Review of Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family

			Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family By: Magnolia Pictures Average Rating: 4.5 Total Reviews: 24 More Information Keeping it all in the family On: 2010-05-03 Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz has been riding the waves for nigh unto three-quarters of a century now. In 1956, at the age of 45, he abandoned a career as a doctor to pursue a life dedicated almost exclusively to surfing and raising a family - and he hasnt looked back since. In fact, Doc and his family have achieved a notoriety of sorts (in surfing circles, at least) for their nonconformist, iconoclastic lifestyle, which involved all eleven of them living together in a cramped 24-foot camper trailer, avoiding any kind of formal schooling, and flitting from one beach to another in search of the perfect wave. Now, in his mid 80s, Doc, along with his wife, Juliette, and their nine kids - eight of whom are named after Biblical figures - discuss their lives and upbringings in the fascinating documentary "Surfwise" by director Doug Pray. Life literally has been a beach for these people. The thing that strikes us most about Doc is that he is no self-conscious radical trying to make an ideological point with his life; rather, hes a fairly average guy whos honest enough to admit that he never much cared for school or the money-grubbing rat race of the corporate or business world and that he is simply much healthier and happier when in the water. And it is these values that he has chosen to instill in his children, along with a devotion to their Jewish heritage and a healthy attitude towards sex (apparently, he and his wife were less than shy about showing their affection for one another in front of the children, much to the kids` consternation at times). But there has been a definite downside to this nonconformity as well, and the movie does not shy away from depicting it - whether it be in Docs dictatorial, even violent, methods of maintaining his authority over the kids or in the childrens understandable desire to break free of their upbringing to lead a lifestyle more in accord with social norms. And, of course, theres the resentment theyve come to harbor in their later years towards a father who, by willfully choosing to separate them from the outside world, rendered them ill-equipped to function in that world once they became adults (one son laments that he could never attend medical school because he was too far behind all the other applicants in basic knowledge to successfully compete with them). The movie raises the thorny issue of just how much right a parent has to deny his children the privileges and benefits that come from being socialized into the society around them. Was Doc practicing a form of child abuse - or simple providing his kids with a rare and perhaps enviable opportunity to live life as one long summer camp? (The family does actually run a camp of sorts dedicated to teaching the fine art of surfing to crowds of eager youngsters). Even the kids themselves cant agree on the answer to that question, with some feeling the need to defend their dad and the way in which he raised them and others choosing to lash out at and lambaste him for the same reason. Yet, the children could hardly be classified as dysfunctional adults, with each of them pursuing respectable careers and raising apparently stable and healthy families. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the documentary is that it leaves it up to the viewer to formulate his own assessment of Doc. Were never pushed to take sides in the conflict. Through Docs story, "Surfwise" provides a fascinating look at what it means to be a family, what it means to be a parent, and why its important to find a balance between the overindulgences of the modern world and the deprivations of a simple life, not completely ignoring one at the expense of the other. The movie ends on an upbeat note with a long overdue reunion where old wounds are healed and old grudges put aside - all in the name of Family. Which is, I suppose, as it should be. Surfwise On: 2010-05-02 This is a great documentary about the Paskowitz family. It really captures their lives and thoughts about how they lived. Very interesting! Amazon did a great job with fast shipping and a great price. The Burden of Dreams On: 2010-03-11 Surfwise is a one-of-a-kind documentary. In 1956, Dorian Paskowitz, a Stanford-educated physician with a successful medical practice decided to "drop out" to become a vagabond and a full-time surfer. Through the years, he married and fathered nine children, but continued his search for the perfect wave. Surfwise tells the Paskowitz familys story. The interesting thing about this documentary is that Dorian forces the rest of us to confront lifes biggest question - why arent we doing what wed like to be doing? Dorian shows that we could break free from our humdrum routines if only we had the courage. Im not a surfer, but Surfwise certainly made me think. But Dorian also shows why most of us choose conventional lives. Dorian refused to give in to society, not one inch. He kept his children out of school and ruled the family as a dictator. Dorian exploded when his eldest child left home - at age 23. Apparently, Dorian thought that his children should spend their lives chasing his vision. When the kids grew up, they had no skills to offer employers. One of the films heartbreaking moments occurs when one of the Paskowitz sons reveals that he always wanted to be a physician like his dad; the lack of an education made his dream impossible. The kids have varied feelings about their father, but many are bitter that Dorians narcissism limited their opportunities. While I really enjoyed this film, one thing that I did not like was the clumsy attempt to fashion an ending. I dont want to spoil the movie, but the ending seems contrived. How far would you go to chase your dream? If you are at all philosophical, you will enjoy Surfwise because it raises these sorts of questions. But be aware that the film offers the viewer few easy answers. We all have to find those for ourselves. A must-see for surfers On: 2009-10-11 How charisma can work for people and against people. And how radical thinking can become a burden. It started of as a heavenly thought. But sometimes your speed in life outmatches other people, mostly the one you love most yourself. A beautiful movie. touching, funny, real... On: 2009-06-18 This is amazing. Not vanilla coated at all. Very admirable what this family endured and what a life theyve had so far!!!! Great movie! On: 2009-06-10 I loved this movie. My boyfriend, who is not a surfer and could care less about the ocean, LOVED this movie. And to top it off, I didnt realize that this family created the Surfers Healing Program for children with Autism! Google the name and support the program, its incredible! For all to see On: 2009-05-29 Awesome documentary. Many of us would call the Paskowitz way of life unconventional; yet it was all for love and a dream for the best for your loved ones. Something to learn from On: 2009-05-27 There is something to be said for dancing to the beat of your own drum. The documentary demonstrates that it is possible to raise kids with less barriers or hang-ups. Some of the kids didnt get the meaning of it all. They saw things really out of balance and their father a dictator. They will (hopefully) see the value of his courage when they grow old. To observe two people overcome some fears/limits and to teach that to their children - well, lets just say, it is inspiring. Love the film, hate the narcissistic father. On: 2009-05-14 The film - so delicious you could eat it with a spoon. And with that same spoon, youll want to take the eyes of that fathers head. Its fine if, as an adult, you want to live a bohemian lifestyle and be a blow-about. Its another if you subject nine innocent children to a lack of food, resources, schooling, peer contact, and then add physical and emotional abuse to that lovely equation. Its a wonder any of those kids have their heads screwed on tight. Id like a follow-up film entitled "After the Fake Reunion Which the Kids Have Been Paid to Fly to," and in which the father has died and five or ten more years have passed and they see how their fathers legacy has screwed up the next generation. Now THAT would be a film. I wish Pray had not tried to tidy up the film by the Hollywood ending where all is forgiven. Life just aint like that. The greatest film about family since Capturing the Friedmans On: 2009-04-20 A great film about trading in the suburban dream for the life of the road, only this time with family in tow. Shows you the price you can pay for that freedom too. Fascinating stuff from Mr. Pray (Big Rig, Scratch, Infamy)and totally worth checking out. the high cost of kharma On: 2009-02-18 Dr. Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz is eighty-five when we meet him in this documentary about his remarkable family. After medical training at Stanford, a respectable career as a physician, two failed marriages, and then a sexcapade around the world, "Doc" married his third wife Juliette. They decided on a carefree life of radical non-conformity centered around surfing. For the next twenty-five years they raised their nine kids (eight boys, one girl) in three different 24 RV campers. Daily surfing and strict diets were compulsory, formal schooling of any kind was prohibited, and money was scarce. Their whimsical lives as vagabonds sounds fun, but "Docs" uncompromising idealism and tyrannical ways amounted to physical and emotional abuse according to interviews with his adult kids. After ten years of bitter acrimony as the adult kids tried to make their way in the real world with absolutely no preparation for it, the family meets for an emotional reunion in the last part of the film. Even a badly broken family is better than no family, weeps Juliette at the reunion, but this film makes you wonder. Jonathan Paskowitz helped to produce the film. Special features not captioned or subtitled On: 2009-01-17 Special features are not captioned or subtitled...the film itself is closed-captioned in English; Spanish subtitles available. Great Movie! On: 2008-11-26 Really enjoyed this movie. It was about a rather interesting and unconventional family who grew up traveling around in a camper and surfing together wherever they went. Interesting Bit of Americana On: 2008-10-31 I found this to be an interesting documentary about a family who represents a not so standard deviation from the mean. I appreciated the fact that this film illustrated that the American dream is not all its cracked up to be. Its great to remind ourselves, in these times of economic stress, that money and things are not always the be all, end all. If this film has anything to say about it, it seems that happiness is just a wave. Don't miss this! On: 2008-10-23 not your ordinary family, but thats why its so entertaining. Surfing was and still is shaped by this family. Awsome documentry On: 2008-10-13 This is probably the best documentary Ive ever seen. Their story is fascinating, but be advised that there is frank a very graphic language not suitable for younger viewers. Freedom for Myself; Prison for My Children On: 2008-10-02 The charismatic doctor and surfing champion Dorian Paskowitz languishes through 2 failed marriages during the conventional 1950s before having his epiphany in which he will be a "free spirit" and travel with his third wife and 9 children like a band of surfing vagabonds. The new lifestyle is great for the father who finds sensual and spiritual fulfillment; sadly, though, its a prison for his children who must live without schooling, money for clothes, and the normal opportunity to meet kids their age. This documentary does an excellent job of showing how these children navigate precariously through their one life as celebrities of counterculture and their second life of social dysfunction and resentment toward a father who wanted unlimited freedom for himself and draconian imprisonment for his children. Proof that you don't need an SUV, a McMansion and a 401K to be happy... On: 2008-09-30 This movie should change your outlook. If it doesnt, perhaps you need to re-evaluate your priorities. Money does not buy happiness. Making Waves with an Unconventional Lifestyle On: 2008-08-08 SURFWISE is a fascinating documentary chronicling the unconventional lifestyle of "Doc" Poskowitz and his family. The latter includes spouse and some nine kids, who live a bohemian, itinerant, surf-centric lifestyle in a 24-foot camper van. No school for these kids! Nevertheless, they lived a somewhat regimented existence, one envied by kids who were more wealthy in material things. All of the kids grew up with various "baggage" due to the unorthodox upbringing, and the father is a rather magnetic, charismatic character. The cinematography here is great - you feel you are out in the ocean, in the surf, and can see how this aspect of nature would be seductive. SURFWISE raises questions about the tradeoffs involved in turning your back on the conventional path that society beckons you to follow - the good and bad features, the frayed nature of family ties, the family love that can (at least temporarily) transcend differences and childhood trauma. Whether you endorse or abhor the lifestyle depicted in this documentary, SURFWISE is an excellent movie! An Unconventional Surf-Centric Upbringing and Its Results. On: 2008-08-07 "Surfwise" chronicles the story of the "first family of surfing": Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, his wife Juliette, and the 9 children whom they raised in a 24-foot camper, traveling up and down the west coast of the United States and Mexico, following the waves and Dorians whims for more than 2 decades. Dorian Paskowitz was a respected public health doctor and president of the American Medical Association in Hawaii, before he left it all behind in 1956 to live a peripatetic life of poverty that revolved around surfing. He isolated his family from the outside world, raised his children in his strict lifestyle regimen, and taught them to surf. Many became accomplished competitive surfers, and in 1974 the family opened the Paskowitz Surf Camp in Mission Beach, CA. Dorian Paskowitz was 84 years old when "Surfwise" was made and still very much a passionate and controlling man, and still surfing. His children are all grown and living very different lifestyles from the one in which they were raised. Director Doug Pray tries to construct a picture of what it was like to be a Paskowitz, living the ideals of a single-minded patriarch in a crowded camper, and what its lasting effects were through archival home movies and interviews with Dorian and Juliette Paskowitz and all 9 of their children -7 boys and 1 girl- and Dorians siblings. We also get an impression of the familys iconic stature and influence on surfing culture through interviews with "The Surfers Journal" founder Steve Pezman and some big names in competitive surfing. The Paskowitz children talk about the benefits and disappointments of their itinerant, impoverished lifestyle, isolated from most of American culture. They dont all have the same attitude toward it, in retrospect, some resenting that their isolation and lack of education left them unprepared for adult life. I would have thought children in such a bohemian environment would be very independent, but their fathers controlling nature apparently dictated otherwise. "Surfwise" is an interesting account for fans of surfing culture, but this is, more than anything, the story of a family. Its an examination of the value of nonconformity and convention, selfishness and freedom, in the way families relate to one another and the ways in which upbringing may or may not influence the choices people make. The DVD (Magnolia 2008): There are 4 featurettes and a feature commentary. In "Doc on Health" (5 min), Dorian Paskowitz explains his ideas on health, about which he has written a book. "A Walk on Water: Surfers Healing" (3 ½ min) is about the surfing program for autistic children founded by Izzy Paskowitz and wife Danielle. "Dave Homcy: Surfing Cinematographer" (3 1/2 min) is footage of surfers set to music. "Outtakes and Breaks" (12 min) are interviews not in the film, including some funny ones. The feature commentary is by director Doug Pray, producer Matt Weaver, and Salvador Paskowitz. They discuss the genesis of the project, the archival footage, Dorian and his philosophy, the family dynamic, and more. Subtitles for the film are available in Spanish. Not what I was expecting. On: 2008-08-05 I picked up this DVD thinking that it was going to be a lighthearted look at a family that I knew of from the time I was a youngster. I grew up surfing in San Diego, and used to see the ads for the Paskowitz Surf Camp in the back of just about every surf magazine I ever purchased. I always wanted to attend, but ended up buying a board and teaching myself instead. What I found was the story of a very strange family. Sometimes their life looks so wonderful it makes me want to get a camper and take my kids away from the materialism and lunacy we experience in modern life. Other times are dark, contradictory and a bit disturbing. What I took away from this amazing dissection of a unique family was to affirm my feeling that everything in moderation is the way to live. I also will be more careful about avoiding attempts to control people in my life. Highly recommended. Fascinating portrait of an unusual family on the fringe of society On: 2008-07-31 "Surfwise" is another fascinating feature-length documentary by filmmaker Doug Pray, who has made several amusing, enlightening films on pop-culture sub-groups such as the Seattle grunge scene ("Hype") and hip-hop DJ turntabulists ("Scratch"). In this new film he paints a one-third celebratory, two-thirds tragic portrait of the Paskowitz family, a once-legendary surfing clan whose patriarch, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz dropped out of mainstream society in the late 1950s, to follow a near-absolute rejection of modern materialism. Paskowitz and his wife traveled anywhere on a whim for over a decade, surfing up and down the Pacific, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America, surfing, having lots of sex and making lots of babies. In all, the Paskowitzes had nine children, eight boys and one girl, and raised them outside the confines of "straight" life. Instead of going to school, the children surfed, and were reared according to their fathers bold, yet ill-defined personal ethic. Although Docs decision to drop out preceded the hippie movement by almost a decade, his familys journey intersected with the 1960s hippie-era rejection of cultural norms, and with the "Me Generation" self-absorption of the 70s. But while these larger cultural shifts were widespread, the choices of the Paskowitz family were much more far-reaching and severe than most of the counterculture types of the time. With no fixed income and a total abandonment of the American work ethic, the Paskowitzes were both legendary and tragic. As the children came of age, the strains of traveling together in a small camper intensified, and the family fragmented and fell apart. Just how much they fell apart is revealed in the films second half, which skillfully explores the dark side of Docs impulsive and absolutist philosophical rejectionism. Each of the (now grown-up) children reflect on the internal pressures (and joys) of their extreme lifestyle, and how completely unprepared it left them to make their own entry into adult life. Although the Paskowitzes dominated surf competitions in the early 1970s -- and got considerable media attention and corporate sponsorship -- because they were so naive about money matters, none of them held onto the money or the opportunities they made, and their professional careers largely fizzled out. Many of the children rightfully express their anger towards their parents for leaving them stranded without education or options, and the film is a fascinating reflection on the potential hazards of extreme alternative lifestyles. Although Doc Paskowitz clearly shoulders much of the blame, he remains a roguish and compelling figure. Many of his critiques of modern society are pointed and incisive, and his candid assessments of consumerism, wage slavery and sexual repression are attractive due to his bluntness and accuracy. It is a complex portrait, and doesnt offer easy answers to the viewer, but rather many disturbing points to ponder. Definitely worth checking out. (DJ Joe Sixpack, Slipcue Film Reviews) Terrific documentary about an unconventional family On: 2008-07-05 Anyone looking for a glorious ode to the surfing life should pause a moment before viewing this terrific documentary film about life in the Paskowitz family. Although surfing was the stated main focus of this highly unconventional familys life, its not the center of the story thats revealed in the film. Kudos to the filmmakers, who peel back the layers of the story gradually until you gather the sense of the awfulness at the center. We see a life that on the face of it might appear appealing -- who hasnt at some time or other wished for a more authentic life? What if we could slip the rules of the prevailing society? What if we werent forced to be educated in institutional settings? This film and all the Paskowitz children, who thankfully are brave enough to speak of what they endured at the whims of two of the most narcissistic parents youll ever meet, will give some answers to those questions. Abundant with archival footage that makes the past come alive, the film also gives us interviews with everyone in the family that will resonate with you for a long time after you view it. You may well be left with lots of questions after its over, but one is very happy to see that the kids seem to have made good lives for themselves despite the bad models that were their parents. In any case, this is a film for anyone who loves good documentary filmmaking -- you dont have to know anything about surfing to appreciate this one. Abuse & Dysfunction Masquerading & Surfing & Enlightenment On: 2008-06-21 This movie is not about surfing and the magic, spirituality, and beauty of surfing. Ive surfed for over 40 years. What I thought started out as a video of an epic odyssey of the magic and spiritualality of surfing and the surfing lifestyle, became a chronicle about a self absorbed and abusive man engaged in denial and cover up of severe dysfunction. I dont have any quarrel with raising and home schooling kids outside the system, a healthy active sex life, discipline, and surf, surf, surfing. I think these are goals to aspire to. I assert that there was and is a very very dark side to Dorian and his family life that revealed itself in episodes where he encouraged one child to choke another. That is just completely unacceptable. Such psychology and behavior only sullies the reputation of surfing and surfers and reinforces the unfortunate stereotypes that many people have about surfing and surfers. I suspect that if we pull the cover completely off the Poskowitz family wed find severe child abuse of the sort intolerable to all but predators. I loved Surfwise On: 2008-05-14 This documentary was amazing! It leaves you with an interesting new perspective on life and just goes to show how much we can learn from others (no matter how strange they may seem to be)! This father of multiple children takes his family on the road to escape the traditions and pressures of ordinary life. They live a very different life and raise their children on very different principles, including...no school! Watch this film, everyone should see it!