A Deadpan Scandinavian Take On the Cult Keanu Reeves Surfing Movie Point Break
With news of a 2015 remake of Kathryn Bigelow’s cult 1990s buddy movie Point Break,
surfer and filmmaker Andrew Blackman’s indie homage to the Keanu Reeves
and Patrick Swayze crime capper is a serendipitous comic tale. “The way
Point Break talks about surfing and the mysticism embodied by
Swayze’s character Bodhi is so amusing,” says Blackman, whose short that
follows a wannabe wave rider “If In Doubt Paddle Out” is an allegory of
how the surfing subculture is portrayed in popular culture. “The
character Thomas, played by Thomas Persson, is so profoundly phoney that
all of his characteristics and traits are stolen.” Shot on location in
Ericeira, Portugal, the Copenhagen-based New Zealander ensured his
shooting schedule saw him in the ocean everyday. “I woke up in the dark
to get a wave in before crew call, snuck away at lunch time and surfed
after we wrapped until it got too dark,” says the director, who recently
returned from a surf trip to the Catlins, on the South Island of New
Zealand. “I was taken there by an old friend; a great surfer and a
deeply spiritual guy. You could say the spirit of surfing took us there,
or you could argue it was his 2010 Subaru Outback.”
Who are you: Keanu or Patrick Swayze?
Andrew Blackman: Good question. Swayze on the beach, Keanu in the water (RIP Bodhi!).
Is surfing a way to get the girls or spiritual enlightenment?
AB: For some people, me included, surfing is really addictive. Maybe this is what the kid in Point Break means when he tells Utah, “Surfing is the source man, swear to God it will change your life.”
What’s a ‘kook’?
AB: I’ve
heard a kook being described as someone who does not respect the
surf-spot and/or others in the water. Someone who is unprepared to surf a
certain wave and does not adhere to surfing etiquette.
