Watch: Rusty Miller and Steve Cooney on 'The Morning of the Earth'
Fifty years ago, Alby Falzon released The Morning of the Earth, a film that both chronicled the country soul movement and held aloft the ideals of a simpler lifestyle.
In 1972, Australia had spent almost 25 years under conservative party rule, offering fealty to a distant queen, and for ten years we'd increased our involvement in the Vietnam War, till every young man who came of age was forced into the conscription roulette.
Yet change was coming, first apparent in demography; an inordinate number of babies born post-WWII were coming of age, and the attitudes they held contrasted with those of their parents. A sense of optimism, hope, and a fair dash of adventure too, fuelled social change and it was into this environment that The Morning of the Earth was released.
Photographer and filmmaker Chris Duszynski first saw the film as a teenager in landlocked Cooma and, like many of his generation, points to it as a pivotal moment, his world subtly shifting from that day forth. The film had a similar effect on generations to follow. Gough may have come and gone, The Vietnam War ended, but the ideas within The Morning of the Earth endured.
Last year, with both the anniversary approaching and the publication date of Steve Cooney's book Unearthed, Chris reached out to both Rusty Miller and Steve Cooney to chat about the Bali scenes, arguably the most memorable section in the movie. Both spoke eloquently of that trip half a century ago, and remained thankful for the invite that Alby extended.
The interviews are spliced with footage Chris has taken himself - he left Cooma shortly after seeing MOTE and the Indonesian stamp is just one of many that filled his passport book. The music is by 'Tropical Strength', otherwise known as the brothers Webster, Russell and Alastair.
Chris would like to thank Russ and Alastair, plus Steve and Rusty for giving their time.
Comments
a beautiful film; a timeless but modern take on a classic. the music was amazing too. it's hard to imagine my surfing jourrney without the MOTE's introduction to Ulu's..and the footage of BK at Sunset.
Shivers through the body, the early days in Bali were just epic and I still remember turning up to Ulu one morning 8-10 Feet. The playing field was huge but decided to walk over the ridge to Padang and surfed there with my mate all day 4-6 feet no one out, same the next day...
Great film
Good stuff. It must have been amazing seeing Bali back then. My first time was 1992. Still felt like a magical new place. Such strong memories of being young, full of energy and in a feeling the bliss, surfing for hours. Memories I'm sure a lot here would relate to.
Obviously it's different now. More predators at Kuta reef.:)
How luck we have all been to experience the waves, culture and love of such a beautiful place.
Ill never forget that one wave through racetracks on a low tide. Three barrels burnt into my dream.
I hope to get back soon.
First time to Bali was 1978 off the back of Morning Of The Earth. First surf was Kuta Reef. Then next day up to Ulu's. Stayed in Wayan Gondries warung for the next 3 -4 days. Who stole my time machine.
Happy to admit MOTE was a pivot point in my life. Rusty and Steve represent a very cool era when surfing became first nature. A month ago we had a reunion of fellas who stayed at a magical south coast shack and surfed all about a wave rich area. Like those first Bali explorers, most hadn't seen each other for 50 years yet it all came flooding back - the eccentricities, musical and cooking skills, the joys of fraternity. Not a cross word the whole weekend. Life was so simple then, and it needs to be that again, with a great deal of urgency.
Seen Morning of the Earth @ THE Savouy picture theatre when I was 12yrs old, Changed my life as did my first trip to ULU's/ Padang in 1980 which was exactly like stivvvffyy's! stayed with Wayan Gondri & surfed Padang perfect for days with no one there!
God bless Rusty and Steven. And God bless Morning of the Earth and Bali and its people.
hear hear CT, praying get to back this year.
Is there a surf photo more iconic than the 2 of them walking out On ulus low tide reef
Pivotal for me too but in the 90s when I first saw it on a vhs tape
Will never forget my first wave at ulus first time on a reef .. just made a late drop only millimeters in front of two screaming French lads .. lucky everything connected .. and had the fastest longest left of life through racetracks..still the best ride of my life so far will never forget it ..
I love hearing stories from the old timers of what Bali was like back in the 70’s and 80’s.
My generation or for me at least I had trodden an already very well used path by the time the late 90’s had come around. That said for me as a young fella I would not have traded my early adventures to Ball and beyond for anything!! The Indonesian people have such a great sense of humour and humility.
I still watch ulu 32 occasionally and still am awe struck by the surfing of Joe Engel , Steve Cooney and the sultan of speed such an epic film!
Steve Cooney … what an animal!
“To be honest I find it hard not going back there “ something to those words anyway. : )
While we’re on the subject I’m curious to know if people over east have been able to travel to Indo yet? And what is it like at the moment?
Such adventures are still a pipe dream in the West. Oh well
It Is what it is .
Stay safe and be kind
Inspiring clip , great to see Rusty back up and going after a bout with mr C.....what an amazing surfer Steve was and Morning of the Earth actually captured what Bali and surfing was all about and has stood the test of time.
I went to Bali with Wayne and Nat the next year, 73' with Rod "The Mexican " to make a movie ...Bali was and always will be Utopia found and lived ....so damn blessed to have lived, surfed and experienced the Balinese culture .....so ...joyful , loving and sharing.....
"...what an amazing surfer Steve was..."
I will back that up brutus. I saw quite a bit of him around the place at various stages and he was always worth watching. I think he was also a big influence on his own generation. As MOTE shows, he got to an incredible level before most of his peers, many of whom, I suspect, modelled at least some aspects of their surfing on his fluid style. Better not name the names!
5 years earlier and around 20kms away
https://balisurfstories.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/the-mass-killings-of-19...
Supa has touched on this before
Udo , you trolling again ?
Thanks udo, it is good to remember that Bali has a dark side. Black magic is still serious stuff. They used to say that there was a mass grave from 1965 under Ngurah Rai but that may just have been talk.
black magic , do you believe in the supernatural ?
No brutus, but a lot of Balinese did back when I was spending time there and probably still do.
The Bali Surf Stories blog is well worth reading in total - spread it out of course.
Richard has an amazing story. Have been lucky enough to have had a couple of chats with him in surf and old warungs at Seranagan.
Sad news also this week, long time Bali resident and legend, Tony Stark passed away. RIP.
One of the early pioneers.
Events of 65 touched on here by Richard.
https://m.
Harrowing story from Richard there. Interesting to think about the possible reactions of his parents to the poor man on the run in their house. Presumably as Christians they would have been inclined to offer sanctuary, but on the other hand it seems likely circumstances would not have allowed. And then the whole thing of their own US government providing the Indonesian military with kill lists and our Radio Australia broadcasting anti-communist propaganda throughout. A tricky situation indeed.
BB can you remember something about Uluwatu and the Colour green...being Evil ?
I think i read it in a early 70s article on Bali
Edit- an all of Indo dont wear Green in the sea thing -https://sbsboards.com/5-weird-superstitions-most-surfers-believe-in/
In the 70s there was a lot of hostility to Islam in Bali and green is the Islamic colour so it was probably that.
actually it goes back centuries ......have a read........https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balinese_people
The Balinese culture I experienced was the incredible , not the political one !
I agree brutus. I loved the waves but I think the culture had a bigger impact. The way everyone was fully involved in community life was so different to Australia, even more so now I think. The thing that struck me most on my first trip was that the people of Uluwatu who, in material terms, had nothing beyond the bare necessities of life were culturally richer and happier than most of us.
Udo the article you posted is about Java not Bali!
Oh man enjoyed that clip, time less, how humble are those two.
Often struck me the contrasting welcomes young and intrepid Aussies received from our northern neighbours.
Young Australians began travelling widely in the early-70s, products of the social changes expressed in the companion text above, seeking adventure whether it be surfing or immersion in cultures different to ours. They'd dropped the fear of the unknown and dived right in.
The Balinese are indeed beautiful people - MOTE showed that. However, all cultures are complex, and even in Bali darker elements exist, as exemplified by the anti-communist massacres of 1965. Indonesia's year of living dangerously.
Shortly after Alby and crew were warmly welcomed on the Bukit, a few hundred clicks east two crews of journos, same age and upbringing as Alby, same sense of adventure, were killed by Indonesian forces in Timor Leste.
The fates of the Balibo Five stand in sharp contrast to the hospitality shown early surfers on Bali.
Stu wasn't the Balibo 5 East Timor?
Yep, East Timor - Timor Leste - though they were killed by Indonesians.
The differing fates being the point of consideration.
I think it's really interesting the difference between The Javanese/Indonesian Muslims vs the Balinese Hindus ( with DNa showing there is a connection to micronesia/Papua New Guinea) and the throw in the Timorese who also have similar connections to Bali.....but were basically Catholic Christian after the Portuguese colonization.....seems like the Balinese and the Timorese were completely different to the Indonesians.
Brutus said :
Udo the article you posted is about Java not Bali !
Brutus i have no idea what you are on about ??
Udo , I was commenting on your post about...... the evil green was a Javanese spirit...not Balinese....
BB can you remember something about Uluwatu and the Colour green...being Evil ?
I think i read it in a early 70s article on Bali
Edit- an all of Indo dont wear Green in the sea thing -https://sbsboards.com/5-weird-superstitions-most-surfers-believe-in/
Such a great project to work on after wondering for many years what had happened to the two silhouetted surfers in the iconic MOTE poster. On completion, Rusty sent me a note saying this was the first time in 50 years that he and Steve had appeared together in the same film. Good to see the synchronicity in their answers and the respect they hold for each other after all these years.
On a final positive note, Rusty has been in remission for 12 months now and is back running his surf school in Byron.
Bali Hinduism came from Java and the Majapahit Empire in Java 15th century. Islam started to spread down through Java from Sumatra with the Arab traders. This was appealing to many common people as the Hindu culture was very caste based, whereas Islam preached a more equal view. If you were lower caste and a trader Islam would have appealed. Indonesian Islam has generally also been based on the Sufi sect of Islam, a more spiritual practice than the dogma based versions in middle east. The remaining Hindus then moved further east to Bali. Bali actually had an indigenous people know as Bali Aga, who still have villages today that are culturally different than general Balinese culture.
Lots of fascinating history there. The Dark times of 1965 and the Suharto coup make fascinating dark study. Timor Leste is a tragic complicated story.
I love Indonesia and feel blessed to have been able to live and study there. Beautiful people and a fascinating place...
Great little snippet there Andy, thankyou for sharing.
Also, great little vid. I love hearing the old timers wax lyrical about the old days without a hint of pretension.
Cheers Zen.
If anyone interested in Indo history, politics etc, these books novels are all based on real events.
You learn a lot and good yarns. Reckon learned more from these than my uni Indo studies... :)
https://sidharta.com/author/Kerry_B._Collison#:~:text=Kerry%20Collison%2...).%22
Merdeka Square is about the year of living dangerously in 65... Better than Mel Gibson film..
Huge kudos to Steve Cooney and Rusty Miller, Alby Falzon and David Elfick. Without boring everyone, seeing MOTE as a 16 year old in '72 (with a friend I hired it and showed it at our high-school, raised some $ for the school and even got commended for it - luckily none of the teachers watched it or the Ulus cave sequence may have changed that story) got me to Bali in '75 and, like so many others, that experience truly changed my life. Surfing on the reefs got me interested in corals, a career I've pursued for more than 40 years now. So thanks again Alby for discovering Ulus! That corals work fortunately has included extensive surveys around Bali and many other parts of that remarkable archipelago, heart of the Coral Triangle. A survey around Bali in 2012 for conservation planning revealed a previously unknown coral there, that colleagues and I described as Euphyllia baliensis. Stoked to be able to name a coral after that remarkable island, At completion of that work, we met with Balinese government officials, and noted that on every single dive we did, basically circumnavigating the island, plastics were tangled on the reefs. I explained that on that first trip in '75, I had ridden a motorbike the length and breadth of the island, and apart from the river in Denpasar, the streams across the island were generally clear and absent of plastics or other wastes. This was not really news to them, but poses a significant challenge nonetheless. Sadly, on the more recent visits, most streams were badly polluted and choked with plastics. There are Green Bali initiatives (not the same as that Javanese deity who claims seafarers), and many other efforts to try to clean the place. May they succeed.
You got it dead right Andy-mac the majapahit empire basically fled to Bali and with it took the high caste/artist/royal court in an exodus to the safe haven of Bali
This helped create the rich island of the gods we all love.
I remember my first visit to Uluwatu in 1994. One of the most disappointing chapters in my surfing life. I guess naively I had imagined something like what I'd seen in MOTE. In reality it was crowded and degraded. The wave itself was not as perfect as I'd thought, with all it's various shifting sections.
After that experience I ended up staying at Bingin, which at that stage was still relatively pristine and uncrowded. Access to Impossibles and Dreamlands for when it did get busy. This was closer to the Balinese ideal I'd daydreamed about.
So the lesson learned is that if you base your hopes on a (then) twenty year old surf film, you're liable to be disappointed. Still as it turned out I visited some spots that were off the radar back then that are crowded now, so those are the memories I cling to.
Great initiative Chris. Evocative
"....I've always felt a bit like a grommet....".
Amen.