Going Vertical The Movie
Reviewed by: Margaret Pomeranz
GOING VERTICAL
is a documentary about the rivalry between the United States and Australia over who was the first to develop the revolution in surfing created by the design of the short board.
Standing in Australia’s corner is BOB MCTAVISH, an endearing larrikin who surfed up and down the eastern coast of Australia before stowing away on a ship bound for that mecca of surfing – Sunset Beach in Hawaii…
Waving the American flag is DICK BREWER, resident of Hawaii, who is quite a bit less charming than McTavish and way more arrogant. But it was McTavish that was driven to master the waves, not just surfing a straight line for the beach, but going vertical up the face of the wave, changing the style of surfing forever…
There is spectacular and funny archival material in this documentary, directed by David Bradbury, and produced by Robert Raymond and narrated by Simon Baker. It is so interesting delving into the history of surfing in this country and discovering the impact that surfers like McTavish and Nat Young had on the world surfing scene.
That summer of love in 1967 was a turning point for surfers everywhere. It’s interesting also to see the impact that the 1959 film GIDGET had on surfing much to the disgust of tried and true surfers.
It’s a film full of characters, and it’s great to see surf filmmaker Paul Witzig featured. I had a ball with this film, it made me quite nostalgic for the good old days.
