“The best lessons in life come from your mistakes, but the greatest mistake of all would be to live in fear of making one.” (Matty Hannon)
True to form. It takes the photograph of a young boy’s ecstatic face as he is offered the treat of a grilled dragonfly to instil in the young graduate Matty Hannon the realization that he wants to know more about other cultures and to understand how different their lives can be.
His deep desire to be closer to nature leads him to spend years living with villagers on an island in Sumatra, learning their language & their sustainable ways of survival. Always finding the time to enjoy the spectacular waves the area offers for his passion of surfing.
Matty Hannon and his side car
There he starts to develop his dream to learn to grasp the depth of their spirituality and how they perceive the world. After 5 years, he is back in Melbourne where he soon realizes he is feeling the urban malaises of anxiety and depression. He recalls how the Sumatran villagers did not even have a word to describe these emotions, for, as they keep the harmony with the spirits of nature, everyone thrives.
This lesson festers in Matty Hannon’s restless mind, till he decides to plunge back into the wilderness and ends up in Alaska. Where he discovers that nature can also be frightening, with a pack of wolves hanging around his tent and other encounters with bears and moose.
Hannon surfing
Reaching British Columbia, he meets a surfing community and meets Heather Hillier. They bond immediately but his obsession wins out and he still decides that he will set out to surf the Pacific coast, all 50,000 km, right down to Patagonia. He arranges to have a personalized side car attached to his motorbike to be able to take his all-important surfing boards and sets off.
Having had the presence of mind right from the start to film his experiences in Sumatra, Hannon continues filming in Alaska and makes the decision to document his journey. With difficulty he tears himself away from Heather and continues his journey south, finding the need to keep in touch by writing many letters. Things reach a crisis when in Tijuana, Mexico, his bike and side car and all his equipment are stolen. He continues to write to Heather and she suddenly decides to sell her farm to buy a motorbike to join him in Baja, USA. Accompanying them on the journey are the catchy likeable songs by Daniel Norgren and Lisa O'Neill.
Roads are not always suitable for bikes
When Heather agrees to travel all the way to Patagonia with him, Matty is overwhelmed and then, the two of them embark on the more challenging part of the journey with mishap, lows and highs and always keeping in touch with the ocean and their beloved surfing.
Every contact with the local indigenous groups and populations bring up the same themes, sustainability, respecting Nature, and the need to fight the polluting elements of so called ‘progress’. Be it trying to stop toxic waste from paper and pellet mills, to massive hydroelectric dams that threaten the lives of the local people, who stand to gain nothing from any of it.
“We explore outer space. These cultures are more interested in exploring inner space.”
Hannon then recalls the lessons of his Sumatran friend: -
“There is a spirit who cares for our drinking water, there is a spirit who care for our taro, bananas and other foods. But, if the palm oil companies come and destroy our rivers or our forests, we will die. When the spirits of nature are in balance, we have a good life.”
Near Punta de Lobos, Chile, where surfing waves are world famous, Hannon and Heather decide to switch from bikes to horses, to slow down and be closer to nature.
This opens a whole new experience for them both, neither of whom have known anything about horses or riding for that matter. Learning as they go, they acquire 4 horses with whom they eventually bond like a family. As they go further south, wanting to remain close to the sea, they find themselves searching desperately for water and even grass for their horses, all the while discovering new wild beaches with some of the best waves that they have ever encountered.
Heather Hillier and one of their faithful horses
As they finally find a resting place for their faithful steeds, high up in the Chilean mountains, Heather decides to return to British Columbia, leaving a bereft Hannon, who is, nevertheless, still obsessed with reaching the southernmost top of the continent of South America.
But it was his dream, not hers.
Matty Hannon and horse
Some critics have commented on the fact that the journey does take a long time and maybe the film could have been more tightly edited. However, I tend to disagree, in that the viewer is pulled into the rhythm of their journey, and we are right there with them, in awe of the stunning beauty of the landscapes they encounter. Spectacular mountains and lakes, wild life and amazing local people. all superbly filmed by both Hannon and Hillier. Like after reading a long book, there is a feeling of emptiness when it ends, as if it should just continue forever.
In the Andes
This study is full of the beauty of the continents with an acute awareness of what could be lost. This is painfully tangible and it is no coincidence that, at the end of the movie, Hannon added some captions to comment on the number of countries that have started to become aware of the importance of protecting nature wherever possible, including unlikely countries like Ecuador and even New Zealand.
Will the lovers meet again?
THE ROAD TO PATAGONIA (2024) by Matty Hannon will be in UK & Irish Cinemas from June 27th 2025, and on Home Entertainment from July 28tyh 2025.
Writers: Mike Balson, story-Matty Hannon Story. Written by Matty Hannon
Cinematography: Matty Hannon and Heather Hillier / Producers: Amanda Lavoie & Tye Markey / Editor: Matty Hannon / Sound: Archie Presley (re-recording mixer) / Original songs and music: Daniel Norgren/ Additional Music: Lisa O’Neill. Julianna Barwick, Pharis & Jason Romero/ Cast: Matty Hannon and Heather Hillier, Robert Baty, Greta and Alé Matos, Ramón Navarro / Mapuche people
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