Behind 'The Cove'

I am so disgusted by this whitewashing film. Japanese seems to blame every single wrongdoing of themselves on other countries. From the WWII to this whole dolphin thing. I think this is less about preserving wild lives than preserving the Japanese culture aka imperialist mentality.

And how can you call other people racist when you shouting 'get the hell out of my country' to them?

First of all, I believe killing animal for food itself is sin. I wish I could be a vegan! But because I am just an average greedy human being, I eat meat.

For me, there is no difference between dolphin and cows. Dolphin, they got beautiful smiles, I heard they are intelligent, they are beautiful and mystical. Hey, cows got very kind eyes too. And look at the cute sheep babies! Man, when I first knew Lamb is a baby sheep meat, I was shocked...but look i still enjoy lamb sausages. For me they are same. There is absolutely no difference between dolphin and cows, and other meats.

So "The Cove" to me was little bit hypocritical & one sided, very white. it's not Americans' business, let Japanese eat dolphin. Why in the hell Americans are traveling all the way to Japan and attacking local fishery? I know dolphin are beautiful so SS can raise money lol. Unfortunately, it's about MONEY and Racism.

Ric warned about Mercury, well...apparently there is no one has died from it in Taiji....and look at US and Australia the 2 biggest meat lover nations in the world, every year 50,000 Americans died of Bowel cancer, 5000 in Australia. Bowel cancer is known to be caused by meat, especially processed meat. For the sake of children in US and Australia, we MUST stop eating meat! We should all go for vegan lol. No, I don't think we can.

Japanese are the most healthiest people on this earth, maybe Anti-whaling activists should worry about their own countries, not Japan.

Director Yagi did great job. She made a point. It's a matter of racism, religion, hypocritical idea of justice...and money. "The Cove" portraits the small Japanese town Taiji as a Bloody Dolphin Killer town, which was not fair for the Japanese. Once again, Director Yagi did wonderful job to speak up Japanese side of story. We must watch both movies and judge who can judge what Japanese should eat and should not eat.

I found this "documentary" on Netflix. I thought that meant it could be somewhat of quality but it's mostly like a really biased school project.

It's so obvious that this "film maker" has a negative view on the opposition against whaling. It's complete BS that they try to cover both sides and the truth of the situation.

Most of the film is Japanese people explaining how terrific they are... That really has a lot to do about the whaling and the dolphin hunt.

I guess Netflix only added it to their range so they can show that they are objective about the matter.

When "The Cove" won an Oscar, I naturally thought that Hollywood is asking for a response from Japan. If an American filmmaker had a say against a movie about America, he/she would most likely make a film to express it.

Unfortunately, that wasn't how the Japanese movie industry works. Of course, Japanese television was quick to respond. Among the many examples was an NHK "Close-up Gendai" episode, broadcast nationwide in Japan on July 6th, 2010, in which the program spent 30 minutes to explain in detail how specific scenes in "The Cove" were manipulated.

In particular, "The Cove" mentions that Hideki Moronuki, Deputy of Fisheries, was fired. The program pointed out that he never was and still works for the Ministry. He again says so himself in the long interview in "Behind 'The Cove'".

But it is also him, among others, who admits that the Japanese government never protested against "The Cove". Meanwhile, the Japanese TV shows never really got to be translated or uploaded to be shown internationally. And now at last a movie, in English language, is made from a Japanese point of view, ironically by people who are very new to filmmaking.

A confusing part may be that, while "The Cove" focuses on dolphins and captivity, "Behind 'The Cove'" focuses more on whaling and food, and the link between the two isn't thoroughly explained. The international audience need to be reminded the facts that dolphin fishery indeed is not well known even in Japan, but that "The Cove" has somehow led more people around the world to speak against whaling.

So "The Cove" insists that dolphin captivity itself should be banned. "Behind 'The Cove'" questions that, and upon digging into the issue it provides a thorough explanation on the average Japanese way of thinking about the Cetacea (which means ocean mammals including whales and dolphins). It also suggests that being vegan is one thing, but then it asks, of all the animals and regions in the world, why do viewers focus on the Taiji dolphins up to the point that it gained an Academy Award?

I've always trusted the English-speaking media to be open-minded about different opinions. For example, Bono of U2 openly describes, in the band's biography, how he phoned Norway in the middle of their concert to protest against whaling. He mentions that the Minister of Fisheries himself took the call to justify themselves, and invited Bono to come to enjoy a whale steak together. U2 and the publishers let the statement be.

This movie is called "Behind 'The Cove'", but you can just look at it as "another side of 'The Cove'". I can only wish for a refined version of this work. It's quite a friendly film that concludes with a simple question, "Who can judge which animal should be eaten or not?"

No matter where, Every comments I've seen with bad review tells you not see and/or waste of time. I see, Anti-Whaling people have been busy doing their business.

The truth is you'll get perspective view of "the cove" and whaling about Japan from this movie for sure. Interviews from both sides are very interesting and even American tourist comments are valuable. It's a must see movie.

FYI 1. Dolphin is same family tree of Whales. 2. Unti-whaling activist Sea Shepard have been attacking both Taiji dolphin whaling and Japanese research whaling at Antarctic Ocean.