Surfing

Between the Lines - Surfing Movie Review

Surfing is often an escape from whatever may be happening in your life, back on land. Every surfer knows the feeling of leaving everything behind while the sun is shining, waiting for a set to roll in. Imagine, however, that what you’re escaping through surfing is the Vietnam War. Indeed, despite the carnage around them, American soldiers in Vietnam got the chance to surf some waves. This is the story told in Between The Lines, a surfing documentary recently released and directed by Ty Ponder and Scott Bass. Narrated by John Milius, director of Apocalypse Now and Big Wednesday, the film explores the tensions between surfers and the authorities seeking to draft young men (which invariably included several thousand surfers) to fight in a far-away land miles from the California surfing experience. And in a twist, the story is told largely through the two surfers - one who enlists voluntarily and one who dodges the draft by running to Hawaii. It’s a powerful tale.

You might never have expected that soldiers in Vietnam had the opportunity for some R and R. But they did, at special camps set up by the military where beer, surfboards and surf could be had for a day here and there. Through the lens of Between the Lines, we learn that these camps were refuges from the horrors of war. (Indeed, some of the soldiers sent to Vietnam weren’t in combat but supported the war effort as lifeguards at the beaches where the GIs would chill out. Not a bad gig, as the lifeguards spent two hours working, and the rest of the day fishing, swimming and surfing.) Of course, for most surfer-soldiers, Vietnam wasn’t all fun and games, and a few hours of surf did not do enough to distract from the reality of death and destruction. War had a serious psychological impact on the young men that served there, as explained by Pat Farley in Between the Lines. The long-haired surfer is shown talking about his experiences in Vietnam, where he decidedly did not play the role of a laid-back, long haired-surfer in Vietnam. This contrasts with the story of Brant Page, who successfully dodged the draft by surfing in Hawaii. And while he was almost enlisted, Page tells the incredible story of how he got out of a death sentence in Vietnam.

The film also touches on the story of those surfers who have been to Iraq, linking the two Vietnam-era surfers with a guy (just like you) who has recently returned from multiple tours in Iraq. The older guys present the recent return with a surfboard with an inspirational message of peace. It’s a fine moment, and perhaps a film that Ponder and Bass might consider in a future movie.

Editor’s Note: We’re stoked to know that the directors screened their movie to benefit veteran’s groups, raising nearly $4,500 in the first screening.

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