Way of the Ocean:Australia (Matt Kleiner, 2010): USA

Reviewed by Rhys Davis. Viewed at the Metro 4 SBIFF 2011.

This year at the 2011 Santa Barbara Film Festival I decided to view Way of the Ocean: Australia. A visually pleasing documentary about the breathtaking coastline of Australia, and how we humans surf the raw power waves that are generated from these Australian shorelines. For anyone that is interested in natural beauty and a love for the ocean than it is a must see. Some of today’s premiere surfers are featured in the film – Josh Kerr, Adam Robertson, Dane Reynolds, Asher Pacey, Taj Burrow, Craig Anderson, Jordy Smith and Kelly Slater.

Being that Australia is the largest island in the world there is an immense amount of coastline. The film travels along and around the Australian coast visiting the tropical waters of the Great Barrier Reef, down to the chilly Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean, and then back up to the coastline of the Northwest Desert. All of this captured with wide angle helicopter shots and some of today’s best surfers thrashing up the many different tasty waves that Australia has to offer.

I really liked how they went around the coast of Australia and showed the many different places that this great island has to offer, while at the same time featuring some really top notch barrel rides. Seeing all these different places really gives you a great sense of  how visually powerful Australia is.

On the other hand I personally wish that the entirety of the film was not narrated, and that the viewers could have been able to gain some personal insight from the professional surfers featured in the film. I really wanted to know what these guys felt about the water and waves in Australia and what it really means to them. For instance one great part in the film was watching Dane Reynolds, a Ventura local, who had a great performance at Snapper Rocks, but hardly anything was said, and no insight was gained. The narrator mainly talked about ocean swells, and how they are formed. He goes on to say what the ocean does for humans who interact with these waves, but I wanted to hear from the guys that were featured in the film.

Overall Way of the Ocean is a safe pick. Great surfing from some of today’s top pro’s, and visually stunning beaches from all around Australia will keep you entertained for this hour long surf ride.