Proximity (2017) - full transcript

(crickets and birds chirping)

- [Narrator] Time
doesn't wait for anybody.

None of us has any time to
waste.

They say time is money

but the things you can
buy with money are cheap.

Time you can pay for,

but you can't buy any.

In spite of all our modern
conveniences and technologies,

everybody tells you they don't
have

time for this or time for that.

Well, of course they don't,



because they lose their
perspective of the present.

The present is just a fleeting
moment.

It comes, and then it's gone,

maybe without even being
noticed.

We think about the past,

and nostalgia makes us sad,

or we worry about the future,

and are too anxious to be in the
present.

The past and the future are just
concepts

that exist in the present.

There's nowhere to go.

Nothing happens next.

You are already here.

- Good afternoon.
- Hello.



How do you say cowboy, yeah,
yeah, cowboy.

(lighthearted music)

- [Rob] There's a tough
question.

Your hands numb yet?

- [Craig] Yeah, it's cold.

- [Rob] It's snowing, dude.

Here we go Craig, it's snowing.

- [Craig] Here's the hunt for
Red October.

It's like, how long would your
body last

if you just ran out there in a
Speedo

and a pair of swim fins.

Swam all the way out and back.

(bright music)

(horn honks)

(drum music)

- Um, we came all the way from
warm Hawaii

to come and surf in
freezing cold Scotland.

(men laugh)

- That's the quote of
the trip right there.

- For sure.

I surfed in Alaska once,

but I never remember a thing
like that.

- You know, check in
a couple times a year,

and just think to yourself,
what do you want to do.

- Wait, when did you win
your first world title?

- 92.

- The year I was born.

- Yeah, just a little jump on
you there.

(adventurous music)

- [Albee] I remember what,
being in like my early 20s

and catching waves on backdoor
and pipe

thinking that there's no way in
hell

I'll ever catch a wave better
than that.

The bar's set so high now.

Whether or not I've already
caught

the best wave of my life
is, is the question that--

- [Shane] You don't want to
know.

- [Albee] I don't really
want to know the answer to,

I always want to be asking the
question.

That's the question
I've been asking myself

since I was a little kid.

(bell ringing)

- [Stephanie] I feel like
contests are so natural to me.

I can just show up, go to my
work,

do my thing, and leave,

but knowing that I'm
going on a trip with Dave,

yeah, I'm definitely a
little bit nervous about this

because this is not really my
specialty.

- From my own travels and
meeting people,

it's just purely my own
experience but,

it's that we don't really
acknowledge each other

beyond just that accomplishment.

I feel like, great, you won that
contest,

or great, you surfed this wave.

You don't go, hey, you know
like,

the way you smile when you surf

lights up the whole line, that's
so cool.

Thank you for doing that.

And you're just like, well
that's just me,

I'm just doing that.

- When I look at photos, I'm
like,

why am I smiling all the time?

Instantly, like as soon
as I'm paddling out,

I'm just like, go out, this is
sick.

It's like, yeah.

- I've always wanted to know if
that was

something you think about,
and it just is happening.

- Yeah, it just happens.

(laughs)

- [John] This is the winner
here.

- [Kelly] Here we go, let's go.

- [John] Alright, ready?
- Let's do it.

This is real race.

- Go!

- Go.

- [John] Mine is light and
nimble.

- [Kelly] Yeah, but his legs are
shorter

than Tom Carold.

- What the fuck.

You know what I think?

(laugh)

That's what I think about that
crap.

- That's a full brotherly
tantrum right there.

- [John] I didn't even think
about that,

that we hadn't done a trip
before.

- We haven't done a trip, huh?

We've just like surfed around
and,

well I know we like
the same kind of waves.

- Wait, do you still get
nervous?

- In contests?

- Yeah.

- Sometimes.

Just, if I don't feel confident,
I do.

- [Narrator] There's an
expression in the psychology world.

If you spot it, you got it.

The judgments you make of others

are quite often reflections of
yourself.

(upbeat music)

- [Kelly] If you get to a
spiritual place within yourself

and you're competing and
that's all connected,

that you're happy for the
other guy when he beats you.

That's a hard place to obtain,

because if you're totally
comfortable with yourself,

which is more important
than winning something,

that you're happy when
the other person wins.

- [Stephanie] It's funny
because I feel like Dave and I

are very similar people in a lot
of ways,

but the paths that we've
taken are so different.

- [Dave] That's a skill I don't
have.

- [Stephanie] But you could
though.

- [Dave] Yeah, if there's
enough incentive in it for me.

- [Stephanie] If you could ride
like tons

of different boards in every
heat.

- [Dave] Yeah, that would,
that would probably help.

You've been on the road for
probably 10 years maybe, yeah?

Nine, 10 years.

- [Stephanie] Yes, this is my
10th year.

- [Dave] And how does that,
does it feel different?

- Yeah, I had a pretty one
track mind for a lot of years,

just like, yeah, let's just surf
and win,

and that's kind of it.

- [Albee] If I could tell
the 10 or 12 year old me

that I was going to get to do
this trip,

just me and Dorian, I would
literally lose my mind.

(both laughing)

That was there.

I was like, you can't get
much better than that.

(children laughing)

- Ow, no, hey.

(bright music)

(grass blade squeaking)

- [Dave] I remember
just being a little guy

and hearing that line, we should
dance

like no one's watching, and
it's just like yeah, totally.

That's just it.

How to surf, how I'm feeling to
surf,

and if things come from that,
awesome,

what a blessing, and if
they don't, whatever.

I'm just having a grove in my
own way,

and that's cool, too.

- [Stephanie] Must be a
pretty good dancer, then,

if you stand by that.

- [Dave] I'm terrible.

- [Craig] Nice to get the waves.

Doesn't always happen.

Did we want to show up on this
trip

and drive around for
three days in the rain

and get completely skunked?

That's now like what we would
plan, right?

- [Rob] I'm fine with it,
though.

- [Craig] And you just roll with
it,

you roll with the punches, like,

you deal with that, and out of
that comes

good things, I'm convinced.

- [John] You have this idea of
like

the ultimate wave of Jaws, you
could be

waiting until you're 30
right now for that chance.

- Yeah, or it could be weeks.

- Or it could be weeks.

And you always have to be ready
for that.

(waves crashing)

(birds calling)

- [John] So dry reef.

- [Kelly] Yeah, like a
foot of water on the reef.

- [John] It's not really a wave.

- You kind of blend the gender
thing, you get rid of it.

It's like, yeah, I've
always thought it was funny,

I mean, there's always the big
complement,

you surf like a guy.

In my head, my most favorite
male surfers to watch

are Joel--

- Surf like women?

- Yourself, Tom Curren.

And to me having that splash of
femininity

is exactly what makes it so
stylish.

It just looks magical.

To me, that's what style is.

(relaxed music)

- Did you ever compete?

- I competed.

Just wasn't built for it.

Have like guys paddling
over me, and I'd be like,

aw, I don't need to
fight you for this wave.

This isn't what it's about.

You go, you can have it.

- If I try and save my queen
right now,

you're going to get me
check in the next move.

- Uh huh, I am.

- I realized I won a few
games on the last move,

and it just put this thing in my
head,

don't ever count yourself out.

- Yeah, you never know.

- You're never out.

You don't know.

You could get, like
surfing, you could get a 10

and a guy gets an interference
and gets in your way,

you won somehow.

- For me, if I was at an event

and I would see a section,

and it was just a beautiful
section

I kind of wanted to admire
more than I wanted to

burn through, I'd just glide
through it.

Aw, this feels amazing.

'Cause I used do that, and
I'd just get destroyed.

4.2, 3.5, five.

- I just love it.

I love, I love like the test of
seeing if

I still have what it takes.

You see yourself like
being interested in it

once you're like in your
30s and closer to 40?

- Yeah.

I think a lot of guys are
out there like antsing,

like, I gotta get it done
right now, this winter.

Like it's El Nino or this is the
swell.

But when you see guys
that have a long career

with so many good waves
over so many years,

it's just like, you can
kind of take your time.

- [Kelly] You have 20 years.

- Yeah.

- What made y'all want
to, was it the process

or the actual end result?

- Um, it was both, it was both,

and there were definitely years

where it was one or the other.

It wasn't always like
both at the same time.

- Yeah.

- I, a lot of time--

- I think for me,
though, like 100 percent,

like looking backwards,
definitely the process

and not the end, like not the
after.

- Yeah.

- I have that feeling like.

- Yeah, I think early on in my
career

it was definitely the process.

I mean, I wanted to win the
world title

in a really bad way, but to me
it was like

I can't get there unless
I get my process right.

(upbeat music)

Or like having pipe to yourself.

- Would you rather have a heat
at firing

Cloudbreak by yourself
or with one other guy,

or have a free surf with
a couple of your friends?

- Yeah, probably free surf, I
guess.

I don't know, 'cause it's also
like,

that's our one stage, you know,

like to kind of show the world
what we have or whatever.

Look it, my guy came back.

He crawled back in from the
ocean.

- Everyone's rushing to become
something,

but it's like no, there's
a natural progression

that you just evolve into who
you are

and it's never going to be
probably what you set out to be.

It could be completely
different,

but you just have to be open to
it.

- I grew up idolizing Tom
Curren.

- Yeah.

- And I was like, I want to surf
like him.

I'd try to hold my arms like
him.

I did these like head snaps and
stuff,

and then I think at some point I
realized

I'm not fucking Tom Curren.

- Exactly.

- I have a different approach,

I have a different foundation
and I think differently.

I'm not the same personality.

- Yeah, different things calm me
down,

different things get you psyched
up.

- But you also have, if you're
trying to be someone else,

if you're not offering
the world what you have

for people to see.

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] His holiness the
14th Dalai Lama was once asked

what surprised him most about
mankind,

and he answered, "Man, because
he sacrifices his health

"in order to make money,

"and then he sacrifices his
money to regain his health.

"He lives as if he's never going
to die,

"and then dies, having
never really lived."

(relaxed music)

(waves lapping)

- [Man] If we actually look
at the state of the world now

and yes, we live in one
of the most peaceful times

between each other in
terms of war and conflict,

we actually live in the most
violent time

between ourselves and the
planet.

Like we're just literally
destroying the place

that looks after us.

The weight?
5?

The dog escaped.
Bella, catch Estrella!

- [Interviewer] What would you
be doing if you didn't surf?

Would you be a fisherman?

- [Craig] I don't like, uh,
blood, yeah.

- I hung out with this chef in
Brazil.

He had this tank, and
there was all these fish

swimming around in it, and
there was a duck sitting on top.

You take the fish out of the
water,

and no one really phases, right?

You see a fish out of the water,
it's like

flopping around, you know, kind
of.

It's like gasping for air.

- Struggling (indistinct).

- And the whole audience
didn't really care.

And then he grabbed the duck,
and stuck it underwater.

And everyone freaked out.

Because--

- Did the exact same--

- And they're like, you're
killing him.

And he's like, well,
what's the difference?

- No difference at all.

- This is getting deep, sorry.

- Who would you rather
be, the duck or the fish?

- [John] Where's the blob?

Should have got that thing out
today.

- [Kelly] Ready?

Oh.

- [John] I feel like that
should have gone farther out.

(bells chiming)

- [Craig] Is that a good wave,
is it a totally shitty wave,

is it rideable, is it
unrideable?

- [Rob] Yeah.

- [Craig] It's the whole
experience of just trying

to like go out there and just
wing it and see if it's--

- [Rob] See if it's a wave.

(cattle mooing)

(children singing in foreign
language)

- [Stephanie] The traveling
is getting better for me

because I'm opening more
up and excited to think

oh cool, I wonder what
is around the corner

that will happen next.

(children singing in foreign
language)

- [Rob] I might have been
your age, a little bit older,

when I was just like,
yeah, sure, let's go.

- [Craig] Where are we going?

- [Rob] Craig's just, are you
the yes man?

- [Craig] Yeah, I just go
along on it for the ride.

- [Rob] He's the yes man,
he's just like yeah, I'm in.

(bright music)

We almost hit.

That was pretty close.

I could see the fear in your
eyes.

- I didn't look at that.

- Oh, that was heavy.

(meditative music)

- [Dave] For me, surfing
actually can be the perfect

type of rite of passage where we
have

these distinct moments
where you're different

after you experience it.

You're like, okay, I'm
going to do this forever.

(bright music)

- [Narrator] Much like our bodies,
our minds love to wander.

When our thoughts drift,
maybe to something at work,

we fail to notice a set
approaching on the horizon,

or the changing of the tide.

- [Kelly] I think my phone is

the biggest part of stress in my
life.

- [John] Like I'm kind
of addicted to my phone,

but when I get away from it,
it's so nice.

- [Kelly] Yeah, in a way it's
kind of cool

just to let it all go.

(upbeat music)

- I'm getting pretty
good at darts, you guys.

We've been shooting this for a
while.

Come on.

- When you're a kid,
you're just like fuck it,

I'm 18, I have nothing to lose.

And when you get married and
have kids

and that kind of stuff.

- [Albee] Because I don't
know how much longer

I'll feel comfortable on waves
like that.

- Oh, there you go.

- [Albee] Oh, is it in?

- [Shane] If you give a
really good slab surfer

like a blank canvas and said
like

design something that
you really want to surf,

like the optimum slab,

like what would it look like,

what would it look like all
around it,

what would the reef look
like, how would it be shaped?

It's like it was designed by
somebody with a big planer.

Got the cliffs above it
are like a big amphitheater

and there's like these natural

built-in stairs all the way
down.

(grim music)

Some of those waves are
better off left alone.

- [Albee] Holy shit, that was
the one.

On the back, on the back.

Yee-hoo, that was a good one.

(intense music)

It would be radical by yourself,

but it's so much better
to surf (indistinct) dude.

- [Shane] Holy.

(indistinct)

Holy shit.

Well yeah, that was like

as scary as a wave that
big can get, probably.

- [Albee] It's like
almost as scary as Jaws

in the waves were like just
overhead.

- [Man] I think what makes a
good trip is

just the people you hang out
with.

- [Man] Yeah, if you're
going to sit in a car

and drive for 12 hours, you're
not

ripping each other's heads off.

You're laughing about it.

- [Narrator] The message here
is that life is for living.

If you have the intention
to live each moment

to the fullest, even if you
miss a few waves along the way,

you're still doing good.

- Does that count?

- No.

Hundred percent out.

(both laugh)

("Parade" by Kevin Morby)

If you come to find out who you
are

Then may you find out,
may you find out who you are

And if you come to
search for what is lost

Then may you find it,
may you find it at any cost

And if you come

Over from far

May it not touch you,
or ever do you harm

And if you come

Oh so soft

You may look up one
day and you'll be hard

If I were to die today

Slaughtered in that masquerade

The last thing that you'd hear
me say

Put my body on display

In the parade

Passing slowly through the town

My feet, they cannot touch the
ground

Of the parade

All of my friends were there

Waiting on me

All

The glory was there

Waiting on me

And I was there

Waiting on me

I have come

And I will go

Just to stay

In

- [Interviewer] Are you, have
you gotten to a point yet

where you get burnt out?

- Check.

- Oh no.

I haven't, I don't have a finger
up yet.

I got two moves I can do.

I got to practically flip a coin
here.

- Actually that's not a bad
move.