Boxers watch the Rocky movies, soldiers and veterans watch anything from Saving Private Ryan, to Blackhawk Down, or Lone Survivor, archaeologists have likely seen Jurassic Park, and if you're Italian and you haven't seen The Godfather—don't tell your grandparents! Listed below are some movies which depict fishing as an integral part of each story:
A River Runs Through It is the true story about two boys, Norman (Craig Sheffer) and Paul (Brad Pitt), growing up in 1920s Missoula, Montana with their father, a Presbyterian minister. Much of the film is about the two boys returning home after becoming troubled adults. A common theme in the film is the men's love of fly fishing for trout in the Blackfoot River and how it impacted their lives. The film is told from Norman's point of view.
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1993, including Best Cinematography (Philippe Rousselot); Best Music, Original Score (Mark Isham); and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Richard Friedenberg). Rousselot won for Best Cinematography. At the Golden Globes, Robert Redford was nominated for Best Director - Motion Picture, but did not win.
Henry Fonda’s Norman Thayer kicks the disrespectful punk out of his new step-grandson Billy by teaching him all there is to know about fishing. We need more Norman Thayer’s in the world. God knows we don’t need any more disrespectful punk kids running around. There’s enough of them already. You know what? Quit reading this and go take some kid fishing. I think the world will be the better for it.
The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title.Henry Fonda won the Academy Award for Best Actor in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his script, and there were a further seven Oscar nominations for the film, including Jane Fonda, who played the daughter. The film co-starred Dabney Coleman and Doug.
Stuffy government fisheries scientist Fred is asked by a fishing-obsessed Arab Sheik to do the seemingly impossible—introduce British salmon to the Wadis of the Yemen. Despite considerable trepidation, Fred is finally won over by the charismatic Arab, who reveals that fishing brings him closer to God, and he hopes it will have the same effect on his countrymen. Fred also begins to fall for the Sheik's beautiful legal representative Harriet; and so he rises to the Sheik's eccentric challenge, casting off his English reserve on a transformative journey of self-discovery and late blooming love.
In 2012, the film was nominated for the European Film Awards People's Choice Award.
The film was also nominated for 3 Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Actor - Comedy or Musical for McGregor, and Best Actress - Comedy or Musical for Blunt.
The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novella confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Not to be mistaken for the 1958 Warnercolor movie of the same name, this version won the Academy Award for Animated Short Film. Using a paint-on-glass technique that recollects Theodore Wendel-styled brushstrokes, this adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel has a running time of only 20 minutes. Every second of Santiago’s battle with the great marlin, however, is masterfully captured in over 29,000 stunning pastel oil frames hand-painted by director Aleksandr Petrov and his son, Dmitri.
Based on a true story, the film tells of the courageous men and women who risk their lives every working day, pitting their fishing boats and rescue vessels against the capricious forces of nature. Their worst fears are realized at sea on Halloween of 1991, when they are confronted by three raging weather fronts which unexpectedly collide to produce the greatest, fiercest storm in modern history—"The Perfect Storm."
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Visual Effects (Walt Conti, Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier and Habib Zargarpour) and Best Sound (John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David E. Campbell andKeith A. Wester), but lost both to Gladiator.
Gus and Joe love to fish. Since their boyhoods, they have spent day after day on the dock praying to catch "The Big One"—but with no success. After winning Bait & Tackle's grand prize vacation package, the bosom buddies set out for the adventure they have always dreamed of in the plentiful Florida Everglades - but chaos and havoc turn Joe and Gus' much-anticipated fishing retreat into a comedic run for their lives.
- Low & Clear (Feature documentary/drama)
During a winter flyfishing trip to Canada, two old friends, J.T. Van Zandt and Alex "Xenie" Hall, learn they've have grown apart in more ways than one. J.T., the thoughtful even-keeled son of a songwriting legend believes there's more to fishing than catching fish. Short-tempered Xenie, a "firewood salesman," sees it differently and fishes like it's a race against the clock. Their different approaches to fishing and life emerge and clash on the snowy river banks and damp hotel rooms of British Columbia in this true story of a friendship stretched to the breaking point. An exploration of life in the disappearing wilderness of the West, Low & Clear unfolds with moments of humor and pathos, success and failure, as J.T. and Xenie find themselves on a fishing trip that could be their last.
Whether you're in the mood for a good laugh, need inspiration, crave suspense, or just want to learn something; any of the films listed above may be fitting. It's interesting to see how fishing is represented in each movie, how it's written into each storyline, and how the characters relate to it differently. The diversity in these award winning films is an example of how universal the appreciation of fishing really is.Winner: Audience Award. SXSW Film FestivalWinner: Best Outdoor Film. Hot Springs Film FestivalWinner: Best Film. Drake Video Awards
I've seen five of seven here, and had actually never heard of the last two. Thanks for bringing them to my attention. Never thought of some of these as "fishing" movies, but their plots, in fact, do revolve around the sport.
ReplyDeleteHello again, Janet. Do you have a favorite of the five you've already seen? What I like most about these films is the depiction of how fishing brings people together. They are good examples of art imitating life. I've met people who've used fishing as a means to address important life issues with one another. For example, a buddy of mine took his girlfriend's father fishing when he asked for permission to marry his daughter. Likewise, my previous First Sergeant took his twin teenage boys out on an angling excursion, where he discussed "the birds and the bees" with them for the first time. Fishing in of itself is a great activity, but can also serve as an excellent venue for discussion and/or personal connection with others. Thanks for commenting!
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