Rated: M
Directed by: Michael Oblowitz
Produced by: Red Bull Media House and All Edge Entertainment
Distributed by: Adventure Entertainment
Best Surfing Film in the 2017 Byron Bay International Film Festival
Winner of the 2018 Wavescape Category in the Durban International Film Festival
‘Either the water lets you go. Or it doesn’t.’
Watching surfing guru, Nathan Fletcher tell the story of his life, I can see how bad the drive to find that edge can be. And how rewarding.
Heavy Water is a documentary driven by Nathan’s dream to surf a big-wave by dropping from a helicopter: A Helicopter Acid Drop.
I can’t imagine the coordination, balance, strength and shear will/balls/tenacity it took to successfully pull-off this feat – the first of its kind. But on the 21st of April, 2017 – Nathan succeeds.
For fellow surfers and adrenaline fans that understand the skill involved, this is an exciting feat to watch.
But it’s the story leading up to The Drop that makes this documentary an absorbing film.
Director, Michael Oblowitz states, ‘I’m a surfing anthropologist and my baseline is good storytelling.’
A Hollywood director who surfs to escape the pressures of his career, Oblowitz decided it was time to combine his two passions, ‘To make surf movies that are unlike any other surf movie ever made’.
The documentary flows along the timeline of Nathan’s life, from growing up in San Clemente, California, where he learned to walk and talk and surf all at the same time.
There are voice-overs and interviews and footage giving insight into the Fletcher family, pioneers in surfing, from: Herbie Fletcher starting the motorised wave-ski tow-line drop, to Nathan’s brother Christian who started the aerial surfing trend and even his grandfather, big-wave original Walter Hoffman.
Riding a wave that can kill you is a family tradition.
Heavy Water is a biography showing the tight-knit circle Nathan ran with growing up, with mates like Darrick “Double D” Doerner, Danny Fuller and legendary Jay Adams (the original DogTown Z-Boy) talking skateboarding over footage of the guys skating in an empty swimming pool, the grimace of tough coolness hard-won and admired – the punk-rock style changing the face of skateboarding forever.
Nathan adopted the style, using the skate moves on the water, wanting to jump higher and higher. Eventually leading to his pursuit of big-waves.
Nathan and mates like Bruce Irons would be constantly checking satellite weather patterns searching for ‘Code Red’ swells and then travel to places like Fiji, Indonesia and Tahiti to ride waves called the Himalayas, Jaws, the Mavericks – massive, dangerous waves that can crash you into a 60-foot crevice and hold you under, never knowing if you’ll get to the surface in time, or drown.
Seeing how big those wave are from the perspective of the ones riding them; to see the awesome power of the pull of water literally gave me goose bumps.
The film has footage of guys like Andy Irons and his brother Bruce, and Sion Milosky pushing their limits, all dancing with death – some making it through, some not.
Christian Fletcher states that those lost in the water are immortal, forever at the age they died doing what they love. It’s the ones left that miss them.
The intensity and risk creates a spiritual bond, the documentary giving insight into what it takes to get to such a high level – some of the guys ending up in jail after pushing the limits too far.
Nathan leaves his entire life behind to compete in a comp in Tahiti, scoring 10, then another 10, going home a professional surfer. Only to arrive to nothing – no home and no wife.
He lived in a van for two years, chasing waves.
The film takes away the glamour of the glossy magazine shots and shows the reality of what it takes to get those photos.
The footage of Nathan and Bruce back in Tahiti, leading to that famous shot of Nathan awarding him the XXL 2012 Ride of the Year shows the motivation and spiritual mindset needed to get to that headspace.
This isn’t a stylised promo for surfing or any branding, Heavy Water is the story of a guy who wants to continue the family legacy with all the risk and reward that goes with it.