The Cove

The Cove

"The Cove" is a touching documentary that addresses problems associated with the global slaughter of whales, more inclusively at its root in a Japanese harbor. Director Louie Psihoyos teamed up with ex-Flipper star, Richard O'Barry to bring a stop to the senseless killing of bottle-nosed Dolphins, which are drastically more similar to humans than most would expect. Throughout this film the cast plans, places, and completes a video recording of the many secrets behind the dolphin-catching industry that even the general Japanese population are oblivious to.

The Art of Watching Films announces that, unlike other types of movies, social problem films enjoy a long life if they are unsuccessful. "The Cove" covers topics that range from human and dolphin similarities, the mismarketing of dolphin meat as whale meat to Japanese residents, and the top-dollars that aquariums are paying for bottle-nosed Dolphins. The film addresses that dolphin meat has about 20 times the amount of lethal mercury advised for consumption and before the end of the film, positive results are shown by ridding the Taiji public schools of the meat. To my surprise I hadn't heard of this film before I was required to watch it, which made me realize that the campaign against slaughtering dolphins is working. Last year, the amount of dolphins killed in Taiji dropped from 2,000 to 800, which may explain why I haven't heard of this successful social-problem documentary.

"The Cove" is an emotional documentary that pushes its viewers to act out against the cruel whaling industry. The Art of Watching Films states that, "the stronger the emotional or sensual experience provided by the film, the better the film is." Before watching this film I hadn't made the connection that not only are dolphins intelligent but possibly smarter than humans. Even so, I was unaware of the many health concerns (such as: ulcers) that have been affecting dolphins at places like Seaworld. The auditory pieces of this film were great triumphs of Louie Psihoyos. I really enjoy how he incorporated the hammering of poles, with the crying sonor sound of the distressed dolphins to show the helplessness of this amazing creatures. 

Additionally, The Art of Watching Films mentions that: "film may reflect a varity of political stances." The film uses interviews with Taiji police, the Japanese government, and the general population to show the politics behind the matter of killing dolphins. When the film showed what poor countries had joined the whale coalition in support of Japan, it made me feel like these cultures are being forced into supporting something they don't want to. These feelings make the viewer want to make a change to the current system and I believe its the reason behind the success of this documentary.

Boggs, Joseph, & Petrie, Dennis. (2012). The Art of watching films. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill College.

http://www.takepart.com/cove