Film Review: The Cove

Director: Louie Psihoyos

A 2009 documentary film that followed a group of activists as they visited the town of Taiji, Wakayama, Japan which is renowned for capturing and/or killing Dolphins to either sell to captivity or to use their meat for public consumption. It is almost the hidden story as over 23,000 dolphins are killed in Japan every year whilst the more public renowned Whaling hunts only kill a tiny number compared to this. Naturally the Japanese media tried to discredit the film saying that scenes were staged as the media ignores the issue of killing dolphins and the Japanese government even pays small impoverished nations for support and votes with the International Whaling Commission.

The local Japanese fisherman are aggressive towards the activists and hold up placards telling them to not take pictures or film what is going on. The Dolphins are caught in one bay open to view by the public but the ones not taken into captivity are killed in another cove out of the public view, the activists installed hidden cameras overnight so they could capture the shocking footage of the Dolphins being killed with spears in great number.s

The result of Dolphins being killed in 'The Cove'

It is a documentary that sought to bring this ignored topic into the public arena and it certainly succeeded with Japanese becoming very defensive about it especially when the film won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2010. The film does struggle at times to maintain your full interest over a 90 minute feature but is still an well constructed piece which builds to quite a dramatic conclusion. It is clearly a little biased in its message but that should not stop us from applauding the qualities in the film and open up the debate on this.

People may argue that killing the Dolphins is just like the western world killing cows but I honestly can't see how that is the same considering the inhumane way it is done and the evidence of how levels of mercury in Dolphins. A classic battle for the truth in a world of secrecy and propaganda to keep the whaling business alive.

3/4 Successfully lifts the lid on the forgotten deaths