''A Brokedown Melody'' is a 2004 documentary surf film from Woodshed Films directed by singer/songwriter Jack Johnson and his

film school A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training ar ...

friend Chris Malloy. Presented as a special screening to benefit the Kōkua Hawai'i Foundation at the

Hawaii Theatre The Hawaii Theatre is a historic 1922 theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, located at 1130 Bethel Street, between Hotel and Pauahi Streets, on the edge of Chinatown. It is listed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. History ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

on August 11, 2004, the film had premieres during the fall of 2004 at the Malibu International Film Festival (MIFF) on September 16, 2004, at the

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...

Festival of Arts during the 2nd annual Moonshine Festival on October 9, 2004, at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara in October, 2004, and at the Hawai'i International Film Festival (HIFF) in

in October, 2004. It is the fourth of The Moonshine Conspiracy films. Combining a wide range of styles of

guitar music The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected str ...

for the soundtrack, the film captures award-winning cinematography from surfing footage of various locations worldwide:

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

in French Polynesia, and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Surfers in the film include

Tom Curren Tom Curren is an American surfer. Professional career By the time Curren joined the ASP World Tour in 1983, he was competing with professionals such as Rabbit Bartholomew, Shaun Tomson, and Cheyne Horan. He was world champion A world c ...

Gerry Lopez Gerry Lopez (born November 7, 1948), aka Mr. Pipeline, is an American surfer, shaper, journalist and film actor. Early life Lopez was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, grew up in East Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, and attended Punahou School. He frequented ...

, C. J. Hobgood,

Rob Machado Robert Edward Machado (born October 16, 1973) is an Australian-born American professional surfer. Early life Machado attended San Dieguito High School. He describes himself in interviews, vlogs and social media as a "soul surfer," or fre ...

, and Kelly Slater. Also, Jeff Johnson, Jack Johnson's father, and a very youthful John John Florence make special appearances.

Cast

In alphabetical order:
Mark Cunningham
*

* CJ Hobgood * Jack Johnson *

* Chris Malloy *

Dan Malloy Dannel Patrick Malloy (; born July 21, 1955) is an American politician, who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. On Jul ...

* Emmett Malloy * Keith Malloy * Kelly Slater

Synopsis

The film explores the times, travels and experiences of a tribe of surfers who search for the spark of life and look to pass it on to the younger generation. Surfing on all sorts of boards, the stoked tribe finds plentiful, insanely good waves and no crowds.

Soundtrack

Released by Brushfire Records on November 14, 2006, the soundtrack to ''A Brokedown Melody'', which is scored by Johnson, collects 12 previously unavailable tracks by the likes of Culver City Dub Collective, Kings of Convenience,

Johnny Osbourne Johnny Osbourne (born Errol Osbourne, 1948) is one of the most popular Jamaican reggae and dancehall singers of all time, who rose to success in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. His album '' Truths and Rights'' was a roots reggae success, and feat ...

M. Ward Matthew Stephen Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings; he has released ten studio albums since 19 ...

The Beta Band The Beta Band were a Scottish musical group formed in 1996. Their style was described as being "folktronica", although it was mainly a blend of folk, psychedelia, electronica, experimental rock and trip hop, often involving stylistic experimen ...

, Doug Martsch,

Matt Costa Matthew Albert Costa (born June 16, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter from Huntington Beach, California, United States. He has 13 independent releases: 7 self-recorded EPs, 6 complete LPs, 4 of which are released via Brushfire Records. ...

, Eddie Vedder, and Johnson himself.A Brokedown Melody (soundtrack)
on Brushfire Records website

Track listing

# "The Cave" – 3:10 (Culver City Dub Collective) # "

Breakdown Breakdown may refer to: Breaking down *Breakdown (vehicle), failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be operated *Chemical decomposition, also called chemical breakdown, the breakdown of a substance into simpler components *Decompo ...

" – 3:28 ( Jack Johnson) # "Know-How" – 3:54 ( Kings of Convenience) # "We Need Love" – 3:48 (

) # "Transfiguration #1" – 2:40 (

) # " Let It Be Sung" – 4:08 ( Jack Johnson) # "Goodbye" – 2:19 ( Eddie Vedder) # "Needles In My Eyes" – 4:16 (

) # "Window" – 3:55 ( Doug Martsch) # "The Road" – 2:27 (

) # "Vuelvo Al Sur" – 5:52 (

Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed '' nuevo tango'', incorporating elements fro ...

) # "Home" – 3:32 ( Jack Johnson)

Re-releases

"Breakdown" was re-released as a single from the multi-platinum (Australia, Canada, US, UK) top of the charts album ''

In Between Dreams ''In Between Dreams'' is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, released by Brushfire Records in the United States on March 1, 2005 (see 2005 in music). The album received generally mixed reviews from music critics. However, t ...

''. The re-release peaked at #40 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Charts on January 14, 2006. On the live DVD ''Jack Johnson – A Weekend at the Greek & Live in Japan'', Johnson reveals that the song was written on a train ride from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Hossegor Soorts-Hossegor (; oc, Sòrts e Òssagòr) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France, 20 km (12 miles) north of Biarritz. It is a well known seaside resort that is renowned for its surfing. The ci ...

, a famous surf break 20 km north of Biarritz or 150 km south of

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

in Landes of southwestern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The video for "Breakdown" is from ''A Brokedown Melody'' and features Johnson surfing at Pichilemu, a famous surf break 220 km southwest of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

in central

. "Let It Be Sung" was re-released with the CD single " If I Had Eyes", which peaked at #7 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Charts on March 22, 2008, from Johnson's top of the charts album ''

Sleep Through the Static ''Sleep Through the Static'' is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, released in the United States on February 5, 2008. The album was announced on Johnson's website as renovation began for the release of the album. It was ...

''. "Goodbye" was re-released on Eddie Vedder's '' Ukulele Songs''. "Home" (acoustic) was re-released as an exclusive track available on foreign (Australia, Japan, UK, etc.) releases of Johnson's top of the charts album ''

''. ''

From Here to Now to You ''From Here to Now to You'' is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. The album was released on September 17, 2013. The album's first single " I Got You" was released on June 10, 2013. Commercial performance The album debuted ...

'' contains a 2013 version and, in July 2013, HBO

Sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

released a video of "Home (Live from the Beach)" with Jack and Kelly Slater playing guitars together.

Bonus material

With My Own Two Hands "With My Own Two Hands" is a single from Ben Harper's 2003 release '' Diamonds on the Inside''. The lyrics focus on how changes in the world can come about when a single person decides to take action. The song, which features an up-tempo reggae ...

" – 4:34

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

video from The Moonshine Conspiracy *" Diamonds on the Inside" – 4:27

video from the Moonshine Conspiracy *"

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Pl ...

" Outtakes – a humorous poserPoser
, surflingo on Rippin' H2O website from southern California, played by

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

, talking about his surfing abilities to two locals from the Hawaiian Islands.

Awards and honors

Best Cinematography (2005) from '' Surfer'' for Dave Homcy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brokedown Melody, A 2004 films Documentary films about surfing American sports documentary films 2004 documentary films American surfing films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films