Director – Matty Hannon – 2022 – Australia – Cert. 15 – 90m
****
A keen surfer and former ecology student from Australia sets out on a motorbike journey from Alaska down the West coast of the Americas to Patagonia – screening exclusively on the Icon Channel from Friday, May 30th and in UK cinemas on Friday, June 27th
The family of Australian moving picture diarist Matty Hannon moved around a lot during his childhood. He left home as soon as he could, and studied ecology at university, where he became fascinated by the book Shamans of Mentawai about tribes living in Indonesia’s Sumatran Islands. A keen surfer, he went out to one of the islands, rode the incredible waves, embraced a simple lifestyle and felt he’d arrived in a utopia where people lived in harmony with nature, assigning spirit gods to rivers and mountains. He began to wonder if by concentrating on data in his studies, he’d been missing something. He stayed five years, from age 21-26.
On his return to Melbourne, he was hit by culture shock. Everything was commodified. He sat at a computer for work. He was now in a culture that referred to its people as consumers, where national success was measured in terms of how much they bought. Depression was common. He got out, taking a tent to Alaska. , and after more living in the wild, met and stayed with the community-oriented Heather Hillier who ran a small, sustainable farm serving local customers in Vancouver, Canada.
Then he was off on his motorbike, fitted with home-built rig to carry tent, surfboard, fuel and other possessions. His plan: to travel down the West Coast of the Americas to Patagonia. The animism of First Nation Peoples made an impression, while the waves of California were a surfing attraction. He kept writing to Heather.
Disaster struck in the densely populated city of Baja California, Mexico when his bike was stolen. Then he was robbed by cops. He wondered if he should have stayed with Heather in British Columbia. He got another bike and found himself riding down the Baja Peninsula with five bikers. Having friends around made all the difference. And his writing letters to Heather paid off too when she turned up, selling her farm for a bike to join him on his ride.
They travel on together, surfing on unspoiled beaches and passing Inca pyramids, noting that that civilisation collapsed by clearing the surrounding jungle, thus destroying the local ecosystem. As they traverse desert areas, they become acutely aware of their bikes’ reliance on motor fuel. They take a small boat through the Amazon rainforest, which journey opens them up to the interconnected network of living things. The local natives lived using plant medicines and ceremony, elements outlawed by Matty’s own culture, causing him to ask, why?
He comes to the conclusion that he has been conditioned to see the so-called Developed World as superior. When he hears from a native about how a good life depends on the spirits being in balance, something coalesces in his thinking and makes him start to realise just how much he loves Heather.
By the time the couple hit Chile, they decide to trade their bikes for horses, freeing them from their dependence on fuel and reliant on much more environmentally friendly horses who fertilise the land as they go. At Suna Beach, they learn of local resistance to plans for a pulp mill which, judging by the experience of similar industrial sites not that far way, will give rise to toxic pollution. Corporations putting profit before environment and local people’s well-being, symptomatic of the wider malaise of that so-called Developed World.
As they journey on, they come to recognise the horses as fellow spirits, developing an enormous respect for them, eventually finding farmers with herds who can look after the horses for the rest of their days. Before that, the horses nearly get sold to a decent seeming man who is actually a butcher planning to send the horses to the abattoir the next day; however, friends warn them just in time, and they leave with the horses rather than showing up to complete the sale.
At this point, after 14 months, Heather leaves for home and Matty continues on alone. As he does so, he wonders if he’s made a colossal personal mistake. As you’re wondering too, the film wraps up with scenes from the next couple of decades of his life, or rather of his and Heather’s life together as they embrace sustainable farming and raise a family. They seem to have found the very essence of community that was missing from Matty’s experience of Melbourne, and was part of his motivation for his Alaska – Patagonia trip.
The concept of pre-packaged jobs and an existence based around consumerism seems to have so much of the so-called Developed World in its grip, yet these people have managed to develop a viable alternative lifestyle for themselves. Watching this absorbing diary piece raises far more questions than it answers, but it asks many of the right questions and deserves to be widely seen as an essential contribution to the issue of our race’s sustainable future.
The personal diary documentary relies heavily upon the voice-overs of its two protagonists; sometimes you feel as if they are so busy recalling and describing their adventures that, compelling through what they are saying is, that they scarcely leave room for the viewer to take in the extraordinary profusion of images from the journey – breathtaking vistas, unspoiled beaches, four horses romping in the landscape, and so on. There’s a lot to take in here; perhaps it requires more than one viewing to fully absorb.
That said, a powerful ethos underlying the piece. Whilst Matty and Heather’s direct experience may be a long way from the lives of many people seeing the film, there’s much that’s inspiring about it. These two human beings appear to have got their heads screwed on, embracing alternate lifestyles that not only make them much happier than many urbanite Westerners, but also have a far more beneficial net impact on the environment and planet. An absolute must-see.
The Road to Patagonia screens exclusively on the Icon Channel from Friday, May 30th and is out in UK cinemas on Friday, June 27th.
[Read my shorter review in Reform magazine here.]
Trailer: