In all of surfing, there’s one film that truly changed things for every surfer in the world: Bruce Brown’s The Endless Summer. But the story of how The Endless Summer came to be is just as — if not more — interesting than the film itself. Which is where Birth of The Endless Summer comes in.
I was lucky enough to lay my hands on an early screener of the new film, and although I had a pretty good idea of the backstory, the film had me glued to the screen. Created by Richard Yelland, the award-winning filmmaker responsible for such films as 12 Miles North: The Nick Gabaldon Story (2012), Sine Qua Non: The Psychology of Big Wave Surfing with Greg Long (2012) and Seeding Change: The Power of Conscious Commerce (2020), Birth of The Endless Summer reveals the hidden story of The Endless Summer by following surf pioneer Dick Metz’s journey around the world, examining his role in inspiring Bruce Brown’s iconic film and how the relationships he formed played a pivotal role in shaping the modern sport.
“The idea to do this film came to me when Bruce Brown passed away late in 2017,” wrote Yelland in a piece about the making of the movie. “All the tributes started coming through social media from what seemed like every living surfer, young and old. It was the first time I’d seen surfers from every generation agree on something. I immediately thought that telling the story behind Bruce’s The Endless Summer would be a great tribute to him. ”
Birth of the Endless Summer left me feeling nostalgic for something I didn’t have the chance to experience. It documents surfing’s true halcyon days, before it became the global phenomenon it is today. A time when surfing was just as much about the endless search for waves as it was for surfing them. It was a time before cell phones, surf reports, and endless five-second clips of waves on Instagram. A time when surfers — most of them, anyway — were earning their reputation as crafty beach-dwellers living on a wing, a prayer, and a few waves. Much like Brown’s The Endless Summer, Birth of the Endless Summer is a testament to the fact that life is meant to be enjoyed, meant to be explored, and meant to be fully experienced in all its discomforts and comforts. Life, as the saying goes, is meant to be lived.
Birth of the Endless Summer, as you’d expect of a documentary looking back through so many years, features more than a few surfers who are getting a little longer in the tooth. Dick Metz is in his 90s now, but it’s clear from him and all the other aging surfers in the film that they are the eternal groms. Metz’s eyes light up when telling his stories, the excitement he felt all those years ago still leaking through his sun-worn face.
It’s full of stories that simply wouldn’t be possible anymore. Hopping aboard freighters with a few dollars to your name, bound for Australia with no end-date in sight. Or making surfboards from scraps with only a picture in a faded magazine to tell you what a surfboard should be. Finding perfect waves that no one has surfed before and having no way to tell anyone you found them, save for a hand-written letter, a few stamps, and a few months for an envelope to make its way home.
“In Birth of the Endless Summer I was going to be documenting Metz’s late three-year journey around the world, from 1958-1961, and his discovery of South Africa’s nascent surf culture and world-class surf breaks,” Yelland explained. “But the key to its success was to have what I call a ‘living story arc.’ Metz retracing his original steps in Cape Town and Cape St. Francis would offer a current-day experience for viewers rather than just a history lesson.”
One of the most interesting parts of the Birth of the Endless Summer is the revelation that, were it not for a series of extremely lucky coincidences, Brown’s The Endless Summer might never have been made. Metz’s meeting with John Whitmore on a beach in Cape Town in 1959, which was the true catalyst for the film’s creation, was pure luck after Metz hopped in a car and decided he’d head for the coast.
“If Dick didn’t have that chance meeting in 1959 with John Whitmore on a beach in Cape Town,” Yelland wrote, “The Endless Summer would not exist, or South African surfing as we know it.” Whitmore was the South African surfer who befriended Metz, which led to those important African surf discoveries.
Birth of the Endless Summer is a beautiful film, expertly shot and edited, full of insightful, funny interviews with everyone from Dick Metz to Kelly Slater, the latter of whom called The Endless Summer “the most important surf movie of all time.” Cut together with both seen and unseen footage from the original film, it allows the viewer a peek into how one of the most important films in surfing was actually made.
I was left feeling slightly melancholy when the credits rolled, envious of the people who were able to travel the world without a care in search of a few fleeting moments of un-surfed waves, looking not only for the waves but for the adventures that can only happen in a place far from home. Melancholy, but grateful for their adventures at the same time. Grateful they paved the way for every surfer in the world who dreams of far-off places and the thrill of discovery. It’s a reminder of where surfing came from; of what it used to be and why it is what it is today. It’s a reminder of why surfing is so much more than simply riding waves.
Editor’s Note: Keep up to date on Birth of the Endless Summer‘s Instagram @birthoftheendlesssummer. The Hawaii screening premiere is Saturday, July 29th at the beautiful Doris Duke Theater in the Honolulu Museum of Art. Tickets are still available here. August dates for Hermosa Beach, Orange County and San Rafael, CA as well as Lake Worth, FL and Ketchum, ID will be updated soon @birthoftheendlesssummer
