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Searching For Michael Peterson
- Author: Min-Q Kim
- Posted on: Wednesday October 7, 2009 at 2:00 PM
- Filed under: art, documentary, michael peterson, surfing, exclusive
"Searching For Michael Peterson" is the new documentary on the rapid rise and fall one of Australia's finest surfing talents, Michael Peterson, directed by Jolyon Hoff.
It's a haunting, but reverential, look at a shadowy icon in the often folklore-based history of surfing. Michael Peterson was, by all accounts, a master of his craft - an unstoppable force. Then, a serious case of undiagnosed paranoid-schizophrenia, combined with hard drug use, brought upon a complete mental breakdown, culminating in a dangerous 35-car police chase. To the film's credit - and this is part of why I liked the film so much - everyone treats the subject with respect. There's no doubt his madness was his downfall, one interviewee opines, but perhaps it was part of what made him such a great surfer. "[Drugs] just took more off Michael than most. Cause he was pretty fragile mentally like that. A lot of gifted people are, you know?" says another. "We didn't realize he was sick." So often, subjects of documentaries get a bit objectified, but there is none of that here. Peterson is not a cautionary tale, nor is he deified or martyred in any way. The story stands alone, and is told matter-of-factly, and frankly.
What's more, there are no overly-earnest deep-throated voice-overs, and no tacky faux-grainy Unsolved Mysteries reenactments. What we get are direct recollections and encounters from people who were there. And I'm pretty sure everyone who appears in the film would feel comfortable looking Michael Peterson in the eye today, because in the end, it all felt honest. I felt like I had genuinely learned something about Michael Peterson, the surfer and the person, without being led to feel a certain way about him. And isn't that a documentary's golden standard?
Michael Peterson, Sunset Beach in 1975. (Photo: Dan Merkel, via surfermag.com)
The art of surfing itself gets a beautiful, understated treatment, too. If you're looking for Dick Dale or 'Wipe Out,' go elsewhere. (This seems a good time to mention that the film's soundtrack was actually among the highlights.) The abundant surfing footage is where Michael Peterson himself gets most of his screen time: the way he would have wanted, I think.
And I've gotta be honest, as a Northeastern city-dweller, it has always fascinated me, surfing. I mean, it always looked like fun and all... But listening to Bob McTavish talk about the thrill of the drop-in, and how he still feels it on every single wave, after all these years -- the little moment when you stand up on the board and drop to meet the surface of the water -- and it clicked. I got it. Hell, I learned more about surfing in that 30 seconds than I ever have watching those extreme videos of people jumping out of helicopters onto 50-foot walls of water that you see on loop in surf stores.
Below is a short clip from the film, describing one of Michael Peterson's feats of strength. "It's hard to explain, really..." I just love that.
Full Trailer:
Michael Peterson was named #16 on Surfer Magazine's list of the 50 Greatest Surfers of All Time. Read his feature here.
And be sure to visit the site for the film, 'Searching For Michael Peterson.'
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COMMENTS
“Nice job Jolyon! Hope you'll be in Prague to help film Listopad on November 14th. Seems there will be a huge concert there too.”
