Operación delfín

There are few movies that I can say resulted in lasting change in my life or personal behaviour, but a couple of days after watching this movie the visceral response remains with me. I will never set foot on a marine mammal park again. If that was part of the goal of this movie then mission accomplished Louis Psihoyos and Ric O'Barry.

This movie is about the exploitation and brutality man has shown towards a gentle, intelligent and harmless creature. It can be added to a long list of films with a simple message - man is raping his environment, exploiting life, and quite frankly caring for little else than the profit nature holds.

The movie will hold you to the last 10 minutes, at which point it becomes apparent to all why Ric O'Barry's life has changed. It must be seen as the story tellers wanted it to be seen.

If I have any criticism of the film it's the amount of time dedicated to dramatizing the message with the Special Ops segments. I appreciate the risk taken to get this footage however I think the danger element was overstated by the film. You gain the belief all through the film the OPS is being followed closely by authorities, that they're every move is being noted, their purpose known, they're faces ingrained in the minds of the people, yet on two occasions they load up a van full of crew and high tech equipment and head unchallenged into the "great secret". This aspect of the film, along with the early segments showing paranoid Ric O'Barry moments in which he says things like "they would kill me if they could" leads me to believe the filmmakers we hedging between taking the viewer on a adrenaline fuelled trip of espionage and a journey of education and awareness.

It has it's moments of contradiction as well. It goes to some great length to show that Japanese don't eat dolphin meat but this is not adequately reconciled with the fact that the Taiji school program served dolphin meat to it's children as part of it's mandatory lunch program.

An obvious cherry picking of interviewees in the cities of Japan with questions about their food supply chain elicited responses that I would expect to find in most urban centres. I live in Toronto, where I suspect many people would be surprised to find restaurants here serve alligator and other exotic protein. I know that slaughter houses provide my area beef but I would be hard pressed to tell you where they are or the methods employed. The effort to show the Japanese as oblivious to the scandals going on right under their nose failed to be convincing in my opinion.

Still, a very informative and inspiring film. I would recommend it to anyone who cares about these creatures. I have had the benefit of encountering these wonderful animal at open sea and know them to be curious, intelligent, playful, with strong ties to the family unit. They are better than we are and this film helped me realize 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.

Enough has been said about this excellent documentary, but I wanted to comment on the negative responses, some of which are posted here and which also can be read on the message board. If you have not seen this movie, DON'T PAY ANY ATTENTION to the moronic comments, view this film and judge for yourself. If you are an intelligent, caring person, concerned about the environment and the animals, you must see this documentary. The film was made with great risks involved and all who took part in making it have to be commended for their courage and desire to show the truth. I saw the film several days ago and I cannot get it out of my head. It is the most disturbing film I have seen since "The Witness" (not to be confused with the one starring Harrison Ford). When I saw the movie, the theatre was practically empty, and that was disappointing because people should be made aware of the horrors documented in this film.

This is an important movie, not only because of the content matter, but also because it demonstrates the capacity for people to care with such passion and conviction. The movie is cleverly presented, taking you on an emotional and eye-opening journey, and building to a powerful climax.

I personally found the movie to be moving and beautiful, and by far one of the most exciting and powerful documentaries I have ever seen. I am hugely impressed by the film makers ability to translate their experiences and passion into a very well made movie, and hope they inspire others to do the same.