Tarpon

Description

KEY SELLING POINTS:
- Classic documentary considered one of the first true fly-fishing films.
- Featuring famed authors Richard Brautigan, Tom McGuane, and Jim Harrison and legendary flats guides Woody Sexton, Gil Drake, and Steve Huff.
- Narrated by author Jim Harrison.
- Bonus features include: Video Introductions by Diana Odasso and Ianthe Brautigan-Swensen, Video Essay by filmmaker Hunter Whaley, and 16-page booklet with a new essay by author David N Meyer II.
"Tarpon is a timeless and beautifully executed film about life, sport and culture. You'll be moved, amused, outraged and, most of all, entertained."
- Tom Brokaw

"This long-lost gem of a film has acquired cult status in the fly-fishing world, and with good reason. It has the most breathtaking footage of the tarpon-stalking experience that you'll ever see. Like the fish itself, this is a work of art."
- Carl Hiaasen

"Tarpon is a gem and, frankly, a window on better days. Without a profound respect for tarpon, this celebration of their majestic power and the enchantment of their pursuit, could never have been made. Tarpon fishing was and is a dream, and this may be the only time it's been captured."
- Thomas McGuane

"I believe that Tarpon is the best film ever made that concerns itself with fishing."
- Jim Harrison

"This is mid-seventies cool at its finest: a cult film about cult authors catching cult fish in the legendary Florida Keys."
- Jason Woloski, DiscLand

Official Selection - Telluride Film Festival
Official Selection - Key West Film Festival

For decades, the unreleased documentary Tarpon remained somewhat of a myth. Some were lucky to get a bootlegged copy, but for most, the film was urban legend.

The film was born from a 1972 visit to the Florida Keys by French filmmaker, Christian Odasso. Enraptured by the aesthetics and ethics of catch-and-release tarpon fishing, Odasso paired with his brother-in-law, Guy de la Valdene, to co-direct this film about fishing, fishermen, authors, and nature lovers. De la Valdene was an avid angler who had already been fishing the area for several years.

With a mostly French crew, the shoot took approximately 7 weeks and was edited in Paris. The film was shot in the cinema verité style on Kodak 16 mm Ektachrome. Jimmy Buffet composed original music for the film and Jim Harrison narrated his own text. With appearances by authors Richard Brautigan, Thomas McGuane, and Jim Harrison. The film reveals some of the only extant video footage of Richard Brautigan, the cult 60s poet and novelist.

The film follows several important fishing guides—Gil Drake, Steve Huff, and Woody Sexton—pioneers and legends of a bygone era of Florida fishing. Also appearing the film are Page Brown, an early Keys angler and prominent fishing conservationist; Ray Donnersberger, an angler and saltwater fly tyer; and Bob Montgomery, an early Lower Keys guide who guided into the 1990s.

Tarpon Filmmaking
The film's message about catch-and-release was far ahead of its time and highlighted the increasing pressure on our ocean and fish by sportsmen, tourists, and boaters. It reinforced an ethic among thousands who managed to get a pirated copy of the film. At the time, PBS was interested in screening the film in the United States. However, they wanted the scene of the tourist fishing boat where sharks are clubbed and thrown unceremoniously into buckets removed from the final cut. The filmmakers refused.

In 2008, the film was rescued from a barn where it had been for 30 years and was restored and released to DVD. In 2022, we used an even better original copy and restored to 4K. Streaming available soon.