AustLit
Written and researched by Lacey Walker (an ENGL3020 intern for AustLit) in consultation with Dr Rebecca Olive, this exhibition explores works that show an intersection of surfing culture and crime, from gritty noir and underworld bosses to young-adult works and sexual assault.
This is a rich overview of what is perhaps an unexpected intersection of concerns ... or perhaps not that unexpected.
Title of Work | Author/ Director | Form | Year | Included Crimes/ Themes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Novels (Fiction) | ||||
The Empty Beach | Peter Corris | Novel | 1983 | Murder, Drug Use, Underworld |
River of Salt | Dave Warner | Novel | 2019 | Murder |
Lethal Tide | Beth Prentice | Novel | 2018 | Murder |
Deadly Wipeout | Beth Prentice | Novel | 2016 | Murder, Imprisonment, Money |
Dead Man's Float | Roger Vaughan Carr | Novel | 1973 | Drug use, Drug smuggling, Gang relations |
Puberty Blues | Kathy Lee, Gabrielle Carey |
Novel |
1979 | Drug use, Sexual assault |
Blood Brothers | Peter Corris | Novel | 2007 | Manslaughter, Drug use |
The Lost Boys | Sam De Brito | Novel | 2008 | Drug use |
The Life: A Novel | Malcolm Knox | Novel | 2011 | Murder, Drug Use, Alcoholism |
Raw Blue | Kirsty Eagar | Novel | 2009 | Rape, Sexual assault, Imprisonment |
No Man's Land | Roland Fishman | Novel | 2014 | Terrorism, Kidnapping, Violent assault, Gang relations |
Crew | Tony McGowan | Novel | 1995 | Drug use, Sexual assault |
The Trusted | John M. Green | Novel | 2013 | Terrorism, Population control, Environmental crime |
The Tao Deception | John M. Green | Novel | 2016 | Assassination, Money, Theft |
Deadly Group Down Under | Patrick Morgan | Novel | 1970 | Military infiltration, Spies |
The Girl in the Telltale Bikini | Patrick Morgan | Novel | 1971 | Military infiltration (Navy), Spies |
Surf School | Laurine Croasdale | Novel | 2007 | Hit and Run |
Blue | Pat Grant | Novel | 2012 | Murder |
Non-Fiction | ||||
My Brother's Keeper | Angela Kamper, Charles Miranda | Biography (about the Bra Boys) | 2006 | Murder, Rape, Gang relations, Underworld |
The Pretty Girl Killer | Andrew Byrne | Biography (about Christopher Wilder) | 2019 | Serial Killing, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault |
TC: Tom Carroll | Nick Carroll | Biography | 2013 | Drug Use |
MP: The Life of Michael Peterson | Sean Doherty | Biography | 2004 | Drug Use |
Occy: The Rise and Fall of Mark Occhilupo | Mark Occhilupo, Tim Baker | Autobiography | 2008 | Drug Use |
Bra Boy: Surfer, Fighter, Larrikin | Richie 'Vas' Vaculik | Autobiography | 2016 | Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, Alcoholism |
Film | ||||
The Empty Beach | writ. Keith Dewhurst, dir. Chris Thomson | Film (Adaption of the Peter Corris novel) | 1985 | Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, Alcoholism |
Blackrock | writ. Nick Enright, dir. Steven Vidler | Film (Based on the play) | 1996 | Murder, Rape, Sexual assault |
Summer City | writ. Phillip Avalon, dir. Chris Fraser | Film | 1977 | Violent Assault |
The Surfer | writ. David Marsh, dir. Frank Shields | Film | 1986 | Murder, Gang relations |
The Finder | writ. Phillip Avalon, dir. Frank Shields | Film | 2001 | Murder, Kidnapping, Drug use |
Foreshadow | writ. Krisztian Lippert, dir. Carmelo Musca | Film | 2013 | Murder |
Drift | writ. Morgan O'Neill, dir. Ben Nott | Film | 2013 | Drug use, Violent assault, Gang relations |
Caught Inside | writ. Joe Veilkovsky, Matthew Tomaszewski, dir. Adam Blaiklock | Film | 2010 | Violent assault |
Point Break | writ. Rick King, W. Peter Iliff, dir. Kathryn Bigelow | Film | 1991 | Bank Robbery, Gang relations |
Down the Wrong Path | writ. Tom De Souza, dir. Philip Gostelow | Short Film | 2018 | Drug Use |
Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water | writ. & dir. Sunny Abberton | Documentary Film | 2007 | Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, drug smuggling |
TV Series | ||||
Puberty Blues | writ. Fiona Seres, Alice Bell, Tony McNamara, dir. Emma Freeman, Glendyn Ivin, Sean Kruck | TV Series (Adaption of the novel) | 2012-2014 | Drug use, Sexual assault |
Animal Kingdom | writ, David Michod, dir. Jonathan Lisco | TV Series | 2016-present | Bank robbery, Drug use, Gang relations, Theft, Imprisonment, Money |
Bite Club | writ. John Ridley, Sarah Smith, dir. Peter Andrikidis, Geoff Bennett, Wayne Blair, Jennifer Leacey | TV Series | 2018 | Murder, Serial killing |
Home & Away | (Written and directed by various) | TV Series | 1988-present | Murder, drug use, Rape, sexual assault, Violent assault, Gang relations, Drug smuggling, Kidnapping, Abortion, Arson, Child abuse, Cyberbullying, Domestic violence, Drink driving, Gambling, Hit-and-runs, Incestual relations, Paedophilia, Prostitution, Shootings, Stabbings, Suicide |
Angry Boys | writ. & dir. Chris Lilley | TV Series (mockumentary) | 2011 | Violent Assault, Gang relations |
Title of Work | Author | Form | Year | Included Crimes/ Themes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Empty Beach | Peter Corris | Novel | 1983 | Murder, Drug Use, Underworld |
River of Salt | Dave Warner | Novel | 2019 | Murder |
Lethal Tide | Beth Prentice | Novel | 2018 | Murder |
Deadly Wipeout | Beth Prentice | Novel | 2016 | Murder, Imprisonment, Money |
Dead Man's Float | Roger Vaughan Carr | Novel | 1973 | Drug use, Drug smuggling, Gang relations |
Puberty Blues | Kathy Lee, Gabrielle Carey |
Novel |
1979 | Drug use, Sexual assault |
Blood Brothers | Peter Corris | Novel | 2007 | Manslaughter, Drug use |
The Lost Boys | Sam De Brito | Novel | 2008 | Drug use |
The Life: A Novel | Malcolm Knox | Novel | 2011 | Murder, Drug Use, Alcoholism |
Raw Blue | Kirsty Eagar | Novel | 2009 | Rape, Sexual assault, Imprisonment |
No Man's Land | Roland Fishman | Novel | 2014 | Terrorism, Kidnapping, Violent assault, Gang relations |
Crew | Tony McGowan | Novel | 1995 | Drug use, Sexual assault |
The Trusted | John M. Green | Novel | 2013 | Terrorism, Population control, Environmental crime |
The Tao Deception | John M. Green | Novel | 2016 | Assassination, Money, Theft |
Deadly Group Down Under | Patrick Morgan | Novel | 1970 | Military infiltration, Spies |
The Girl in the Telltale Bikini | Patrick Morgan | Novel | 1971 | Military infiltration (Navy), Spies |
Surf School | Laurine Croasdale | Novel | 2007 | Hit and Run |
Blue | Pat Grant | Novel | 2012 | Murder |
The Empty Beach – Peter Corris (1983)
The early 1980s found Cliff Hardy well established as a private investigator but still battling his demons. He has quit smoking and moderated his drinking. The memory of his brief marriage still haunts him along with other ghosts from his past. A case in Bondi attracts him as an ex-surfer and admirer of the suburb. It began as a routine investigation into a supposed drowning. But Hardy soon finds himself literally fighting for his life in the murky, violent underworld of Bondi. The truth about John Singer, black marketeer and poker machine king is out there somewhere amidst the drug addicts, prostitutes and alcoholics. Hardy's job is to stay alive long enough in that world of easy death to get to the truth. The truth hurts.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C35581
Crimes: Murder, Drug use, Underworld connections, Prostitution, alcoholism, Gambling, Black market dealings.
River of Salt - Dave Warner (2019)
Life in Coral Shoals is perfect and Blake is a new man - running a club called the Surf Shack, and playing nights there with his surf music band, The Twang. But then a young woman's body is found at a local motel, a matchbook from the Surf Shack on her bedside table. When Blake's friend is arrested for her murder and the local sergeant doesn't want to know, it becomes clear that it is up to Blake - a man who knows about cold-blooded killing - to protect his corner of paradise.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/14974581
Crimes: Murder, Gang relations
Cover (Via Fremantle Press)
Lethal Tide - Beth Prentice (2018)
Samantha Reynold's new life in Aloha Lagoon is awesome. She has a great job as a surf instructor at the local resort, a gorgeous boyfriend, bartender Casey Dalton, and a BFF to tell all her secrets to. But when a man from Casey’s past turns up in Aloha Lagoon claiming knowledge of a long lost treasure, life goes from paradise to downright deadly. A body in the rainforest has the police looking squarely at Casey as their number one suspect, and even Samantha has to admit that the evidence against him doesn't look good. Now it's up to Samantha and her BFF to find the real killer, decipher the clues to the treasure, and find out just what skeletons are lurking in her suddenly secretive boyfriend's closet... even if she may not want to meet them!
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/16662131
Crimes: Murder
Deadly Wipeout - Beth Prentice (2016)
Samantha Reynolds had hoped that moving to the resort town of Aloha Lagoon would be the start of an exciting new life. Sure it may not be everything she had hoped for—she's living with her mom, has no job, no income, and absolutely no idea what to do next. But it's a start! Out of options, Samantha decides to take a job she's just a little under-qualified for—a children's surfing instructor at the Aloha Lagoon Resort. She can surf...she just doesn't know how to teach surfing. But that soon becomes the least of her worries.Throw in two dead bodies, two unexpected inheritances, and one hot bartender, and the heat in Aloha Lagoon has quickly turned up! Samantha just needs to figure out why her family is involved, control a group of preadolescent kids, keep her mom and brother out of jail, and get the hot bartender to notice her. It couldn't be that hard, could it? With the help of her new friend Alani and some of the quirky residents of Aloha Lagoon, she just may be able to pull it all off...and still keep everybody alive!
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/16662275
Crimes: Murder, Imprisonment, Money
Dead Man's Float - Roger Vaughan Carr (1973)
A teenage surfer is unwittingly caught up with a gang of smugglers.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C809267
Crimes: Drug use, Drug smuggling, Gang relations
Cover (Via Amazon)
Puberty Blues - Kathy Lee, Gabrielle Carey (1979)
Deb and Sue are thirteen-year-old high-school students whose lives are about male surfers, panel vans, straight-leg Levis, skipping school, getting wasted and fitting in. The girls strive to become "surfie chicks", the groupies that hang around the surfer-boy gangs of southern Sydney. Adhering to rules that prevent them from eating or going to the toilet in the surfers' presence, the girls manage to become members of the most prestigious gang, and are assigned boyfriends, but to the boys they are just sexual objects. After Deb suffers a surprise miscarriage, and the introduction of heroin takes its toll on their social group, the girls finally become disillusioned with the sexism and narrow-mindedness of their crowd and decide to become surfers themselves. (Wikipedia)
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C169286
Crimes: Drug use, Sexual assault
Blood Brothers - Peter Corris (2007)
Bart Fletcher and Jack Chandra have always been best mates, surfing buddies, inseparable. So what's gone wrong? Why has Jack turned against Bart, attacked him and put the skids under his own life? Fifteen-year-old Bart has a lot on his plate - a blooming relationship with Kylie and an awareness that the mother who raised him single-handedly is falling in love. But despite his own problems, he's unwilling to let his best mate go...
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C628428
Crimes: Manslaughter, Drug use
The Lost Boys - Sam De Brito (2008)
Ned is 15. He and his friends while away their days smoking dope, trying to root chicks and surfing at Maroubra. Ned's life is only just beginning - tomorrow, some time. Ned is 35. He and his mates drift through the days snorting cocaine, trying to root chicks, clinging to the pub and surfing at Bondi. For Ned, this is it - tomorrow never came. What happens when life passes you by? When the drugs no longer work and the promise of the future has become the wreckage of the past? What happens when a generation of men lose their way?
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C661063
Crimes: Drug use
The Life: A Novel - Malcolm Knox (2011)
The Life tells the story of former-world-champion Australian surfer, Dennis Keith, from inside the very heart of the fame and madness that is "The Life". Now bloated and paranoid, former Australian surfing legend Dennis Keith is holed up in his mother's retirement village, shuffling to the shop for a Pine-Lime Splice every day, barely existing behind his aviator sunnies and crazy OCD rules, and trying not to think about the waves he'd made his own and the breaks he once ruled like a god. Years before he'd been robbed of the world title that had his name on it - and then drugs, his brother, and the disappearance and murder of his girlfriend and had done the rest. Out of the blue, a young would-be biographer comes knocking and stirs up memories Dennis thought he'd buried. It takes Dennis a while to realise that she's not there to write his story at all.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C786464
Crimes: Murder, Drug Use, Alcoholism
Raw Blue - Kirsty Eagar (2009)
Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing ... and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago at schoolies week. And then Carly meets Ryan, a local at the break, fresh out of jail. When Ryan learns the truth, Carly has to decide. Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy?
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C708463
Crimes: Rape, Sexual assault, Imprisonment
No Man's Land - Roland Fishman (2014)
Special operative Russell Carter has turned his back on everything he ever believed in. A year ago he walked away from the order and its leader, Thomas Wing, a man he once regarded as a father. Since then he's been living the good life, surfing at Lennox Head and trying to forget his past.On Christmas Day Thomas is kidnapped from a remote bush property near the Queensland border, and Carter is sucked straight back into the violent world he left behind. Now an Indonesian terrorist cell is trying to kill him - and every other member of the order. With Carter and the order out of the way, the terrorists hope to carry off a daring attack on Sydney Harbour on New Year's Eve - just days away - when huge crowds gather on the water and foreshore to celebrate. Carter is forced to team up with Thomas's daughter, Erina - the only woman he has ever loved, and who he abandoned without saying goodbye. Together they must travel into the wilds of Indonesia and back again in a desperate bid to save Thomas - and the lives of thousands of others.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/7705153
Crimes: Terrorism, Kidnapping, Violent assault, Gang relations
Crew - Tony McGowan (2000)
Set against a polluted summer on Sydney beaches in the late 1980s, the gleaming image of the bronzed Aussie lifesaver is stripped away to reveal the melanoma scars, sea ulcers and beer gut. Through the eyes of gentle giant Derrick, we join the crew of the Argo as they bump through the rugged waters of surfboat rowing, encountering wild boozers, yobbo pranksters, shipwrecks, giant waves and sea monsters - all in their quest for the fabled gold medal. Alternatively taunted and ignored by his peers, Derrick, is taken under the wing of the erratic ex-ironman, Jason. But their friendship undergoes irreversible changes as adversity and waves pound the crew; the Argo begins to crack at the seams, and our heroes find themselves sinking into a squabbling sea of physical pain, drugs and sexual obsession.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C598786
Crimes: Drug use, Sexual assault
The Trusted - John M. Green (2013)
Imagine a global depression caused, not by greed or stupidity, but by a secret band of brilliant and radical environmentalists, 9S, using cyber-terror to slash the world's population and smash its resource-hungry economy. Members of 9S have spent ten years secretly infiltrating industry and government, working themselves into the most trusted jobs in the world...sleepers ready to act. When the first global catastrophe erupts, the finger points at Australian-born Dr Tori Swyft, a former 9S member recently forced out of the CIA. Can the dark 9S conspiracy be stopped before it's too late?
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C852925
Crimes: Terrorism, Population control, Environmental crime
The Tao Deception - John M. Green (2016)
Today's Conspiracy Theory ... Tomorrow's Reality. The pope is assassinated ... Death by drone. A Chinese Uyghur terrorist group claims responsibility. Dr Tori Swyft, Australian corporate dealmaker and ex-spy uncovers a Chinese technology company stashing billions into secret accounts. The money trail leads Tori to China's North Korean border and an explosive conspiracy aiming to wipe out the Western world. With the clock ticking, Tori Swyft confronts the ultimate decision ... save her own life or sacrifice it for millions of others.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/10412481
Crimes: Assassination, Money, Theft
Deadly Group Down Under - Patrick Morgan (1970)
Lisa Dane, an extremely popular movie star, is at the top of her game and living it to the hilt. Wild parties go wherever she goes and she goes all around the world. So does someone in her entourage who is smuggling military secrets. It is Bill Cartwright's job to find and stop whoever it is.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/14245513
Crimes: Military infiltration, Spies
The Girl in the Telltale Bikini - Patrick Morgan (1971)
An apparently exact double of Bill Cartwright is getting him accused of stealing Navy documents in Australia even while he is lying low in Laguna. Why are beautiful girls disappearing and can Cartwright find out the secret even as he tries to stay out of federal prison.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/14714601
Crimes: Military infiltration (Navy), Spies
Surf School - Laurine Croasdale (2007)
Fifteen-year-old Tilly, Fran, Marlee and Pink are surfer girls. They have been meeting for the first surf of the season every year since they first met at the surf school run by Tilly's dad, Phil, when they were eight. Phil has big plans for the surf school this year, but when he is injured in a hit-and-run accident, everything suddenly seems uncertain. While Phil languishes in hospital and the police track his attacker, Tilly is determined to realise his plans and keep the surf school open. To do this, she needs all the help she can get from her friends. But Marlee is training for the surfing competition to win a new board and beat the moody Kyle, Pink is warring with her parents and intrigued by the stranger Kim, and Fran is busy making jewellery. As the girls negotiate their relationships, tensions and friendships, in a very familiar Australian setting, the summer is set to explode!
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C628766
Crime: Hit and run
Blue - Pat Grant (2012)
Blue is the debut graphic novel by Australian cartoonist Pat Grant. Part autobiography and part science fiction, the book follows three spotty teenagers who skip school to go surfing and end up investigating rumors of a dead body on the train line. Provincial values and the emotions aroused by immigration clash as the teenagers encounter strange, blue-skinned foreigners that have arrived in their little beach town. Things become even more confronting when the trail leads them to make first contact with a new wave of immigrants to their coastal town, who might be the harbingers of sweeping change.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C797742
Crimes: Murder
Title of Work | Author | Form | Year | Included Crimes/ Themes |
---|---|---|---|---|
My Brother's Keeper | Angela Kamper, Charles Miranda | Biography (about the Bra Boys) | 2006 | Murder, Rape, Gang relations, Underworld |
The Pretty Girl Killer | Andrew Byrne | Biography (about Christopher Wilder) | 2019 | Serial Killing, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault |
TC: Tom Carroll | Nick Carroll | Biography | 2013 | Drug Use |
MP: The Life of Michael Peterson | Sean Doherty | Biography | 2004 | Drug Use |
Occy: The Rise and Fall of Mark Occhilupo | Mark Occhilupo, Tim Baker | Autobiography | 2008 | Drug Use |
Bra Boy: Surfer, Fighter, Larrikin | Richie 'Vas' Vaculik | Autobiography | 2016 | Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, Alcoholism |
My Brother's Keeper - Angela Kamper and Charles Miranda (2006)
The story of a powerful surf brotherhood and the chilling and bloody killing of a brutal underworld figure. A blood smear trailing along a footpath of a suburban Sydney street went largely ignored by local residents accustomed to hoaxes and bloody turf brawls in their beachside suburb. Initially police suspected it was nothing more than animal blood. But at the end of the trail, at the base of a Maroubra cliff, lay the naked body of notorious underworld figure Tony Hines, shot four times at close range. Hines was a man with a history of violence, a rape conviction and a long list of enemies. In the months following the discovery of his body, police unearthed more than just a killing. They found a story of revenge that would shock the city and the international surfing world. Koby Abberton, one of the most recognisable surfers in the world and face of the sunglasses giant Oakley, was charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder, perverting the course of justice and hindering police. His brother Jai, a popular local surfing identity, was charged with murder after his girlfriend told police an extraordinary tale of the night of the killing. For local surf gang the Bra Boys' bad publicity is nothing new, but the arrest of two of its founders signalled something a lot deeper.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/13909404
Crimes: Murder, Rape, Gang relations, Underworld
The Pretty Girl Killer - Andrew Byrne (2019)
This is the story of Christopher Wilder: the surf-loving son of a decorated naval war hero born in the suburbs of Sydney, who became the most wanted man in America – a psychopathic serial killer who slaughtered more than sixteen young women in the USA and is the prime suspect in the infamous Australian Wanda Beach murders. Wilder was handsome and charming, and time and time again he managed to convince beautiful young women that he was a fashion photographer looking to help them start a career in modelling. What followed were some of the most brutal, sadistic crimes the world has ever seen – as well as a years-long police operation, dogged by missed opportunities and bad decisions, to track the killer down. Featuring new evidence unearthed from case files and interviews with FBI agents, witnesses and survivors, some of whom have spoken for the first time since the horrendous crimes were committed, The Pretty Girl Killer takes us right into the mind and moment of one of Australia’s most heinous exports.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/17114166
Crimes: Serial Killing, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault
TC: Tom Carroll - Nick Carroll (2013)
On the surface he was Tom Carroll, dreamer, cheeky grommet, brilliant surfer, Australian sporting hero, fitness fanatic, businessman, family man, big wave charger. Inside turned the terrible wheel of drug addiction, part family curse, part legacy of the footloose surf culture he'd done so much to legitimise. Tom's family and friends struggled with him, kept his secrets, and looked on in anger and fear as the wheel began to grind him down. Then a window opened – but getting through it made charging Pipeline look like a piece of cake ... This is the story of an unlikely moral education: of humility, family, damage, brotherhood, youth, stupidity, glory, single-mindedness and surrender, and about the feeling of water moving under a surfboard, how it can bind past to present and make sense of lives.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/6754286
Crimes: Drug use
MP: The Life of Michael Peterson - Sean Doherty (2004)
Michael Peterson, or MP as he is commonly known, ruled the surfing scene throughout the early to mid-1970s until developing paranoid schizophrenia. This is his story, covering his early life, his celebrated victories in surfing, his descent into the drugs scene, imprisonment and subsequent institutionalisation.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C503966
Crimes: Drug use, Imprisonment
Occy: The Rise and Fall of Mark Occhilupo - Mark Occhilupo, Tim Baker (2008)
Occy was always a missile going hyperspeed, about to blow up at any moment. - it's true of so many highly intelligent or gifted people . . . All of his passion was put into his surfing." Kelly Slater, eight-time world champion. Child star at sixteen, ranked third in the world at seventeen, winner of the Pipeline Masters at nineteen - Mark Occhilupo looked set to sweep all before him with a radical, spontaneous, irresistible brand of surfing. Yet a spiralling descent into drug abuse and depression snuffed his flame out prematurely when he quit the pro tour at just twenty-two. Faltered comebacks, spectacular bursts of free-surfing and manic breakdowns followed, as the surfing world watched a freakish talent self-combust. After years spent immobile and overweight on the couch, in his so-called "Elvis period", Occy eventually emerged from his cocoon, reborn and ready to tackle a whole new generation of surf stars. His celebrated comeback to win the world title in 1999, sixteen years after his career began, is a sporting fairytale without equal. Now for the first time, in his own words, Occy tells the complete, remarkable story of his spectacular rise, terrifying fall and miraculous rebirth.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C679324
Crimes: Drug use
Bra Boy : Surfer, Fighter, Larrikin - Sean Doherty, Richie 'Vas' Vaculik (2016)
Richie 'Vas' Vaculik grew up in the tough streets of Maroubra where surfing, fighting and drinking were the way of life for teenagers, and where joining the notorious Bra Boys was the pinnacle of ambition. Richie developed into one of Australia's most fearless big wave surfers, a figher so tough he now competes in the UFC, and of course a member of the Bra Boys. Richie always pushes to the limits, and sometimes beyond. A vicious brawl in a Queensland pub saw him charged with Grievous Bodily Harm and the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence. It was a wake up call that he had to change his life or end up either killing himself, killing someone else or in jail. He turned his focus to the discipline of MMA and is now one of Australia's top UFC fighters. This is his gritty, uncompromising memoir about growing up in the 'Bra, the gang, and about living life on the edge of an adrenaline charge - whether towing into fifteen metre waves at Shipstern Bluff, going toe to toe in brutal gang fights or entering the UFC cage.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/9508855
Crimes: Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, Alcoholism
Cocaine and Surfing - Chas Smith (2018)
There is a certain cultural allure about surfers - they look like clean, bronzed athletes who love nature and tread lightly on the earth. But there has always been the darker side of surf culture, dating to early days of the competition circuit. Chas Smith explored some of that bad behaviour in his first book but now he's being more explicit: cocaine and surfing are in a permanent pas de deux, and it makes for one hell of a story. Surf trade shows in the 1980s were flooded in cocaine. The surf tour of the 1990s had every virtually every competitor racking rails with the judges and the media before paddling out for heats. And in the new 21st century it has become completely untethered. There have been overdoses, bar fights, surf contests and murders and cover-ups all within the last three years and all fuelled almost purely by cocaine. Cocaine's place in surfing's past is storied. Its place in surfing's present is undeniable. Its place in surfing's future is certain. There is something all too similar in riding a wave and smashing a bump. The rush is intense and beautiful and all too short. Altogether, it is a great untold story and Smith has interviewed everyone who matters, dug into the vibrant history, and exposed the inherent hypocrisy/cover-ups to create a rip-roaring ride through surf culture that is enthralling, hilarious and utterly fascinating.
Crimes: Drug use, Violent assault
Title of Work | Writer / Director | Form | Year | Included Crimes/ Themes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Empty Beach | writ. Keith Dewhurst, dir. Chris Thomson | Film (Adaption of the Peter Corris novel) | 1985 | Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, Alcoholism |
Blackrock | writ. Nick Enright, dir. Steven Vidler | Film (Based on the play) | 1996 | Murder, Rape, Sexual assault |
Summer City | writ. Phillip Avalon, dir. Chris Fraser | Film | 1977 | Violent Assault |
The Surfer | writ. David Marsh, dir. Frank Shields | Film | 1986 | Murder, Gang relations |
The Finder | writ. Phillip Avalon, dir. Frank Shields | Film | 2001 | Murder, Kidnapping, Drug use |
Foreshadow | writ. Krisztian Lippert, dir. Carmelo Musca | Film | 2013 | Murder |
Drift | writ. Morgan O'Neill, dir. Ben Nott | Film | 2013 | Drug use, Violent assault, Gang relations |
Caught Inside | writ. Joe Veilkovsky, Matthew Tomaszewski, dir. Adam Blaiklock | Film | 2010 | Violent assault |
Point Break | writ. Rick King, W. Peter Iliff, dir. Kathryn Bigelow | Film | 1991 | Bank Robbery, Gang relations |
Down the Wrong Path | writ. Tom De Souza, dir. Philip Gostelow | Short Film | 2018 | Drug Use |
Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water | writ. & dir. Sunny Abberton | Documentary Film | 2007 | Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, drug smuggling |
The Empty Beach - writ. Keith Dewhurst, dir. Chris Thompson (1985)
(Adaption of the Peter Corris Novel)
Cliff Hardy, a private investigator, begins a routine investigation into a supposed drowning, but soon finds himself fighting for his life in the seedy, violent underworld of Sydney's Bondi.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C388755
Crimes: Murder, Drug Use, Underworld
Blackrock – writ. Nick Enright, dir. Steven Vidler (1996)
During a welcome home party for a local surfing legend, a fifteen-year-old girl is gang-raped and beaten to death. When morning breaks and news of the murder circulates, the community is splintered by shame, deceit, and mistrust.
(From Austlit - https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C70552)
Crimes: Murder, Rape, Sexual Assault
Promotional poster (via Wikipedia)
Summer City - writ. Phillip Avalon, dir. Chris Fraser (1977)
In the early 1960s, Sandy, Boo, Scollop and Robbie drive to the beaches north of Sydney for a surfing weekend. The boys are planning to give Sandy a memorable ‘one last fling’ before his impending marriage. Tension flares between university-educated Sandy and ocker Boo when Sandy decides not to join in the fun. At a local dance, Boo seduces Caroline, the teenage daughter of a caravan park owner who discovers what has happened and comes looking for Boo with a gun.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/7016965
Crimes: Violence, Assault
The Surfer - writ. David Marsh, dir. Frank Shields (1988)
Gary Day plays Sam Barlow, a Vietnam vet now living a peaceful life at Surfers Paradise, where he rents out surfing equipment. When his best friend is murdered, apparently by a couple of Vietnamese hit-men, Barlow becomes involved. He stumbles upon a blackmail plot involving a government minister caught in bed with a Vietnamese girl, and finds himself reluctantly allied to the mysterious Gina on a journey north to meet a vessel due to dock at Townsville, which is his only clue to the mystery. The journey north is an extremely eventful one, with the couple pursued by a murderous cop and a sinister mercenary.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/6060280
Crimes: Murder, Gang relations
The Finder - writ. Phillip Avalon, dir. Frank Shields (2001)
Ex-cop Les Kearney (Simon Westaway) gets dragged away from his favourite Sea Wind Surf Club by a kidnap case. Construction boss Bob Castaldi (Barry Langrishe) is the client whose daughter Rebecca (Anja Coleby) is being held for a million dollar ransom. Even ‘Finder’ Les is insecure about the job, but Bob won’t call in the cops. As the ransom deadline approaches, Les gets ensnared in two killings and his ex-boss, Sgt Jack Matthews (Gerard McGuire) is handing him yet another deadline – or he’s busted. Meanwhile, the drug dealers operating around the nightcul where Rebecca was drugged are also after Les, led by elder brother Leo Natoli (Paul Mercurio). The chances of success are slim.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/6059752
Crimes: Murder, Kidnapping, Drug use
Foreshadow - writ. Krisztian Lippert, Justin Burford, dir. Carmelo Musca (2013)
Jesse Milton is living the high life – money, surf and a never-ending supply of hot dates – until he discovers his latest blonde bombshell dead. When the coroner rules out foul play and the police close their investigation, Jesse decides to go after the killer himself.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/6968536
Crimes: Murder
Drift - writ. Morgan O'Neill, dir. Ben Nott (2013)
In 1973 a family of outcast surfers emerge from a remote south west Australian coastal town to do the unthinkable - build a business centered around their on-edge surf lifestyle. Fighting to stay afloat amidst the scorn of straight society and infiltration from a violent outlaw biker gang, they claw their way to global success.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C804533
Crimes: Drug use, Violent assault, Gang relations
Caught Inside - writ. Joe Velikovsky, Matthew Tomaszewski, dir. Adam Blaiklock (2010)
Ever been stuck with a friend who crosses the line? A Surf charter to remote paradise. A bunch of mates, uncrowded waves and one rule; leave your girlfriend at home. When this is broken, focus turns towards a single female. She flirts with the attention of her captive male audience. Sexual tension, manipulation and deceit erupt into violence as the Bullish male, hell bent on getting his, has the group caught inside. Sometimes, we suffer the monsters we create. On a boat, in the middle of nowhere, you can't just walk away.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C801652
Crimes: Violent assault
Point break - writ. Rick King, W. Peter lliff, dir. Kathryn Bigelow (1991)
After a string of bizarre bank robberies in Southern California, with the crooks donning masks of various former presidents, a federal agent, Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), infiltrates the suspected gang. But this is no ordinary group of robbers. They're surfers -- led by the charismatic Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) -- who are addicted to the rush of thievery. But when Utah falls in love with a female surfer, Tyler (Lori Petty), who is close to the gang, it complicates his sense of duty.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/17230049
Crimes: Bank Robbery, Gang relations
Down the Wrong Path - writ. Tom De Souza, dir. Philip Gostelow (2018)
Down the Wrong Path is a short film about a young man recovering from an ice addiction. He is struggling to repair a broken relationship with his mother, and he has found other forms of escapism through surfing and travel. The majority of the film is set inside his car, as he travels to the coast.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/14215852
Crimes: Drug Use
Bra Boys: Blood is Thicker than Water - writ & dir. Sunny Abberton (2007)
A powerful documentary about the cultural evolution of the inner-Sydney beachside suburb of Maroubra and the social struggle of its youth - the tattooed and much maligned surf community known as the Bra Boys. The story is narrated by Australian actor Russell Crowe and is told through the eyes of members of the Bra Boys.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/14354548
Crimes: Violent assault, Gang relations, Imprisonment, drug smuggling
Title of Work | Writer / Director | Form | Year | Included Crimes/ Themes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Puberty Blues | writ. Fiona Seres, Alice Bell, Tony McNamara, dir. Emma Freeman, Glendyn Ivin, Sean Kruck | TV Series (Adaption of the novel) | 2012-2014 | Drug use, Sexual assault |
Animal Kingdom | writ, David Michod, dir. Jonathan Lisco | TV Series | 2016-present | Bank robbery, Drug use, Gang relations, Theft, Imprisonment, Money |
Bite Club | writ. John Ridley, Sarah Smith, dir. Peter Andrikidis, Geoff Bennett, Wayne Blair, Jennifer Leacey | TV Series | 2018 | Murder, Serial killing |
Home & Away | (Written and directed by various) | TV Series | 1988-present | Murder, drug use, Rape, sexual assault, Violent assault, Gang relations, Drug smuggling, Kidnapping, Abortion, Arson, Child abuse, Cyberbullying, Domestic violence, Drink driving, Gambling, Hit-and-runs, Incestual relations, Paedophilia, Prostitution, Shootings, Stabbings, Suicide |
Angry Boys | writ. & dir. Chris Lilley | TV Series (mockumentary) | 2011 | Violent Assault, Gang relations |
Puberty Blues - writ. Fiona Seres, Alice Bell, Tony McNamara, dir. Emma Freeman, Glendyn Ivin, Sean Kruck (2012 - 2014)
(Based on the Kathy Lee and Gabrielle Carey Novel)
Puberty Blues is an Australian classic which chronicles a special moment of our history. In the early 1970s, the middle baby boomers were coming into their adolescence and early adulthood. The sexual revolution was in full flow. In America "teenagerdom" had come into its own in the sixties. It happened here in the seventies, with the arrival of drugs and the anti-Vietnam fed youth rebellion. And the wild mood finds its apotheosis in surf culture. Puberty Blues is a picture of Australian suburban life in revolution as the wild kids get their rocks off, exploring the worlds of the parents in a context where money and loans are much cheaper, divorce is much easier, full employment and prosperity abound, conventional morality is shifting and everything is endlessly possible
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C809925
Crimes: Drug use, Sexual assault
Animal Kingdom - writ. David Michod, dir. Jonathan Lisco (2016 - Present)
After a heroin overdose kills his mom, teenager Joshua "J" Cody moves to Southern California to live with his freewheeling relatives. The family's matriarch is J's estranged grandmother, Janine "Smurf" Cody, from whom he's been shielded for years. J soon finds out the reason for the isolation -- Smurf and "her boys" make their livings through carefully planned armed robberies and other criminal activities. Prominent perpetrators include Smurf's three sons: mentally disturbed ex-con Pope, hyperactive drug user Craig, and suspicious Deran. In order to stay alive, J must prove loyal to his beguiling grandmother, who rules with a borderline-incestuous love.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/8781454
Crimes: Bank robbery, Drug use, Gang relations, Theft, Imprisonment, Money
Promotional Poster (Via TNT)
Bite Club - writ. John Ridley, Sarah Smith, dir. Peter Andrikidis, Geoff Bennett, Wayne Blair, Jennifer Leacey (2018)
Two detectives who survive a shark attack join forces to search for a serial killer with a chilling MO who is also hunting them down.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/12542788
Crimes: Serial killers, Murder
Home and Away - (Various writers and directors) (1988 - present)
Home and Away chronicles the lives, loves, happiness, and heart-breaks of the residents of Summer Bay, a small coastal town in New South Wales, Australia.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C611050
Crimes: Murder, drug use, Rape, sexual assault, Violent assault, Gang relations, Drug smuggling, Kidnapping, Abortion, Arson, Child abuse, Cyber-bullying, Domestic violence, Drink driving, Gambling, Hit-and-runs, Incestual relations, Paedophilia, Prostitution, Shootings, Stabbings, Suicide
Angry Boys - writ & dir Chris Lilley (2011)
Still living on the family farm in Dunt, identical twins Daniel and Nathan Sims, who appeared in We Can Be Heroes, are back. Joining the boys in the series are four new characters; former surfing world champion Blake Oakfield, a family man and founding member of a surfie gang - the Mucca Mad Boys; S.mouse a U.S. rapper famous for having produced the biggest selling hip-hop single of all time; Japanese mother Jen Okazaki, a shrewd businesswoman, she also manages her son's skateboarding career; and Juvenile Justice Centre for Boys officer Ruth Sims, aka Gran. Gran takes pride in looking after the 'worst boys in the state' and can be as tough on the boys as she is kind to them.
https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C786093
Crimes: Violent Assault, Gang relations
Ellison, Elizabeth. “Facing Death on the Australian Beach : Examining Fear and Transcendence.” TEXT Special Issue Website Series Writing, vol. 1, no. 45, 2017. https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/12942956
Henderson, Margaret. “Retrovisioning Chicko Roles : Puberty Blues as Postfeminist Television Adaptation and the Feminization of the 1970s.” Continuum, vol. 30, no. 3, 2016. pp. 326-335. https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/13909349
Savvas, Michael X. “Crime Scenes : The Importance of Place in Australian Crime Fiction.” Journeying and Journalling : Creative and Critical Meditations on Travel, 2010. pp. 204-213. https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C824535
Wolfe, Melissa Joy. “Puberty Blues - Then and Now: Diffracting Semblances of Being Girl in Australia.” Feminist Media Studies, vol. 17, no. 3, 2016, pp. 489-504. https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/13909713
Acknowledgements
Mortal Tides was compiled in response to works in the Waves of Fiction research exhibition. We gratefully acknowledge all authors, their works, publishers, and producers. We would also like to thank all those who contributed to this project, particularly:
Lacey Walker
Lacey is an undergraduate student at The University of Queensland, completing her second year of a Bachelor of Arts in 2019. Her majors are Writing and English Literature. Through her internship with AustLit, she is working as a research assistant across several projects. In her role as research assistant, Lacey is working to build and refine the database, index new works, and source and compile further information. She chose to work on this project for her little sister, who loves surfing.