Vive la baleine

Chris Marker's usual mix of "borrowed" pieces of different film textures (film, video, animation, photographs, paintings) serves as a poetic, passionate and very sound warning against the widespread, business-like, matter-of-fact killing of whales around the world. If today its message may sound obvious to most of us -- almost everybody is aware of the danger of whale extinction, though of course there are still killings out there -- it can still be enlightening as to the appalling methods of whale-hunting worldwide through the ages, as well as the very special place that this big cetacean has occupied in human mythology, history, economics and art, the "challenge" of little men killing the biggest animals on the planet, and making the mo$t of it.

The quality of the images vary tremendously, and for sure there are scenes that will make you cringe with horror (not unlike Geroges Franju's 1949 one-day-in-a-slaughterhouse "Le Sang des Bêtes"). Marker's incomparable talent for weaving his commentary with creative insight, historical research, wit, irony and common sense elevates this short film above the routine ecological documentary.

Three Cheers For The Whale is both a love letter and apology to the family of the largest and most majestic animal on this planet we all share.

Marker uses the art of cinema to dissect and explore the role of the whale in human culture, throughout history- from symbol to food source to commodity.

His gaze condemning those who have subject these beautiful beasts to the most unimaginable of atrocities, for the most unnecessary reasons.

And to think, this, despite how endebted we should have been, after all they taught us, and helped us achieve.

By revealing the horrors of this obscene practice, Marker is attempting to elicit our empathy as a means to call for a much needed, and well overdue, moratorium.

Explaining, for example, to the Japanese that obsolete cultural traditions are not valid arguments to justify the continuation of this cruel practice.

For they also have harakiri.

He reminds us that our whale brothers and sisters play a vital role in the health of our planet.

The balance of nature.

May their songs echo through the oceans forever.

8 out of 10.