5/18/15

Sunshine Superman

Are you a thrill seeker? I think our hero was born one!

This white-knuckle documentary was submitted from the United States to the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival. Directed by Marah Strauch, we follow the exciting life of the man who invented Base Jumping, a dare- devil sport that entails jumping from impossibly high places (buildings, aerials, spans and earth) with a parachute or a para-sail.

Through countless interviews and his own exceptional cinematography, we come to know:
  • Carl Boenish ("Bee' nish"), the good-natured fellow who INVENTED Base Jumping.We learn about the polio that struck him as a child and his determination to regain his strength. This hyper-intelligent and active boy became a piano player, an engineer, a skilled trampoline jumper, a filmmaker, an inventor, and then took up sky diving; but that still wasn't enough...
  • Jean Boenish, is the woman he married. Wait'll you hear what SHE has to say! Carl's friends said he was never interested in the women who flocked around him but when he met Jean, he never hesitated. This unlikely woman happily joined forces with him, became a skilled Base jumper and his soul mate.
She agreed with something he learned in college. "To wonder HOW is good. To wonder WHY will make you the boss." She is the perfect mate for this handsome, exuberant and charismatic man.

The filmmaking in the documentary is exceptional: we can't tell when a scene is staged and when it is from Carl's amazing library. In addition, the editing is so impressive I'm still thinking about it. As Base jumpers, Carl and his team visit Houston, Yosemite, Canyon de Chelly and other jaw-dropping jump sites. I've never seen mountain crags as jagged as the ones we see in Norway. Wow!

We enjoy interviews with Jean, fellow Base jumpers, tour guides, TV producers, family members and above all, Carl. Everything about this presentation is worth while. You'll be impressed.
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Enjoy his exuberance:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1961799961