The Cove

Something tells me that this heartbreaking documentary is going to stay with me for a long, long time. This movie depicts in painful detail the horrors of dolphin fishing (yes, you heard me right) which has been occurring for a long time in a secretive place called Taiji in Japan. How secretive? Even the common Japanese do not know that it is taking place in their country. The film takes its time in unfolding the horrors and conspiracy layer by layer and ends with a bang. It plays out like a suspense thriller but is far more effective than any suspense thrillers because this takes place in real life. I certainly will do my best to promote it to the others and support the cause. The direction is fantastic and several underwater shots seem to be taken right off Earth or National Geographic, which looks great on the big screen. This documentary has been made by activists that have been crying out loud to deaf ears for the past three decades. I am certain that this is not the last we will hear of it. This film should certainly make an impact and change a few things in the world.

It saddens me to watch The Cove, because unless your heart is made of stone, it's unlikely not to become unaffected by it, when it shows how evil man can be. It also boggles the mind when you mull over whether the perpetrators know exactly what they're doing in committing such atrocities, that extinction of species boil down to those who are indifferent, inhumane, and corrupted by the smell of profits that highlights Man's propensity for destruction. To claim superiority over another by explanation of the preservation of culture, is bullshit at best, and it just shows how consciously ignorant we can sometimes get due to either lack of understanding, or just simply refusing to change incorrect mindsets.

I'm sure many of us will agree that dolphins are very beautiful water-based mammals, and the lucky few who have gotten to chance upon them in their natural habitat will attest to the fact that it's awe-inspiring to have seen them in action. From time to time we read about the heroic nature of our mammal counterparts in saving human lives, so what would warrant such untold cruelties toward those blessed by Nature with a smile and an extremely gentle, docile nature, or cursed as the filmmakers would say, because they are unable to project outwardly their feelings of pain, sadness and betrayal by humankind?

Director Louie Psihoyos had crafted an incredible documentary which isn't just another save- this-species film, or just another wildlife conservation flick. Somehow, The Cove stands above those that I've seen which have run along those lines, in that it contains footages that the team had managed to wrangle out in a quest for the truth. It contains scenes of murder most foul, which will start again in the month of September, unless people around the world make some noise beyond puppet worldwide organizations fueled by corrupt bureaucrats bent on smug thinking that half-baked nonsensical answers can keep the truth under wraps.

What also added that emotional weight to the film, is the inclusion of Richard O'Barry, who could be infamously credited with sparking the interest in dolphin-aquariums and shows around the world, simply because of his involvement in the Flipper television series, where he had responsibility in capturing and training 5 dolphins used for that successful series, and henceforth spawned an industry of sorts where dolphins are captured en masse by confusing them and leading them into man-made traps, then allowing trainers around the world to come and choose those with potential. Think of it like the slave trade which we have abhorred, but now transferred to the animal kingdom, with a murderous act of slaughtering thousands of those which don't make the theme-park cut. Who are we to decide those that cannot entertain, only deserves to be chopped up in cold blood for the supermarkets?

O'Barry is now an activist set on releasing every dolphin in captivity, but only because of a personal, profound loss of a dolphin in his arms that have jolted him into action. He's quite forthright in his interviews, and his transformation as explained is nothing less than heart- wrenching. His crusade led him to Taiji, Japan, which is the source of the trade, with over- zealous Japanese fishermen bordering on counter-surveillance, muscling in on local police influence, to try and keep O'Barry at bay from interrupting their profitable trade, and of course putting a dampener on O'Barry's search for redemption.

Most of the film then centered on the filmmakers and their assembling of a few good men and women with specific skill sets, such as free-diving and prop-making, acoustics experts to covert camera operations, in an attempt to expose the truth from The Cove, an area designed by natural geography and exploited by the fishermen to perform their most heinous acts. It's akin to a heist movie with intense preparation work and danger lurking around every corner, but the images obtained are nothing less than shocking – the indiscriminate slaughter without remorse and plenty of laughter, a very affecting sea waters filled with red from the bloodbath, and frenetic cries for help and unsuccessful flight from death. It'll make the most stoic of men, shed tears.

The film also had touched upon another aspect of how Man is offending Nature through our polluting ways, but Psihoyos deftly included that portion in because it's also related, but never letting it detract its focus from the main story. While dolphin meat doesn't appeal, being slyly packaged as something else is nothing less than cheating. Also, the high levels of mercury found in the meat not only endangers whoever is putting it on their dinner plate, but just emphasizes the entire polluted food chain with the fact that we are the #1 pollutants on this planet, and poisoning of marine life, or rapid consumption of food from the sea, is something that will impact us in time to come very soon, unless we wake up.

One of the world's most intelligent creatures getting slaughtered indiscriminately, and you can do something about it. Undoubtedly as a film this is very well made, and have received countless of accolades, but if audiences were to stop at this point then nothing will change and everything will be lost, starting from the efforts from the activists. This film is set to break into my top films of the year as well, but even that rings hollow.

What we can do, at the very least, is to vote with our wallet. Make some noise, talk about it, spread the word and get people go watch the film, and take affirmative action. With demand and attendances to sea-world-like or dolphin theme parks come crashing down because we choose not to patronize them, then demand for dolphins to perform at these locations will no longer be viable.

Words can hardly describe how powerful this documentary is, and the lengths to which human cruelty can extend to. Louie Psihoyos and his team infiltrate a secret cove near Taiji, Japan and expose a brutal instance of animal cruelty. This film opens your eyes to the truly devastating fates of thousands of dolphins, who are slaughtered without remorse.Being an animal lover, and my dream to become a zoologist, this film has really inspired me to be active and do whatever necessary to protect the beauty of our planet. Alongside Ric O Barry, Psihoyos is able to clearly point out the error of these marvelous creatures in captivity, and how they deserve to be free, just like any other creature.

If you are one of those people that see my ways, then you'll be affected deeply too to take action. Forget the damn critics, this isn't a Hollywood blockbuster, this is a way of life for us and what we've become...what we've turned into.

Support the cause to stop this.

The Cove is kind of a hybrid of environmental/animal-rights polemic and a thriller in the mold of a heist movie, only more along the lines of Inception: instead of taking something out, these people (camera technician wizards from ILM) are putting something in. In this case it's at a cove in a small village, Taijii, where fishermen are (somewhat not so) secretly killing dolphins en masse, and the cameramen are after a simple thing: put believably disguised rocks that have cameras inside that can film outward and capture on tape what is going on, due to the strict lack of access during the day. We get the background on Richard O'Barry, the original trainer of Flipper, and how he spent thirty years of his life after the first ten of working for dolphin training trying to redeem himself for what he's seen as horrific, inexcusable negligence of dolphins. I mean, after all, they can commit suicide for Pete's sake.

The segments with O'Barry, and the delving deep into the world of dolphin abuse and their captivity around the world, but most of all the sort of unspoken horror that goes on at the cove of Taijii, are fascinating and moving. And we get a good point of view into how O'Barry operates in this small village (he has to, for one, always have on a mask over his mouth as he drives to not attract attention as a non- Japanese non-fisherman). He is notorious, but his points are almost all valid. His conviction is so strong that it almost competes to take over what is, arguably, even more fascinating: how he gets together a group of tech-savvy people and divers and so on to make these cameras and do whatever it takes to plant them at the cove.

If the film possibly gets off track at any time it's just one or two minor places, like a diversion into the fishing industry and how it ties in with the dolphin saga (it just barely does, mostly by proxy of it being one of Japan's economic mainstays). But this is so minor a point that it's forgivable. What puts The Cove over the top as a must-see is the merging of the passionate subject matter with the purpose of artistry in the filmmaking. Perhaps by accident, the images of the climax of the film are staggering: the red of the blood of the dolphins pouring out into the water, it overtaking all of the blue of the ocean, and the harsh, Japanese-violent images of dolphin slaughter. It's like we're witness to a massacre that has a haunting beauty to it because of the juxtaposition of colors and how the cameras capture it. In the more conventional sense, there are also those wonderful scenes showing the film crew at night, in dim light and infra-green, sneaking around and freezing at the slightest sound or figure, even if it's a marmot.

The film provides a shocking topic that will get people talking, which is important, but it also needs to be a well-directed and told film, which it also is. The message is clear- so clear some may contest how truthful everything in the movie is, though it's hard for me to see what would be obfuscated all things considered (i.e. an Oceanic Preservation Society Production)- and film buffs looking for a strikingly shot documentary, with glorious images of dolphins at sea and their personalities (yes, personalities) shining through, will be excited.

One-sided? Yes. Superbly crafted? Most certainly. A practical joke or fantastically manufactured lie? Despite what many of the conspiracy theorists here would tell you, no, it is not.

The campaigning elements of the film may not sit well with some people, but the facts are the facts, and there's simply no denying the emotional impact this film has. It is a prime example of constructed film-making with an overt agenda, filled with elements that at time make it feel like a heist movie or spy thriller.

Having said that, there's no doubting just how real the horrors are. The annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins in an isolated cove near Taiji is sickening, heart-wrenching and unnecessary. After select dolphins are taken for the world's aquariums, the rest are left for brutal and barbaric butchering. I for one appreciate the risks taken by the film makers in attempting to get this story out, and I would place good money on this documentary being a front-runner for next year's Oscars.

One of the marks of a powerful documentary is the response it generates from the hordes of nay Sayers. Some of the absurdly laughable comments listed here on IMDb are begging to be called out and exposed for the pathetic lies that they are.

Conspiracy theory/lie no.1: The premise of dolphins being slaughtered en masse in Taiji is a complete fabrication.

This belongs in the same volume of crackpot collections as those who deny the dangers of global warming. It is indeed real, and there is a plethora of information available to anyone with 3rd grade research skills. An article by Minoru Matsutani appeared in the Japan Times on Sept 23rd this year covering the issues raised in The Cove. The practice of mass dolphin slaying is indeed confirmed.

Falsehood no.2: That the scenes from Taiji's infamous cove were in fact filmed in Ottawa.

People will fabricate lies without any thought of at least giving the lie some credibility. There is no evidence to support this ridiculous claim. And having personally travelled along the east coast of Honshu in 2001, I can tell you that this is indeed filmed in Taiji.

Falsehood no.3: Dolphins are not native to Japan.

Wrong. Dead wrong. Bottlenose dolphins, for one, inhabit all warm temperate seas worldwide – including Japan. In fact, Mikura Island has a permanent colony of bottlenose dolphins.

I'm utterly delighted that this film is stirring up so much emotion, as this is exactly what is needed to spark change. Most people in Japan aren't even aware of this atrocity, and had it not been for this film, I seriously doubt many of them would have ever known.