Tarpon | 
| Director: Guy de la Valdene;Christian Odasso
Actors: Jim Harrison, Thomas McGuane, Richard Brautigan, Original Music Written & performed by Jimmy Buffett (courtesy of ABC Dunhill Records)
Studio: UYA Films, Inc.
Category: DVD
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $29.25
as of 2/10/2010 00:55 EST details
You Save: $5.70 (16%)
New (4) from $29.25
Seller: Pat's Custom Flies
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 15532
Format: NTSC
Language: English (Unknown)
Region: 1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 53 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 880074136429
EAN: 0880074136429
ASIN: B001HBT1YC
Release Date: May 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The first of the modern fishing films, Tarpon features early guides and anglers as they fly fish for tarpon in the wilderness of the Florida Keys. The film captures the essence of the sport in dramatic footage and in the appearance and commentary of popular authors Thomas McGuane, Jim Harrison and Richard Brautigan. Colorful scenes of Key West from another era with treasure hunters, smugglers, hippies and eccentrics are background to stunning cinematography and tarpon fishing at its finest. To top it off, Jimmy Buffet also composed original music for the film. MOVIE TRAILER—Visit MidCurrent website. The 1974 film Tarpon, which was shot in Key West, Florida by UYA Films, has been a well guarded cult classic in fly-fishing's underground. You were the envy of your circle of friends, if you owned a bootleg copy or a buddy let you watch his. Now fans everywhere can leap and splash like a tarpon, because UYA Films has finally released a fully-restored DVD of Tarpon commercially. The film was born from a 1972 visit to the Florida Keys by filmmaker Christian Odasso and Guy de la Valdene, an avid angler who already had a few years of experience in fly fishing for Keys tarpon. Enraptured by the aesthetics and ethics of the catch-and-release fishing, Odasso paired with de la Valdene to co-direct the film. With a mostly French crew, the shoot took approximately seven weeks and the resulting film was edited in Paris. Saved by the filmmaker's daughter from a dripping barn in the Normandy countryside where it lay untouched for the last 35 years, the film was recently restored and digitized for DVD by Guy de la Valdene. While the footage focuses on the magnificence of tarpon, the directors chose to interview many of the top guides and conservationists of the era and include their observations and concerns about the future of the fish they pursued. The film's message about the importance of releasing fish was far ahead of its time and prescient in highlighting the increasing pressure on fish by sportsmen, tourists and boaters. It reinforced an ethic among thousands who managed to get a pirated copy of the film in the 35 years since its making. The sharp contrasts drawn by the film perhaps best exemplified by a scene in which tourists recoil in fascination from party boat crew members clubbing and throwing sharks and sport fish into barrels made it difficult for the producers to find a distributor when the film was completed. At the time, PBS was interested in screening the film in the U.S., but most distributors expressed reluctance to work with the film unless the producers removed scenes like this which highlighted the wasteful practices of the era. Besides including some of the only footage of Richard Brautigan, the cult 60s poet and novelist, Tarpon also features commentary by legendary guides Woody Sexton, Steve Huff, Gil Drake, Vaughn Cochran, as well as Page Brown, an ardent Keys conservationist.
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| Customer Reviews:
Wonderful movie December 5, 2008
QCD phenomenologist (NY, NY)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a timeless classic which every afficionado of the 70s or Key West should own. The visuals and cinematography are stunning and they convey a certain sense of nostalgia for a bygone era. This is also amongst the first documentaries that captures the environmental spirit and dangers that haphazardous fishing can cause.
Most of the film is rather zen, with beautiful slow motion spreads of the Tarpon as they jump out of the water. Interlaced with those moments, you have interviews with various famous fishermen and literary minds and shots of the life and culture of Key West. The deep Floridian accents can be a little hard to follow at times, but one can't help but appreciate the charming sense of contentment with their surroundings the main protagonists display.
One particularly powerful scene displays a contrast between the style of life these fishermen and friends live in, and the beginning of the commercial touristy aspects of Key West.
Aside from that, the film is very nicely timed in the sense that its not too long and not too short and at the end of the day, one is left with a deeply satisfying experience that isn't spoiled by any modern holywood tradeoffs or forced political messages.
Must See Film! - Long Overdue Release November 3, 2008
D. D. Seifert
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Previously only available as a grainy VHS tape made from a chopped up television broadcast, this film has been a cult classic among flyfishermen and literary types for decades, more talked about than seen. Now, at last!, it is available to all, in glorious color and sound, functioning as a time machine back to a Key West that no longer exists with a cast of literary icons when their careers were just beginning. The film is beautifully filmed and edited, with a high energy soundtrack by Jimmy Buffet that should keep the Parrotheads buzzing for weeks. Tarpon contains the only known footage of the late Richard Brautigan, poet and novelist, and has terrific sequences featuring fellow writers Jim Harrison, Tom McGuane and Guy de la Valdene, all of whom have gone on to the stuff of greatness. Catch and release fly fishing for tarpon and other saltwater fish was in its infancy in the early seventies, the filmmakers accurately capture the mood and spirit of the times and document sustainable fishing practices long before current fashion. Highly recommended!
Five Star Documentary January 21, 2010
N. J. Welsh (South Texas)
Incredible documentary film. The guys that put this thing together were way ahead of their time, both in film production and conservation ideals. Jimmy Buffett supplies the soundtrack, which will bring tears to they eyes of any Buffett enthusiast. If you like well filmed 1970s shallow water fly fishing, paired with older Buffett recordings, this film is a must have.
Classic film; beautiful cinematography! November 19, 2009
Alan Kiphut (Beaverton, OR USA)
Really well-done film on flyfishing for tarpon in the Florida Keys in the 1970s. Contrasted with brief footage of standard, bloody sportsfishing. Some spectacular footage, with no talking, of tarpon leaping out of the watter. Some footage of conversations with writers Jim Harrison, Tom McQuane and Richard Brautigan. A classic!!
A timeless classic October 19, 2009
Seabiscuit
As the back cover states, this film is like the fish itself - a work of art. Set in a time (early 1970's) and place (Key West) that many consider to be the "real Florida" (i.e., Paradise Lost), this film is a funky classic that captures the essence of tarpon fishing on the fly. The cinematography is magnificent and the main characters include three of the top American literary talents of the late twentieth century all of whom share a sense of the quasi-religous experience that is tarpon on the fly. The film closes with a compliation of tarpon aerial displays that is reminisenct of the climax of a high end fireworks show - truly worth the price of admission.
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