The Dolphins--and the Dolphin Slaughter--of The Cove

by Stephanie Ernst

categories: Marine Life, Videos, Wildlife/FreeLiving Animals

Published February 10, 2009 @ 02:42PM PT

"You gotta get in there; you gotta do something," says one voice, followed immediately by "You're either an activist or an inactivist" from another voice at one point during the trailer for The Cove. The film, which exposes the yearly dolphin slaughter in a small Japanese town--a slaughter that even most of the Japanese public knows nothing about--received high praise from viewers and critics at Sundance, where it won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary a few weeks ago.

Explains Joel Reynolds of NRDC,

The film, directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by the Oceanic Preservation Society, chronicles former dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry's heroic campaign to stop the killing of 2,000 dolphins every year in the Japanese coastal village of Taiji.  In the 1960s, O'Barry trained the animals that collectively became known as Flipper to TV viewers - an experience that he has spent decades trying to undo because of the role the television show played in creating the captive dolphin industry in the United States and around the world.  He came to believe that dolphins should never be captive, and he has tirelessly campaigned to end the inhumane treatment of these undeniably intelligent, self-aware creatures.

The Cove is a riveting tale, told with skill, substance, and relentless drama.  The place that gives rise to the film's name is a secretive cove in Taiji, Japan, and the film tells the story not only of what goes on in this hidden place but the lengths that O'Barry and his team had to go to expose it. The Cove is promoted as "an intelligent/action/adventure/Ocean's Eleven-like horror film wrapped around a tale of redemption and ultimate revenge - oh, and it's a documentary."  It justly deserves, and was recently awarded, the Audience Award at Sundance.

And here is part of the synopsis from the film's Web site:

THE COVE, directed by Louie Psihoyos, tells the amazing true story of how Psihoyos, O'Barry and an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers embarked on a covert mission to penetrate a hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret. The mysteries they uncovered were only the tip of the iceberg.

The Cove, an intelligent/action/adventure/Ocean’s Eleven-like horror film wrapped around a tale of redemption and ultimate revenge – oh, and it’s a documentary.

Trailer: