Castles in the Sky is Taylor Steele's latest release and follows on from his previous offering, the highly acclaimed Sipping Jetstreams from 2007.
Jetstreams blended superbly crafted cinematography with original locations, cutting edge surfing and a subtly brilliant soundtrack with songs by the likes of Ugly Casanova and The Album Leaf. Jetstreams created a niche market within surfing; catering for those with more refined tastes rather than scream, smash and grab of the typical surfing movie. Although it featured huge surf stars like Kelly Slater it was the locations that were given the starring role of the film.
Such success is hard to follow with a sequel as it gives rise to that most fateful of surfing feelings: high expectations. However, using similar ingredients to the first, Steele and his crew have achieved impressive results with Castles. It is a movie that inspires, makes you want to travel and makes you want to surf. Just like all surfing movies should.
The genre created by the likes of Sipping and Castles treads the fine line between documentary and surfing action movie. But it skilfully avoids lengthy dialogues which, as we all know, can become tiring after 2 or 3 viewings. In this way Castles retains its watchability without losing its authenticity.
The locations are well thought out and original. Iceland, Vietnam and Africa are featured with some of the world's best surfers doing what they do. But, like Sipping, the locations are the real stars. Clever editing allows the viewer to get a feel for each location; images of snow capped mountains, frozen roads and rubber clad surfers evoke well the frigidness of Iceland. While views of the Ganges and personalities of India convey the country's claustrophobia and ritualistic culture.
While the soundtrack in Sipping was more sombre Castles seems more upbeat; in this way the mood of the film is slightly different. A more optimistic, stoked movie is the result, whether intentional or not is unclear.
