"Surfing isn't a lifestyle. It's a life. Style is optional."

There's a common phrase that says you're best at what you enjoy doing. In the case of professional surfer-turned-filmmaker Dana Brown, Step Into Liquid must be the ultimate high outside of finding the perfect wave. For landlubbers such as myself, climbing on a board and conquering a wave off the shores of Hawaii is little more than wishful thinking on the best of days. We watch and admire from the comfort of our living rooms or, better yet, in front of the big screen munching on some freshly popped popcorn. Step Into Liquid is not only about passion, it demonstrates it through a deep and loving knowledge and respect for the subject matter.

Surfing movies have been done before. The long-standing benchmark is Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer from 1966. Last year the female surfing scene was the topic in John Stockwell's Blue Crush. With Step Into Liquid, Dana Brown combines some of the history of the sport with the present-day scene. It's a global survey that spans from the beaches of Costa Rica, to the murky waters of Lake Michigan, to the rainy coast of Ireland to 100 miles off the shores of San Diego and lots of other places in between. Brown talks to a variety of people including professionals, a promising surfing prospect who became paralyzed after an accident yet continues to hit the waves, old-time veterans, the innovators of tow-surfing (an offshoot that sends daredevils onto waves several stories high), and some good lads who set up a surfing camp to bring Protestant and Catholic children in Ireland together.

Despite the varied backgrounds of the human subject matter, the real stars of Step Into Liquid go by the names of Pacific, Atlantic and Michigan. They are the large bodies of water some of us humans have decided to challenge. I'm a sucker for shots of rushing water, especially when they're towering several stories in the air. A big reason why I liked Blue Crush last year was because of the cinematography. But now there's a new benchmark to go from as every single frame of Step Into Liquid is a thing of natural beauty. Whether it's vista shots that set up the locations, to deep shots of surfers conquering the tube or the car-wreck mentality shots that show the big bails, not a frame is wasted.

The major theme that I got out of the film is that surfers aren't a bunch of lingo-subscribing fools, but rather a group of intelligent folks who have fun doing what they love. The film also pays tribute to the beauty and delicacy of nature. The water is something to respect and be in awe of. While all of the film's subjects are more than happy to challenge the waves head on, they also all understand that water is a gift and something to be thankful for.

Brown comes to the film as a part of the surfing crowd. Not only does this give him instant credibility as the maker of this particular film, it also likely gave him better and more candid access to the community. Because he is knowledgeable about the subject, Brown is able to convey the culture of surfing in a way that's easy to understand for people like me who cast away our water wings at a later age than most and don't know much about the sport. He breaks the key concepts down into easy-to-understand ideas that are simple and often funny.

If I could wish for one thing more out of Step Into Liquid, it would be that I could see it on the giant-sized IMAX screen. Every scene is just so gorgeous already, I just wanted it to be that much bigger. Step Into Liquid is a surfing movie for a new generation. It sheds a broad scope on the sport while paying its respects to the real star: the waves, no matter the size or power.

©Movie Views; October 26, 2003