| USA, 1978 | Drama/Post-Western | Mainstream | Trailer |
The first time I heard about this movie was two years ago. I was at the yearly seaside family holidays, and it was a windy day. Big waves were crashing in the edge of the beach, and the younger sister of my mother was having a cigarette apart of the rest of the family, so I went to talk to her. That was the exact moment when she told me that the big crashing waves we were looking at reminded her to Big Wednesday, as it was a movie that impressed her when she was younger. It’s one of the two only times I remember having heard her talk her heart out, with a kind of passion, sincerity and transparency I never see in her as she is normally a not very nice person to get along with. So, having had the pleasure to witness such a reaction from her, that name, Big Wednesday stayed with me. Yesterday, at last, I had the chance to watch it.
A quick search through the net will tell you the basic ideas. Big Wednesday is the best movie about surfing ever made. Scriptwriter John Milius (the guy that directed Conan) was personally involved in it, given that he used to be a surfer in his youth (now it makes sense why Apocalypse Now has a surfing-themed arc). Quentin Tarantino says it’s one of his favourite movies. The story about three friends that grow up while they do surf, staying their hobby as the only relief and common tie between them while they become adults, seems to touch every trope of the stereotypical traditional buddy movies; as it reminds works from similar time and focus like American Graffiti or The Hunter.
You can read everything about this movie online. Therefore, I am going to talk about a particular aspect of this work that powerfully got me, nobody in the internet seems to have noticed, and that made the watch thrice a good experience: As I see it, Big Wednesday is an Epic, comparable to the most grandious Western-genres made by the strongest Hollywood filmmakers of all times.
There is much more than three guys doing surf and growing up in this movie. It’s a story of heroism and progression. The story of an ideal, its pursuit, a fall, and a transcendence. The movie is adequately divided in four arcs, each one dedicated to one of the four parts of the journey. They are autoconclusive, as they portray different, separated stages in life of the main group, but are internally tied. Every character is represented like a godly icon, much similar to heroes of Epics (which does not mean they are flawless, at all), and the story of their life is seen as the Struggle (with capital S) of experience. The contraposition between the ideals of their youth and life’s slaps is treated like a hero’s journey. Other epic aspects incorporate the mentor with a mythical aura around his past, the unavoidable and obvious separation, the eventual reunion after transcendence, and the permanent hope on their ideal and its eternal qualities.
There has been much talked about “going chase the big wave”, about what it means to stay true to oneself, about to what degree a surfer stays a surfer for their whole life, about the true value of ties and friendship, about how your past shapes your future… but Big Wednesday treats it on an Olympic level.
According to it, the photography and cinematography here are grandious. Big, impressive shots that contrapose the silhouette of the individual with the vastness of the skies and seas, games of lights and shadows, very well-thought scenarios and decor that turn the screen composition into a structure meant to highlight the grandness of the characters seen in its middle are frequent too. It also pays homage to the Epic movie genre by incorporating many elements and scene archetypes from classical John Ford works. I don’t exaggerate when I say that this movie is shot in a style Hollywood forgot with its transition to modernity, 10 years previously. So, in another way more, the flavour Big Wednesday delivers to the watcher reminds of the grand screen epics, rather than following the trail of other typical, gunky, avant-garde or risky 70s movies.
I tried to find some scenes and screencaps that convey what I am trying to express, but, again, it seems nobody in the net got this aspect of the movie and focuses more on the surfing part, which is understandable. But it’s perfect, so you can experience it by yourselves, if you ever want to give this movie a chance.
So, Big Wednesday is as grand as life. I would add, it is to cinema what Ping Pong the Animation is to anime (if you know about this medium). Just remember this.