|
|
|
You Should Have Been Here Yesterday
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (8th August 2025). |
|
The Film
 "You Should Have Been Here Yesterday" (2023) Surfing gained popularity among the Australian youth in the 1950s and maintained a steady following for decades as a sport that defined freedom and bliss, away from the worries of society and everyday life. While the government and conservatives viewed surfing in a negative light as they saw it promoted a slacker culture as well as drugs, alcohol, and sex, there were even laws placed by the government to try to curb interest for the sport, which was not at all a “sport” in their eyes. In addition to finding places with the best waves, whether domestic or internationally, there was also a culture of capturing the surfers riding the waves on film by amateurs. Surfers and their friends would use 8mm and 16mm film to capture footage of themselves riding the best waves, wiping out in big splashes, and going up against the forces of nature to place themselves against the magnificent waves of the ocean. These amateur films would be screened to surfing fanatics, friends, and other interested people, which for many was the only way to experience being up and close to the waves. In the 1980s, surfing became more commercial and promoted heavily through corporate means. In addition, the cheaper alternative of videotape made surf films shot on actual film obsolete. Videos of surfing compilations became an easier and more accessible way to experience for the average person. For decades, surfing films sat on shelves in garages and attics collecting dust, unseen and forgotten. Documentary filmmaker Jolyon Hoff has had an interesting and varied career as a filmmaker. “The Morrorwind Babies” (2006) looked at the creation of the video game “Oblivion”. He directed some music videos for Thievery Corporation and directed their visually stunning 2011 concert film “Thievery Corporation: Live at the 9:30 Club”. “The Staging Post” (2017) and “Watandar, My Countryman” (2022) were award winning features that looked at the lives of immigrants and their struggles in Australia. But his 2009 documentary “Searching for Michael Peterson” (2009), about the legendary Australian surfer, led to the realization that there were treasure troves of surfing films captured by Australians many decades ago, all but forgotten about. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he established The Surf Film Archive, with the goal of finding, rescuing, and restoring surf films from 8mm and 16mm origin from amateurs and others. Over 150 hours of footage was restored and digitized, with clips of various films able to be seen on their website and their official YouTube channel. In addition to the restoration, Hoff compiled some of the best of the best shots, conducted interviews with some of the surviving surfers and filmmakers to create this breathtaking documentary, “You Should Have Been Here Yesterday”. For people who watched the trailer for the film, you would expect it to be a talking heads type documentary with newly conducted interviews intercut with footage that was cropped to fit the widescreen image. Instead, this is a documentary that is 95% made up of vintage footage restored by the archive. In addition, there is no cropping, but making sure that the entire frame of the film itself visible on screen, and that means there is no masking of the film to hide edges, to present everything captured from the unmatted source. Interviews of the subjects are not shown on screen. They are all done in narration form with only the voices heard and names captioned on screen, to place more emphasis on what was captured back in the day, rather than focusing on how much older they have gotten or how different digital looks compared to film. There are some newly shot sequences near the end of the film, but they are also shown in an unmatted form, though shot digitally. The films shown have credits stated as well as the dates, shot by Australians but not entirely shot in Australia, as there are some scenes of the surfers abroad, in Indonesia, Japan and elsewhere with some casual home video shots included. The visuals are not in a particular chronological order, though the narrative is. From the 1950s youth culture and the surfing craze, news reports on how the government is trying to sway people away from delinquent behavior such as surfing, the use of recreational drugs, as well as how very few women were surfers at that time due to sexist behavior by some. The documentary does not shy away from some of the darker aspects and it is not all about freedom and fun. Nevertheless, there were female surfers out there, and their words are heard during the documentary. Surfing culture gained further attention with Australian brands such as Billabong, Quiksilver, and Rip Curl among others becoming globally recognized with their surf and swimwear, and innovations with boards made huge leaps in the sport. It finally became an official Olympic sport at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021) and continues to draw crowds across the world, and it continues to be a popular recreational sport as well as a competitive one. It may not have originated in Australia, but surf culture has been particularly strong in the country, though many may not know its history. “You Should Have Been Here Yesterday” is a fantastic and beautifully edited work that gives further appreciation for film and cultural preservation, as well as giving a fantastic feeling of freedom even just by watching these vintage pieces brought back to life. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray
Video
Umbrella Entertainment (who have now rebranded themselves as Umbrella, though this was originally released in April before the name change) presents the film in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4. The majority of the film comes from vintage 8mm and 16mm prints, which have been restored and remastered by the Surf Film Archive. Over 150 hours of vintage film were physically cleaned, scanned at 2K resolution, and further restored digitally, removing some damage, balancing colors, and stabilizing the image, though it was decided not to enhance them too much that they would lose the original filmic quality. Gate hairs, some damage marks, and film grain were kept intact for the remastering process. The images come from a variety of filmmakers from various decades using different kinds of film stock and cameras, though they did a fantastic job with the process to make sure that the blues of the ocean, the skin tones and the bright skies have a good sense of consistency throughout. As stated, the images are fully unmatted, so the full aperture of the original film can be seen. Therefore, edges of the frames, the curves at the corners, and sprocket holes can sometimes be seen. Some are windowboxed further, while some shots are a little wider than the 1.33:1 ratio, though for the most part the documentary is comprised of the standard ratio. It’s an incredible trip to the past, and it’s almost a miracle that some of these films exist in such pristine condition courtesy of the Surf Film Archive. And a great job on the transfer by Umbrella Entertainment. The film's runtime is 79:45.
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo There are two lossless tracks, with a 5.1 track and a 2.0 stereo track. As the original surfing films were shot without sound, the sound for the feature is a mix of interview audio, music accompaniment by Headland, and some additional audio cues. The dialogue is centered and is well balanced against the music, which is spread out to the surrounding channels. There are some instances of original audio, such as the vintage news reports, though for the most part, the audio is quite clear and crisp. The music was composed by Headland, a project led by Australian musician Murray Paterson. In 2013, Headland self released the album entitled “Sound/Track” which was composed as music accompaniment to 45 minutes of surfing film from the 1970s at Lennox Head, shot on Super 8 film. Their down tempo psych rock inspired sound is soothing with distorted guitars and echoey vocals, being a great aural experience against the slow motion sequences that were captured on vintage film. For the next decade there were further albums by Headland in a similar fashion, as well as collaborating with Hoff for the soundtrack to “Watandar” in 2022. While the vintage footage may be the highlight of the documentary, the music of Headland will definitely stay within the audience’s ears. Both the 5.1 and 2.0 tracks sound excellent, but obviously 5.1 is the way to go for home theater setups. There are optional English HoH subtitles for the main feature, in a white font which are easy to read and well timed. The subtitles also caption the Headland song lyrics.
Extras
Audio Commentary with Director Jolyon Hoff and Producer Hamish Ludbrook This commentary has Hoff joined with Hamish Ludbrook discussing the making of the film. Talked about are the restoration process and digitizing the hours and hours of footage over the years, the creation of the soundtrack by Headland, giving some information on the original films that are featured, the changing culture of surfing over the decades, as well as their idea for a follow-up documentary, focusing on footage shot in Indonesia next. in English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 without subtitles "Behind the Scenes" featurette (5:03) An all too brief featurette that looks at the process of digitizing the original film materials and mastering the footage in the digital realm, while still handling the original films with care. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English LPCM 2.0 without subtitles Deleted Scenes (5:13) Presented here are some unused shots from the Surf Film Archive, fully remastered and looking just as great as the feature, intercut with footage of Headland performing “Woken by the Sun” and “Donna” which play as background music. The Headland footage is obviously new, but was shot on film so it has the visual quality similar to the surfing footage with the rich colors and thick grain. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, LPCM 2.0 Q&A at Melbourne Screening with Director Jolyon Hoff (20:04) This post screening Q&A has Hoff on stage with surfer and photographer Mick Sowry, who was one of the interviewees in the film and features some of his vintage footage. They discuss the importance of Australian surf culture, the preservation of the films, about the archive, the creation of the documentary, and more. Sometimes the footage is shown in full while at times it becomes a picture-in-picture framing with footage from the film. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English LPCM 2.0 without subtitles Trailer (2:10) Presented here is the original trailer for the film. As stated before, the trailer is a little misleading as it features newly shot interview footage and cropped footage of the surfing footage to fit the widescreen image. It is still an effective trailer, showcasing the vintage footage and the themes wonderfully. It has been embedded below, courtesy of Umbrella. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.85:1, in English LPCM 2.0 without subtitles While this has a good selection of informative extras, the featurette is all too short, and the deleted scene felt short as well. Some of the shorts featured in the film could have been placed in the extras in full, though there are already a great selection to be found on their site and their YouTube channel currently. Other notable clips: "Woken by the Sun" by Headland Teaser trailer for The Surf Film Archive Inside the Archive Live clip of Headland "Blue Crush - A Winter's Tale" (1974) with introduction "Stacked with legends - Hawaii '74" with introduction Many more can be watched at The Surf Film Archive YouTube channel. Directed by Hoff: "The Time We Lost Our Way" music video by Thievery Corporation "Radio Retalliation" music video by Thievery Corporation A clip of "Warning Shots" by Thievery Corporation from the "Live at the 9:30 Club" concert film "Seaerching for Michael Peterson" trailer "The Staging Post" trailer "Watandar, My Countryman" trailer
Packaging
The disc is packaged in a clear keep case with a reversible inlay. The artwork is identical, except the Australian M rating logos are removed for the opposite side. The aspect ratio is incorrectly listed as 1.78:1. There is also a Collector’s Edition available exclusively at the Umbrella Webshop, limited to 500 copies which also includes a rigid slipcase, a 48 page booklet, 8 artcards, and a double sided poster. The booklet has an introduction to the film, a director’s statement on the film, plus stills from the vintage films with credits as well as behind the scenes of the restoration and the music recording for the soundtrack. The artcards are printed on thick cards, featuring stills from the film. The double sided poster has two variants with one being blue and the other being green, having a vintage look to mimic the old flyers handed out for the surf film screenings. The poster is folded and held in the keep case, which slides into the rigid slipcase along with the booklet and the artcards. 
Unlike most of Umbrella’s releases, there is no slipcover available for this set.
Overall
“You Should Have Been Here Yesterday” is a beautiful tribute to film preservation and Australian surf culture, from passionate people who have brought a trove of orphaned films back to life as well as having insightful words from the people who lived it. Umbrella Entertainment has given the film a great Blu-ray release, with an excellent transfer plus a good selection of extras. Highly recommended. Umbrella Webshop link - standard edition Umbrella Webshop lini - Collector's Edition
|
|||||
|