Directed by Louie Psihoyos
Have you ever been to Sea World? Swam with Dolphins on a tropical vacation? What about watched the TV show “Flipper”? Congratulations, you are now a cog in the international trade of dolphins from Japan. Richard O’Barry, the man responsible for capturing and training the original Flipper dolphins, essentially created the dolphin industry. But after years of learning more and more about these magnificent, intelligent creatures, O’Barry realized the error of his ways and took it upon himself to be one of the leading activists for the safety of dolphins. This has led to his arrest several times, and in the documentary The Cove, he, along with director Louie Psihoyos investigates the current dolphin trade. Even more importantly, they also explain the ongoing capture and slaughter of thousands of dolphins in a hidden cove in Taiji, Japan every year. They know they must reveal conclusive evidence of this to the world by any means necessary.
Passions run high on both sides. While the activists try to show the world the reasons for preserving dolphin-kind, the Japanese government is doing everything in their power to continue business as usual. Dolphin and whale hunting is claimed as an essential aspect of Japanese culture dating back many generations and Taiji is the current epicenter of it all, taking civic pride in their work. Thousands of dolphins are routinely rounded up into a cove for buyers to select their preference. Anyone can watch this process from a nearby bridge, but the actual slaughter of those not sold takes place in a smaller area off the cove that is inaccessible to observers of any kind. This meat is sold in stores (sometimes not labeled as dolphin) and was being integrated into the mandatory meals for school children. Meanwhile, the Japanese government is also trying to push for the legalization of hunting cetaceans by enlisting small island nations in the Caribbean into the International Whaling Commission solely to support them with their votes.
O’Barry explains that in Taiji, he has to wear a mask and change his appearance to hide from the police, who know him too well these days. He is a known man for his dolphin liberation movement, and gets questioned by police several times over the course of the proceeding film which we are shown on hidden camera. The Japanese authorities and dedicated businessmen are very astute and very little gets by them. There have been several attempts to halt the rounding up and killing of dolphins the in the cove, all of which have led to banning and/or arrest. And this, as it is explained, is what you have to avoid. If you are caught breaking the rules, even in a peaceful manner, you will never be able to return to continue fighting the good fight. So everything has to be done extremely covertly.
A crack team of experts in different fields have been assembled by the filmmakers to help them accomplish their goal of conclusive proof of the slaughter, which the Japanese irrevocably deny. This includes divers, cameramen, technicians, and even a professional thrill seeker. In addition, they are working with the latest covert technology. Night vision cameras are the tip of the iceberg, here. Underwater sonar audio recorders need to be planted in the depths of the water to hear the screams of the dolphins. A military-grade thermal camera, which can see the life signature of any living creature from afar, night or day is in Psihoyos’ hand at all times in case of anyone approaching the cove while they work in the black of night. Even enlisted is George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, who have built props for everything from Star Wars to Ghostbusters, hollow rock formations to fit those of the cove’s cliffs have been constructed to house hidden Hi-Def cameras to film the slaughter the following day. The thrills ramp up as they narrowly avoid police, spies, and mysterious cars following them around.
The main weakness of the film is that after it has dynamically laid out the three steps of the mission, the “ocean’s eleven”-like team, and the cutting edge technology that will aid them in their endeavor, the film chooses not to give us the payoff of all three tense experiences in succession. Whereas a documentary like 2008’s Man on Wire, which is also in the “suspense-umentary” genre, remarkably stayed on target through its running time, The Cove falters right when they have your attention most. Instead, the anticipation is lost as the film goes back to explain a bit more about the international spectrum or why dolphins are special several more times before returning to the night’s task. The final mission serves as the climax for the film, so this additional material sometimes feels like padding to make a 75-minute documentary into a 90-minute one.
This is one of those documentaries that is a first step. While it would surely be fascinating to see the continued effect O’Barry and Psihoyos’ efforts yielded as part of the film, the filmmakers have chosen instead to lay out the evidence and enlist the viewing public to their cause from this point forth. The ending is one of hope and not immediate success, because realistically there is still much to be done for the slaughter to end conclusively. The Cove is a solid dramatic documentary that educates and thrills, but leaves you wanting more in an unfortunate manner.
*** Three Stars – Take it or leave it
The Cove is available now on DVD. It has won and been nominated for numerous awards including the Audience Award for Documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
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