Yesterday I bought a copy of the "Casting at Shadows" DVD and today it arrived at my desk...
It is a record of Chris Cook's trip of a lifetime to Christmas Island. The introduction sets the pace of life in the Christmas Islands and is a bonus as some film makers concentrate on the sport and omit the environment they are filming in. As I watched the film I was immediately struck by the style of filming; Ben Marlow & Bradley Lucas have given us the quintessential Englishman (Chris Crook) with almost an air of Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient" as Chris stalks the flats. There is no whooping and hollering... Chris comes across as a quietly confident angler and the results speak for themselves... great bonefish come to hand, however, the film does get across the heat & frustration that flats fishing can provide at times.
The pace of the film increases as Chris hooks into a Bluefin Trevally and then on an incoming tide lands a GT of above average proportions. We then go offshore and get to call sharks! See and believe... One shark landed and Chris then hooks into a leviathan... a 3 hour fight with potentially a record breaking fly caught yellow fin tuna. There is no thrash heavy metal music in this film... if there was then I missed it as I was fixed on the fight with the tuna!
If you ever wanted a video of your own fishing trip this would be it... so many of us don't get the photos, don't get the video and would desperately love to fish this type of environment.
Bonus features included a slideshow of the fish caught - some of which never made the main feature but are no less impressive. There is also an interesting piece on the Christmas Island H bomb testing...
A very broad offering linked with good filming that will appeal to many... and if you are considering this trip of a lifetime I think watching this will seal the deal for you...
By clicking the image above you will be taken to Chris's site where you can purchase the film in DVD or BluRay format.
