The new surf movie, A Deeper Shade of Blue, just released in New Zealand cinemas this week is screening this Sunday 23rd September at the Raglan Old School Arts Centre in Stewart St. at 8pm
To reserve seats phone 825 0023 or email info@raglanartscentre.co.nz
With A Deeper Shade of Blue, Jack McCoy sets an ambitious agenda telling the story of surfing (from start to finish) in a way that both surfers and non-surfers find compelling. The film paints an inspiring portrait of our relationship with the sea through a diverse cast of characters. We visit professional surfing through the lens of Jamie O’Brien. We see women’s surfing through Steph Gilmore’s eyes. We learn about big-wave riding through the experiences of Shipsterns Bluff charger Marti Paradisis. Each fragment of surf culture has an assigned ambassador, and while McCoy’s selection process is interesting, the spokespersons are essentially interchangeable; none are acutely singular, yet all are authentic.
Jack McCoy uses the evolution of the surfboard as a timeline communicating directly to non-surfers, which is most obviously evidenced by the photography.
McCoy’s underwater footage is mesmerizing. Whatever the cost, his underwater jet ski was worth it. The innovative piece of equipment exposes a groundbreaking new vantage to the world. The sessions documented at Teahupoo and Shipsterns Bluff are equally impressive. Beyond that, A Deeper Shade of Blue may showcase the finest women’s surfing segments to date. Every woman on screen successfully exits at least one 6-Mississippi-barrel. And as beautiful as all of the women featured in the film are, there are no gratuitous bikini shots – just extremely impressive surfing.
A Deeper Shade of Blue also makes a poignant observation three-quarters of the way through the film when the narrator notes that surf culture grew so large in the late ‘60s that “authentically” documenting the experience of surfing became a career. That’s just what Jack did, and his A Deeper Shade of Blue accurately reflects this.