Watch at Home 03.28.2025

Tarpon

Directed by Christian Odasso, Guy de la Valdene
Film Movement Classics
1973
54 Minutes
USA
English
Documentary
Not Rated

Considered one of the first true fly-fishing films, Tarpon brings together famed American authors Richard Brautigan, Tom McGuane, and Jim Harrison with legendary flats guides Woody Sexton, Gil Drake, and Steve Huff as they muse about life, art, nature, and fishing the majestic Tarpon.

Shot in the wild panorama of 1970s Key West, the tarpon fishing and stunning cinematography transports the viewer to another era – a time and place where the line between philosopher, scoundrel, hippie, and eccentric was nearly indiscernible. Accompanied by original music composed for the film by a then up-and-coming young musician named Jimmy Buffet, and narrated by Jim Harrison from his own text, this 4K restoration from negatives rescued from a barn in Normandy in 2008 marks the first time TARPON is available to audiences in HD.

Director & Cast

  • Director: Christian Odasso
  • Director: Guy de la Valdene
  • Starring: Richard Brautigan
  • Starring: Jimmy Buffett
  • Starring: Jim Harrison
  • Starring: Thomas McGuane

Where to Watch

Trailer

Photos

Reviews

  • "Tarpon is a timeless and beautifully executed film about life, sport and culture. You'll be moved, amused, outraged and, most of all, entertained."
    Tom Brokaw
  • "This long-lost gem of a film has acquired cult status in the fly-fishing world, and with good reason. It has the most breathtaking footage of the tarpon-stalking experience that you'll ever see. Like the fish itself, this is a work of art."
    Carl Hiaasen
  • "Tarpon is a gem and, frankly, a window on better days. Without a profound respect for tarpon, this celebration of their majestic power and the enchantment of their pursuit, could never have been made. Tarpon fishing was and is a dream, and this may be the only time it's been captured."
    Thomas McGuane
  • "I believe that Tarpon is the best film ever made that concerns itself with fishing."
    Jim Harrison
  • "This is mid-seventies cool at its finest: a cult film about cult authors catching cult fish in the legendary Florida Keys."
    Jason Woloski, DiscLand
Official Selection
Telluride Film Festival
Official Selection
Key West Film Festival