Crystal Voyager (1975)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

David Elfick

Writer:

George Greenough (writer)

Release Date:

December 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Sport

Tagline:

No man has ever been able or dared to film here before [Theatrical]

Plot Keywords:

Invention | Surf Film | Special Water Photography | Cult | Underwater Photography

Cast

George Greenough	...	Himself
Ritchie West	...	Himself
Nat Young	...	Himself

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Rincon Point, California, USA

Company:

Australian Film Development Corporation, The

Quotes:

George Greenough: You might be in there for only a few seconds---in real time---but in your head it goes on for hours. It is an experience that's hard to describe, riding inside of a big, grinding wave. Often you're riding so deep inside the tube, you don't make it out. You take a terrible wipe out. What matters is when you're in there, it's the time interval when you're inside the wave. Time enters space, a zone of its own. The only reality is what's happening right then.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fast Company (1979)

Soundtrack:

Echoes

Never to be Forgotten

This is for sure an uneven effort. Some of the previous reviewers point out legitimate shortcomings of the movie. George Greenough's narration is a chore, not necessarily for what he actually says, but for the quality of his voice. The soundtrack in the first two thirds of the movie is weak at times. G. Wayne Thomas is the artist, and had previously worked on MORNING OF THE EARTH, which was the first Australian movie of any kind with a sound track to sell gold. However, in that movie he was not the sole artist, and his efforts worked very well with the other artists who complemented him. In CRYSTAL VOYAGER, as the sole artist, he begins to grate after a while. His voice often has a thin, reedy quality.

The plot of the movie is exceedingly simple. This is no THE BIG SLEEP. The pace is leisurely to the point of being slow. However, I myself, just accepted that this is a simple documentary of an unusual persona of the surfing world, and enjoyed it for what it is. I have the movie on DVD and have watched it many times. I find the life and times of George Greenough (so to speak) an easy watch. The guy is a remarkable pioneer in the surf scene, while really never having been part of that scene. Evidently, now, 30 years after CRYSTAL VOYAGER, a new film has come out about him, which better documents just how much this man revolutionized surfing during his time, and how even today at the age of 64 he is doing things on waves that others find mind-boggling.

My real complaint about the first two-thirds of the movie is that we are shortchanged on the surfing shots. I would have liked to have seen another 15 minutes or so of surfing. Especially more of George riding his knee board. The other two surfers, Nat Young and Ritchie West, could also have done with more. The quality of the waves ridden was not good enough to really showcase the talent of these men.

Okay, but for all that being said (plus and minus), the final third of the movie must surely stand as a cinematic classic. In fact, I will go out on a limb and venture to say that it is the single finest piece of visual experience ever rendered on film. I can think of nothing else that really comes close. And too, the mix of the visuals with the sound is perfection. In an interview with the producer David Eflick on the DVD, he describes the interesting story of how he managed to secure the song Echoes for this part of the movie. Lucky indeed that he did. I suggest you watch this on as big a screen as you can, with a pumping sound system, and just be plain ole mind blown.

And I am not saying that this is only a visual acid-trip. Far more; this is real genius-level stuff. I have watched this part of the movie at least fifty times, and I can see no end to the depth of it. Every frame is stunning. Then each wave experienced is stunning. The evolution of this part of the movie is akin to an unending holograph. It builds sequentially in force and power, while at the same time revealing – in a seamless way – new, unexpected depth to its subject, every wave. Just when you are thinking – "Yes this is beautiful and sublime", suddenly the same wave reveals an even greater beauty and light. Finally, the entire sequence leaves one transfixed. That I can watch it even now after so many times, and still be moved deeply, just amazes me.

Nuff said……….