Australian
Screen

A compact and absorbing contemporary film noir, The Surfer remains virtually unknown in Australia despite being selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Made during the boom decade of Australian feature film production it was directed by Frank Shields, who’d previously made The Breaker (1973), a documentary about Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant, and Hostage (1983), a highly successful thriller.

The Surfer opens in Surfers Paradise, a popular holiday destination on Queensland’s Gold Coast. The screenplay by David Marsh vividly captures the atmosphere of corruption and cover-ups which hovered over Queensland during the long and controversial rule of Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s National Party government (1968–87) and resulted in its downfall when the Fitzgerald Inquiry (1987–89) exposed widespread wrongdoing in official circles. At the time The Surfer was made audiences would have all too easily accepted the connections between Calhoun, Hagan, Asian crime gangs and the high-ranking government minister whose scandalous behaviour is the subject of a cover-up.

As with Gold Coast-set films such as Goodbye Paradise (1981) and Walk the Talk (2000), The Surfer scratches the glitzy façade of the Gold Coast (Australia’s rough equivalent of Florida) and finds danger and dirty dealings beneath. Here, Sam Barlow is an innocent whose loyalty to murdered Vietnam war mates Jack and Slaney compels him to leave his relaxed beachside life behind and seek the truth. The film doesn’t dwell on Sam’s military background, nor is there any deep analysis of the Vietnamese crime gang working for Hagan.

This is (very good) B-movie territory and Shields does a fine job in marshalling sufficient character and plot detail to engage audiences without bogging things down with unnecessary talk. New Zealand-born actor Gary Day is a good fit for the role and is well matched by Tony Barry’s corrupt cop, Rod Mullinar’s sinister mercenary-turned-crime kingpin and Gosia Dobrowolska’s sparky turn as the femme fatale Sam inevitably falls for.

Shields directs the action vigorously (see clip three) and works up a good deal of suspense on Sam and Gina’s dangerous journey north to Townsville. Self-distributed by its producers on a very limited scale and so far not released on DVD, The Surfer is a crisp Aussie crime film which deserves a wider audience.

The Surfer was released in Australian cinemas on 3 March 1988.