Editor’s Note: The following review is part of our coverage of the 2016 South by Southwest Film Festival. For more information on the festival visit sxsw.com and follow SXSW on Twitter at @sxsw.
Dirty, free, high, loving, and smelly are all words that I would readily use to describe a hippie. Or at least, how I would describe the Halloween costume version of a hippie. That’s the thing, I was born well after the era of free love, so my image of a hippie is all tie dye ponchos and flowers. There is no nuance, no shading, just bold, confidently drawn lines. Just thinking about hippies makes me default to square white man mode. “They should get a job”, “maybe try contributing to society” are the words that tumble around in my head, and no, I don’t feel good about that. Orange Sunshine has officially put me in my place. Who knew being a hippie could be so dangerous and thrilling!
This is a story about friends, no matter what happened to them, it will forever be about friends.
To describe the story of Orange Sunshine is to speak like an imaginative child. It is the story of a group of friends, lovers, and surfers that got “turned on.” They left their life of order to live one of freedom. Their love and quest to get everyone to feel as great as they did led them to found a church…church sounds too bookish…it led them to found a spiritual collective (that’s better) that they would dub The Brotherhood of Eternal Love. These friends turned drug smugglers turned drug peddlers until eventually they were international criminals, wanted and hunted by the feds. None of this should make any kind of sense.
As ridiculous as this all sounds, director William A. Kirkley somehow avoids making it sound like the musings of a madman. Some documentaries (especially those of the historical variety) trifle in table setting, letting you know just what the world was like then. Orange Sunshine does this but in a way that never feels like routine. Right from the start, the film captures your attention, delicately buckling you in for a ride that is far more thrilling than you would expect. That’s because he starts it so sweetly. It doesn’t begin as a story of drug smuggling and gunfire, he starts with the most important part. This is a story about friends, no matter what happened to them, it will forever be about friends.
Kirkley is not the type of documentarian that feels the need to insert himself into the proceedings. Rather he values the story he is telling, removing himself just enough to make sure that it is told fairly and interestingly. As Kirkley weaves his tale, he allows it to ebb and flow organically. The transitions within Orange Sunshine are perhaps some of the most natural, necessary, and well executed in film. Kirkley anticipates when a change is needed and slowly steers the film along the bend. The film builds so slightly and seemingly effortlessly that it sneaks up on you. It allows the film to stay true to its subjects, who often appear to have the world happening to them rather than the other way around.
Kirkley deploys a handful of tricks to build this world of love and drugs. The many reenactments are shot fantastically, treading the line between what is real and what is recreation. For long stretches you forget that you are watching actors and believe that we are seeing some kind of shockingly probing archival footage. It is reminiscent of Man on Wire or The Thin Blue Line, with the same level of electricity and authenticity. Kirkley doesn’t necessarily want you to feel for his subjects but instead wants you to feel like you are one of them. It is that inclusivity that makes the emotional punches that are eventually unleashed land so resoundingly.
Deploying a kind of gradual growth that amazes in its subtlety, Kirkley is able to transition his tale from historical account to on-the-run thrill ride before landing on emotional catharsis, without a single turn distracting from the greater story.
In Orange Sunshine, director William A. Kirkley hasn’t just told an interesting story, he has managed to transport his audience to another time and place. Through wonderfully candid interviews, expertly executed reenactments, and a fantastic soundtrack he makes you feel like a member of The Brotherhood of Eternal Love. He crafts his film in a manner that disarms his audience of all previously held judgments. Deploying a kind of gradual growth that amazes in its subtlety, Kirkley is able to transition his tale from historical account to on-the-run thrill ride before landing on emotional catharsis, without a single turn distracting from the greater story. Perhaps most striking of all, is that he does with a company of subjects whose multitude would have made the film feel hopelessly crowded in less-skilled hands.
It is most certainly too early to name any single film as one of the best of the year, but Orange Sunshine certainly makes a strong case. It is not only a great documentary but a beautiful piece of storytelling.
It is most certainly too early to name any single film as one of the best of the year, but Orange Sunshine certainly makes a strong case. It is not only a great documentary but a beautiful piece of storytelling.
