Spanning
two decades, and trips across continents from Orange County to Afghanistan and
enough drug-taking to make Howard Marks turn in his grave, Orange Sunshine is a
fascinating documentary with an incredible story to tell.
In Orange County, 1960, when a group of
young hippies discovered the then very expensive psychoactive substance LSD,
their minds were immediately blown. John Griggs in particular found it a
life-changing spiritual experience and gathered his wife Carol and closest
friends around him to create the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, part druggie
cult, part business enterprise. Their mission was not to make profit, but to
make as much LSD as possible and make it as cheap to purchase as thy could. The
goal? To ‘turn the world on’ and realise a spiritual revolution where people
forgot their obsession with material possessions and love would start to fight
back against the constant presence of war in the world.
Looking at the world today, it’s hard not
to wish the Brotherhood of Eternal Love had been more successful in their task.
As one interviewee attests, the sixties were the perfect storm where the youth
decided to drop out, resist being sent to fight a war in Vietnam and find a
purer connection between their fellow human beings… all fuelled by
mind-expanding drugs, the best of which the Brotherhood became suppliers of.
Using talking head interviews with all f
the core group of Eternal Lovers, as well as sun-dappled reconstructions filmed
on Super-8 cameras, director WilliamA. Kirkley tells this magical, optimistic
tale of the naïve but admirable Brotherhood as they smuggled hash across
continents, ran rings around the authorities and created a peace-loving utopian
community in Laguna Beach in the sixties.
Unsurprisingly, the party can’t last
forever, and while Orange Sunshine is completely biased towards its ageing hippie
subjects, it does show the dream come crushing down around its idealistic
protagonists. The now-wrinkled, but no less life-loving characters are a
sprightly bunch, and most are an apparent testament to the lack of danger that
surrounded their lifestyle choices. But, Orange Sunshine also contains
emotional scenes where the casualties of the era are discussed in detailed
terms. It’s a shame there isn’t also some discussion on the negative effects
that these drugs may have been having on the wider society.
How much sympathy you have for these storytellers
will depend on your personal attitude, and perhaps own experiences with drugs. But
whether your mind is open to what the Brotherhood set out to achieve or not,
Orange Sunshine is a riveting documentary with an exciting, thought-provoking,
tragic and hopeful story to tell. Sit back and enjoy the vibe.
ORANGE SUNSHINE / CERT: TBA / DIRECTOR
& SCREENPLAY: WILLIAM A. KIRKLEY / STARRING: AUSTIN ARNOLD, TYLER MAURO,
FRENCESCA GALASSI / RELEASE DATE: TBA
Expected: 6
Actual Rating:
