The cove is a documentary about the dolphin fishing and trade in Japan, a controversial subject. The movie has been very well made and feels like a spy movie. The moviemakers are being followed and can’t count on any help of the local fishermen. They needed to make this movie with an almost military way of handling the filming (using secret cameras that need to be placed during a mission in the night) when the dolphins are caught. Because of this it has become an exciting documentary to watch.
Ric O’Barry (former Flipper trainer) has stimulated the popularity of dolphins, which has resulted in the dolphin trade. It’s very weird to see how he now opposes the thing he started by trying to protect and save dolphins. Whatever your opinion about catching and eating dolphins, the documentary shows the chemicals that can be found in the body of a dolphin and what the health risks are when consuming it. If you do not want to see dolphins getting killed then it’s better to skip the movie. The sea turned red because of the amount of blood. Whether you think if it’s ok to eat dolphin or are opposed to catching or even don’t have any opinion about it, this is a documentary you should watch. It shows the reality of this industry which makes it easier to form your own opinion about it. When you read the discussions on the IMDB boards, you see how fierce people are to defend their views. So the controversy about this subject will not disappear, but probably only increase.
Score: 7
I’m not a fan of documentaries. I haven’t seen this one but it attracted much of my attention in the beginning of this year, as I examined all Oscar nominees in order to predict the winners. I was shocked and impressed with the trailer, that speaks volumes of the film: camera work in rush and the matter of high significance. I really thought it could win.
I’ve reviewed quite a lot of documentaries this year and this one was really impressive.