SHE IS THE OCEAN:
A REVIEW

She is The Ocean is the latest release from Director & Producer Inna Blokhina supported by Garage Entertainment, but it's not your typical surf movie if we can call it one at all. It’s more a portrayal of women connecting with the sea and “dreaming big” against the odds, excuse my exhausting Byron Bay platitudes. 

Dreaming big feels a little idealistic in light of the achievements of these women, let’s be real, when was the last time you rode a 20-foot Great White Shark? Was one of three people in history who’ve gone to the lowest point of the ocean a human has ever gone? Or took on a 30-foot wave only to get pinned to the reef, break your face, charlie horse your elbow, then the next year jump back up and win Barrel of the Year against the men?

This documentary follows nine women and their unique relationship with the ocean. The surfers in the line-up include Balinese born surfing prodigy, Cinta Hansel; Pro surfer and Hawaiian royalty, Coco Ho; through to Women’s Big Wave Pioneer and winner of the WSL “Barrel of the Year 2016”, Keala Kennelly; Big wave surfer, long-distance paddleboarder and winner of WSL “Women Best Performance 2016”, Andrea Moller; surfing icon and mother of the late legendary surfer Todd Chesser, Jeannie Chesser.

The rest of the women's careers are a little more abstract, which makes this less of a surf film and leans into a save the oceans and sea life exposè. This line-up includes shark conservationist (who is probably the toughest-slash-craziest-person-in-the-water) and free diver, Ocean Ramsey; along with German high diver and 7 x Cliff Diving Champion (yeah that’s a thing and it’s heavy), Anna Bader; and Marine Biologist, explorer and the first female chief scientist to the U.S, Sylvia Earle.

This motley crew illustrates female diversity across the world in and around the water.

With Cinta, the main protagonist, being the youngest at nine years old and just starting her surfing career, her story is bolstered by the other eight women who are at varying stages of their lives with different levels of success within their chosen fields. They are, however, all tied together with life experiences that we can draw inspiration from.
The flow of this 90-minute film almost feels as though the older women’s stories are there to guide young Cinta to keep going, very much creating an alluringly shot matriarchal storyline.

Throughout the film, you’ll run headfirst into a few clichés, but with more than anecdotal evidence to support their existence, you can move through them without too much effort. 

Once you’ve overlooked the intentionally heavy aspirational nature of this film constantly spliced with contrived cinematic drama, slow motion at every turn, and an exaggerated soundtrack trying but possibly failing to pull a drop of emotion out of your ice-cold cynical heart, you can see the true value in the message.

There is an ever-growing need for girls, and women alike, to see examples of intelligent, strong women handling pressure with grace. This is not to say that men shouldn’t watch this as well, I mean, you know a girl…… right?