After seeing this film at Hot Docs this year my immediate response to it was, “This needs to be on My 10,” but I never add a movie to My 10 right away. Otherwise it would change constantly and I would have horrible reasons for it like, “Ooooh, but it was SOOOOO funny.” In this case, however, the film has stuck with me so much that I believe everyone should, in fact, see this movie, even if I need to accept that not everyone will be able to.
The Cove is a brilliant film for a lot of reasons, but none so much as the fact that the filmmakers did not expect you to immediately stop eating fish of all kinds, join the OPS (Oceanic Protection Society) and start boycotting all things Japanese. In fact, I think that the filmmakers would believe that to be a failure. Instead it aims to educate you about this particular issue (in this case the slaughter of 23,000 dolphins per year for no purpose whatsoever) and asks that you look at your own life to see what you’re passionate about, what you think is wrong and then go do something about that. Instead of forcing down your throat the mentality that this-is-an-issue-why-are-you-still-sitting-there-stpuid-people-go-do-something. It is simply a film about a something. Come. Sit. Watch. Be educated. What you decide to do is your own business.
The Cove is a moving and heartbreaking story with some very real, very passionate people in it. I firmly believe that this film is groundbreaking in what it achieved and what it brought out to be seen by thousands. Rather than the “I’ll get you this time…” fist-shaking posturing of documentaries made by the likes of Michael Moore, this film simply leads you down the garden path until you’re ready to see that what’s happening is bad. Really bad.
Now, not everyone will be able to see this movie. While I didn’t watch the footage at the end, I know that there were some very heartbreaking and graphic scenes that not everyone will be able to handle, even if you avert your eyes for the last 20 minutes. And that is why, this is one of 10 movies I believe you should see before you die.
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It’s true…For the last 15 minutes or so I couldn’t see Trista’s face as it was buried in her hands.
I expect some will see this footage (the hidden camera footage that captures the slaughter of these dolphins) and may say that they’ve seen worse in slaughterhouses, etc. But that’s the thing – this is in the animals’ natural habitat. And it’s done with such utter callousness that it’s heartbreaking. And no, not just because the dolphins are cute…
It’s a great little thriller in many ways too – a story very well told. Terrific review Trista…
Bob Turnbull’s last blog post..A Brief Almodovar Pause…