waves and morph into their younger selves.

By Mel Campbell

Format: DVD

Mood: Leave brain at home