This is also why Eddie’s ex-wife Linda Ipsen, or the crew of the Hōkūle’a; Nainoa Thompson and Marion Lyman-Mercereau granted Sam such devastating interviews – not only revealing the fact that Hōkūle’a should not have sailed that fateful, stormy day, but that they are still indelibly tortured. If you don’t shed a tear as Thompson describes his final realization that Eddie didn’t make it home. If you can’t feel the lingering ache in Linda Ipsen’s heart as she recalls being unable to make her marriage to Eddie work because, “there was a wall between us – and that wall was grief,” then you, my friend, are emotionally flawed.
I’ll leave you with a few other points.
First: I can only imagine that there was a temptation to have Sam himself interviewed for the film. Sam’s been interviewed for plenty of surf films, and his hyperbolic style serves some of those films very well – particularly “Riding Giants” or hell, even “Celebrity Wife Swap,” on which he recently appeared with his babe of a wife, Nia Peeples and former shopping mall pop-star diva Tiffany. The gravitas of “Hawaiian” was better served by having Sam pulling the strings off-camera rather than in front of it.
Second: Sam talked to all the right people: Rabbit Bartholomew (who gives an account of how Eddie saved his ass that’s astounding and even more revelatory than what we learn from “Bustin’ Down the Door.”) Sam also taps the encyclopedic minds and opinions of folks like Matt Warshaw, Senator Fred Hemmings, meteorologist, scientist and legend Ricky Grigg and scholars like Dr. Jonathan Osorio of the University of Hawaii. They lend a cultural resonance that’s existed in no other wide-release surf documentary I’m aware of.
Third: The archival work in this film is astonishing. Sure, there are occasional repetitions of some photos and film, but mostly, the trove of print stories, photos and the ABC Sports footage – surely enhanced by having ABC/ESPN’s backing – is breathtaking. In one scene, we hear audio of Eddie debating the fate of Rabbit, MR and Shaun Tomson with Clyde and Kimo Hollinger. The tape was in a drawer at the desk of Surfer’s Journal photo editor Jeff Divine and dates back to Jeff’s days at Surfer. Only Sam could have procured it, and damn, I sure do wonder what the hell else is on that tape.
Fourth: The film relies on reenactments – sometimes gauzy and blurred – for some of its scenes. While the purist might question this practice, they give a sense that we’re experiencing memory – and in most cases, memory can be a hazy thing. And of course, there’s no way we could have seen Eddie attempting to paddle back to Oahu from 10,000 feet up. But this pulled back, aerial perspective of a lone man on a tiny surfboard gives a final, magnificent appreciation of the enormity of Eddie Aikau’s undertaking and the depth of both his heroism – and his humanity.
So Sam, how the hell are you going to top this one?
Five Stars.
Chris Dixon is the author of Ghost Wave. The Discovery of Cortes Bank and the Biggest Wave on Earth.
