The Cove
Almost 12 months ago my buddy Fisher invited me to go see a first cut of a movie that he was producing. He told me that the film was about dolphins in Japan, and armed with that brief description I went along to check it out.
As it turns out, the film follows a dedicated group of film-makers uncovering humanitarian atrocities that are happening in small fishing town called Taiji in Japan. The local fisherman there have for years been rounding up dolphins, and then screening out the best for sale to aquariums around the world. Those dolphins that are not selected are mass-slaughtered for their meat in a small bay ominously called ‘The Cove’. The film follows closely in the footsteps of a number of similar films over the last few years, and most closely (and recently) End of the Line.
Even in that original, first cut version, the film demonstrated powerful writing and brilliant execution. The story is well told, and has an almost caper-ish nature which gives the film a nice pace. The underlying story is unquestionably vital, and the footage both disturbing and attention-rousing.
Earlier this year, the final version of the film won the coverted audience award at Sundance. It finally launched earlier this week in NY and LA (accompanied by a stellar write-up in the Times) and gets a national release next week. I strongly recommend you all go see it; its a fascinating watch and its easy to see why it has been so well received.
