“SURF NATION” spans 2019 and 2020 following the trials and tribulations of young Chinese surfers at the Chinese National Surfing Academy in Hainan, China.
China, in the true spirit of the “National Plan”, launches a massive effort for China to qualify for the surfing competition at the 2020 summer Olympics. China did not qualify.
In the spirit of advancing the collective glory of China a rigorous training programme is developed and foreign coaches are imported. The top surfing bureaucrat admonishes the young surfers saying their worth is determined by the glory they will bring to China with gold medals. They must prove to the world the Chinese are the greatest in the world. I suppose in the spirit of the Cultural Revolution we should call this a Surfing Revolution where there are no re-education camps but instead a surfing academy.
The training is rigorous, grueling and high pressure for those in the surf army. The winners receive a salary and even sponsorship. The losers are sent home but many are waiting at the gates of the Chinese National Surfing Academy.
Alex and Lolo receive the most attention in the documentary. Alex was at 16 the top Chinese surfer. Then Lolo who never quite made it. Alex was not seen as a model Chinese surfer with his desire for high-ranking tour designation the Olympics be damned. He even rents his own apartment to escape the cloying atmosphere of the Academy. Lolo is disillusioned by her loss of her free surfing joy which has been transformed by a national Chinese mission.
Great surfers are individualists and somewhat anti-establishment a threat to the “official” Chinese doctrine of the collective good. While the Academy may churn out loyal surfers the collective mentality it would seem is destined to promote mediocre but loyal surfing cadres. One may be tempted to make comparisons to the Chinese manufacture of star athletes to the Soviet and Eastern European athlete mills in the old Communist days where performance enhancing drugs were a staple on the athlete’s menu.
A few words about the public relations blurb about the film’s hopes of bringing inspiration to those who are learning new sports”. It more likely does the opposite unless you are reading from “The Little Red Book”.
Directed by Jessica Chen and Jerimiah M. Bogert Jr. It will have its world broadcast premiere on 18July2024 on the WORLD CHANNEL streaming on YouTube the same day.
RKS 2024 Film Rating 71/100.
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