On Aug. 30 Absinthe Films’ newest release “Heavy Mental” had its world premiere at the Tower Theatre here in Salt Lake City. The debut was met by a full house, and nearly every scene provoked cheers and applause. After the film ended, both Ozzy Henning and Bode Merrill greeted the audience and proceeded to raffle off photo prints and hurl sweatshirts into the crowd. Viewers had predominantly favorable reactions to the film, and the killer soundtrack, coupled with some unforgettable tricks and breathtaking backcountry scenes, made everyone crave the arrival of snow.
The film opens with a helicopter abandoning two boarders on a rail–thin Alaskan mountain ridge with a 1,000-foot drop down a 70 degree slope on either side, and from there on out, the intensity doesn’t let up. With an even mixture of street and backcountry riding, “Heavy Mental” has something for every snowboarding fan. Although there are some filler tricks, the film’s runtime is less than an hour and does not leave audiences bored.
Director Justin Hostynek brings 19 snowboarding legends and rising stars together in this snowboarding epic. The crew consists of Victor de Le Rue, Austen Sweetin, Bode Merrill, Jason Robinson, Mat Schaer, Wolfgang Nyvelt, Manuel Diaz, Victor Daviet, Johnnie Paxson, Romain De Marchi, Blair Habenicht, Scot Brown, Ozzy Henning, Rusty Ockenden, Nils Arvidsson, Mathieu Crepel, Sylvain Bourbousson, Helen Schettini and Mike Basich.
Of all these big-name boarders, Sweetin, Merrill, Henning, Diaz and de Le Rue are the ones who set themselves apart. Sweetin’s opener to his two-song exhibition is a frontside cork 360 with a tweaked indie grab off of a 100 foot backcountry kicker that he lands as smooth as butter. He later ends his segment with a huge cork 720 that embodies his singular style. Merrill also has a two-song part that climaxes with a double miller flip, likely one of the first ever successfully completed. He later does a front flip by planting his nose into a cornice, which was my favorite trick in the entire film. Henning redefines the miller flip by hand–planting on a rail at least 20 feet off the ground. Diaz races down virtually 90 degree pitches and launches off cliffs without breaking pace. Victor de Le Rue boards down the quasi–vertical slopes and cuts across treacherous ice sheets, unable to turn or slow down.
“Heavy Mental” will continue its North American tour for the next three months visiting Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Whistler, Denver, Calgary and Boulder, among other cities. Its European tour will start on Sept. 11 in Zurich and will visit a total of seven countries, including Hungary, Germany and the United Kingdom. The movie does not yet have an expected DVD release date.
@ChronyArts