Rating:
Director: Stacy Peralta
Producer: Agi Orsi
Writer: Stacy Peralta, Craig Stecyk
Director of Photography: Peter Pilafian
Narrated by: Sean Penn
| DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS Rating: Director: Stacy Peralta Producer: Agi Orsi Writer: Stacy Peralta, Craig Stecyk Director of Photography: Peter Pilafian Narrated by: Sean Penn |
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Review by: Ryan
Kugler
4/16/02
I've never been on a skateboard, picked up an issue of Thrasher magazine or watched the Christian Slater vehicle Gleaming the Cube (well, actually I have, but don't tell anyone). What does all this mean? Just that I have no real knowledge or interest in skateboard culture, yet I was able to appreciate and thoroughly enjoy the highly entertaining documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys. Simply put: this movie rocks!
In the seventies, Dogtown was a rundown part of Santa Monica that was known for its surfing. It was there that Zephyr Surf Shop owners Jeff Ho, Skip Engblom and Craig Stecyk created the Zephyr Skating Team, which consisted of members: Jay Adams, Tony Alva, Bob Biniak, Paul Constantineau, Shogo Kubo, Jim Muir, Peggy Oki, Stacy Peralta (the film's director), Nathan Pratt, Wentzle Ruml and Allen Sarlo. They were all young and they all came from different walks of life, but had one thing in common: the passion and drive to be the best, most innovative skaters in the world. The team made the uncool sport, cool again and would go on to change the face of skateboarding forever, through their numerous appearances in national competitions and their profiles in major sports publications. All of the attention and accolades were great and appreciated, but these kids just wanted to skate, nothing more. Skateboarding was, and for many of them still is, their life.
The film, narrated by Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) himself, opens with some informative historical background on Dogtown and how the Zephyr team got its start. Through the use of great nostalgic stock footage that shows people surfing and hanging around the Santa Monica Pier in the seventies, we get a real feel for the period.
We're then introduced to the now middle-aged members of the team, as they reminisce about the past and the importance of the sport and movement that they helped to establish. These guys are passionate about what they achieved and speak lovingly about the sport, the time and the relationships that they formed with each other.
A majority of the film is comprised of amazing footage of the team in action, brilliantly edited together by Paul Crowder. My biggest question at the end was: Where did they get all of that great film and how did they know at the time to record it all? The skating is truly amazing and although I don't know anything about the sport, I was blown away by what these kids were able to accomplish on a small wooden board supported by four clay wheels. One of the film's many highlights occurs when the kids decide to drain a pool for the first time in order to skate it. They're willing to do anything to try something new and if it takes a day's work to ready the challenge, then so be it.
This is a thorough and engrossing documentary
about the period, the sport and, except for a few unanswered questions
regarding the current legal problems of a team member, the lives
of these people.
Dogtown and Z-Boys is as mainstream as documentaries get
and should appeal to everyone that decides to seek it out. I hope
that people give it a chance rather than choosing to ignore it,
due to the dreaded D-word (documentary). Also, since this isn't
a documentary that's boring and good for you, I hope the members
of the Academy will take it seriously (which they probably won't).
Just because a film in this genre doesn't tell a tragic story
of the Holocaust or examine Gay Rights issues or follow around
a homeless person for the day, doesn't mean that it's a lesser
work of art. I'm down for an important documentary as much as
the next scholar, but it sure is nice to see a fun and entertaining
one too.
This is a great film (not documentary,
film) that's as alive and exciting as any narrative that Hollywood
has produced in the past several years. I'm hoping that, unlike
the other well-made and entertaining documentary from earlier
this year (Scratch), this one skates out of the park (sorry,
but I couldn't resist) and finds its audience.
Agree? Disagree? Talk about it in the forums.
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