Doc Paskowitz and eight of his nine surfing children
Surfwise is a terrific documentary by Doug Pray about legendary Malibu surfer Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, a rich, successful doctor who fled his lifestyle in paradisiacal Hawaii of the 1960s and journeyed to Israel, where he is credited with introducing the populace to surfing. Later, he returned to the U.S., where he fell in love and married a cool, surfing-loving Mexican American woman with whom he raised nine kids (eight of them boys) in a tiny, claustrophobic motor home where he home schooled them rigorously in healthy eating, fitness, sexuality, Judaism and, of course, surfing. Told simply, beautifully and powerfully, this very hip, free-flowing movie is really about the often-devastating price paid by children for their parents' "drop out" lifestyles.
The Paskowitz family home: a camper van on the beach with nightly sunsets
Growing up outside the bounds of normalcy (the kids were breast-fed long past infancy; their father's rigidly regimented notion of child rearing often borders on the abusive), the Paskowitz kids clearly gained a great deal but also emerge as emotionally scarred and particularly adept at dealing with the real world. Think of the film as a cross between The Mosquito Coast and Capturing the Friedmans. Although it has a light touch and doesn't take itself too seriously, Surfwise is one of the most moving and penetrating documentaries to hit theaters in a long while.
Credit: Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
