| Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family | 
 enlarge | Director: Doug Pray
Studio: Magnolia
Category: DVD
List Price: $26.98
Buy New: $18.72
You Save: $8.26 (31%)
Buy New/Used from $12.21
Avg. Customer Rating:   (12 reviews)
Sales Rank: 7524
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 93 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: MAGD10093D
UPC: 876964000932
EAN: 0876964000932
ASIN: B00180R040
Release Date: July 29, 2008
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Album Description
Legendary surfer, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, abandoned a successful medical practice to withdraw from the lifestyle of mainstream America. But unlike other American searchers such as Thoreau and Kerouac, Paskowitz took his wife and nine children along for the ride, all eleven of them living in a 24-foot camper. The family spent their days living by Doc's rules on health, fitness, sexuality, and above all surfing. The Paskowitzs' prove that America may be running out of frontiers, but it hasn't run out of frontiersmen.
Amazon.com
American history is filled with legendary characters who turned their backs on society, snubbing its conventions and opting for a simple, contemplative life. Like Thoreau. Kerouac. And.. Paskowitz? Well, actually, yeah. Surfwise, director Doug Pray?s 2007 documentary, tells the decidedly offbeat tale of Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz. Now in his mid-80s, the guy who calls himself "one of the few dumb Jewish doctors" was once on a big-time career track; a Stanford-educated physician, he was the head of the American Medical Association in Hawaii, an expert surfer, and a strong, handsome man who often donated his services and was asked to consider a run for governor of that state. But more than 50 years ago, Paskowitz and his third wife, Juliette (his previous marriages had failed due to his own "sexual ignorance"), essentially chucked it all for the sake of family, surfing, and precious little else. They had nine children, all but one of them boys, and the entire brood lived in a 24-foot camper, traveling constantly. Money? There was precious little of that (although years later the family generated some income by establishing a popular surf camp near San Diego). Food? They managed, with Paskowitz enforcing a strict organic regimen. School? "Education be damned," Doc said, and not one of the children ever attended classes regularly. To outsiders, it was an idyllic life; "we were not attached to the physical world at all," says one of the (now middle-aged) kids today. But the downside was deep. Crammed into their tiny space, the children watched and listened as their parents noisily made love every single night (not a great thing for the kids? own later sex lives). Driven--and sometimes abused--by their ultra-controlling, narcissistic dad, they became excellent surfers but were ill-prepared for adult life when finally, in their 20s, some of them began to leave "home." Remarkably, they all seem relatively (so to speak) fine now, with real jobs in surfing, music, and the film business and a fairly clear perspective on their strange upbringing ("Don?t do anything a gorilla wouldn?t do" was one of Doc?s mantras). Extras include outtakes, commentary, surfing footage, and more. --Sam Graham
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Interesting Bit of Americana October 31, 2008
I found this to be an interesting documentary about a family who represents a not so standard deviation from the mean. I appreciated the fact that this film illustrated that the American dream is not all it's cracked up to be. It's great to remind ourselves, in these times of economic stress, that money and things are not always the be all, end all. If this film has anything to say about it, it seems that happiness is just a wave.
 Don't miss this! October 23, 2008
not your ordinary family, but that's why it's so entertaining. Surfing was and still is shaped by this family.
Awsome documentry October 13, 2008
This is probably the best documentary I've ever seen. Their story is fascinating, but be advised that there is frank a very graphic language not suitable for younger viewers.
Freedom for Myself; Prison for My Children October 2, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The charismatic doctor and surfing champion Dorian Paskowitz languishes through 2 failed marriages during the conventional 1950s before having his epiphany in which he will be a "free spirit" and travel with his third wife and 9 children like a band of surfing vagabonds. The new lifestyle is great for the father who finds sensual and spiritual fulfillment; sadly, though, it's a prison for his children who must live without schooling, money for clothes, and the normal opportunity to meet kids their age.
This documentary does an excellent job of showing how these children navigate precariously through their one life as celebrities of counterculture and their second life of social dysfunction and resentment toward a father who wanted unlimited freedom for himself and draconian imprisonment for his children.
Proof that you don't need an SUV, a McMansion and a 401K to be happy... September 30, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This movie should change your outlook. If it doesn't, perhaps you need to re-evaluate your priorities. Money does not buy happiness.
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