Cornish surf film catches new wave of affection

The director of the cult classic Cornish surf film Blue Juice - which broadcast the UK's little-known surfing culture to the world - has revealed it was very nearly filmed in California.

It is 30 years since the release of the film, which starred Sean Pertwee, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ewan McGregor, and took its inspiration from the rugged north Cornwall coast.

The director Carl Prechezer has been back in Cornwall for a number of special screenings of his work to mark the anniversary.

He admitted he was lucky to secure such a stellar cast, laughing: "A couple of years later, they would have been completely out of the question because it was a low budget film, it was an independent movie."

At the heart of Blue Juice is the relationship between surf instructor CJ (Pertwee) and his long-term girlfriend Chloe (Zeta-Jones).

CJ has to choose between the life he has built with Chloe in Cornwall and returning to his old ways when his London friends come down to visit unexpectedly and disturb the domestic bliss.

The 1995 film was largely filmed in north Cornwall, in places like St Agnes, Godrevy, Newquay and St Ives, although much of the surfing action was actually filmed in Lanzarote.

Prechezer told BBC Radio Cornwall's David White it was very important to him the film was set in Cornwall.

"The whole idea came from a best friend who met a girl in Newquay... so right from the beginning it was always a Cornish experience," he said.

"I think if certain distributors had had their way it would have been firmly set somewhere else, probably in California, because they wanted an international film.

"We kept saying 'No, no, no', people at the time didn't know about the scene and we were saying, 'This would be great for the UK and great for Europe, let's do something more local in Cornwall'.

"In the end they got behind it, but it was tough to begin with."

Prechezer returned to Cornwall for a series of sold-out screenings of Blue Juice to celebrate its 30th anniversary but he does not seem entirely comfortable with the tag "cult classic".

"That's always a question that one should always ask an audience, or people that like it, but I think the thing that I'm so proud of and the thing that I love is when you talk to surfers and local people, they like it, and there's stuff that they laugh at and there's in-jokes in there and I think that's what gives it the status really," he said.

"The story is universal but I think some of those moments, they came out of hanging out with people in St Agnes, in Newquay, in Perranporth, I think that's what makes it something that lives on."

The director admitted making the film was a long way from a stroll on the beach, laughing: "Everybody on that movie had the best time of their lives, apart from me.

"It was just the hardest experience of my life. When we wanted sun, it would rain. If we wanted rain, it would be sunny.

"The cast got swept away on the first day on the beach and we got to film nothing, we were two days behind, and the whole thing was like a living story.

"But I think the fact that it's still here 30 years on means there's a lot I wouldn't change."

Looking back at a 1995 local BBC TV report on the premiere in Newquay, it is clear the reviews of the surfing community were important to the cast and crew.

Zeta-Jones told BBC Spotlight: "I hope, I'm praying that we don't ridicule them in any way

"It's about relationships and surfing is a fantastic backdrop to have."

Looking back at the FilmFour production, the cast list seems almost unbelievable, but this was all before the three main actors - Pertwee, Zeta-Jones and McGregor - moved on to bigger and better things, some in a galaxy far, far away.

Prechezer cheerfully admitted he was lucky to attract such a stellar cast just before their careers really took off, saying: "They didn't have the kind of figures for the cinema that people were looking for.

"At the same time that made them a possibility for the film that probably another five years later, or even a couple of years later, they would have been completely out of the question because it was a low budget film, it was an independent movie."

Reflecting on his own career, he said: "I've made a bunch of other stuff, I've made loads of different things and I don't think anything quite has that place in peoples' hearts."

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