The Delicacy (Jason Wise, 2020): United States

Reviewed by Justin Tuttle.  Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

The Delicacy provides a very interesting and fascinating look into the Santa Barbara sea urchin fishing culture.  I highly recommend this movie for anyone interested in marine biology in general and certainly if you live in Santa Barbara and want to learn more about our unique fishing heritage.  As someone who has previously lived on a boat in the Santa Barbara harbor and interacted with commercial fishermen, this film was acutely alluring to me.

Directed by Jason Wise (Somm; Wait for Your Laugh),  The main stars include Sea Urchin fishermen Jim Marshall, Stephanie Mutz, and Harry Liquornick.  It also culinary TV personality Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern).  The movie is primarily shot on location in and around Santa Barbara, California and includes the use of historical footage to provide depth to the storyline.

The story starts off recounting the history of commercial abalone fishing, how it collapsed from overfishing and was ultimately shut down in 1997.  The film introduces some of the colorful sea faring characters plying for abalone during that time including a man named Jim Robinson (who becomes one of the dramatic story lines later in the movie).  Fortunately, given the similar method of harvesting the abalone, fishermen were able to pivot and start harvesting sea urchins which had a huge demand from Asian markets.  The movie also delved into the inherent dangers of this trade.  The movie was shot entirely on film which gave the movie a certain richness in color which made it visually stunning for both the underwater scenes as well as the backdrop of the Channel Islands.  The movie explored more sustainable practices developed by Elizabeth Mutz and her partner Harry Liquournick.  Ms. Mutz, is an academically trained marine biologist and the only female sea urchin fisherman in California.  She sidestepped the traditional practice of selling urchins to processors and directly takes them to some of the best restaurants in California.  It was especially interesting to watch the sea urchins plucked from the water to later being beautifully prepared and placed on a plate at a high end restaurant.

The film debuted as a world premier at the Santa Barbara Film Festival (SBIFF) 2020.  Following the showing, Director Jason Wise and actress Stephanie Mutz had a Q&A session moderated by SBIFF programming director Michael Albright.  Mr. Wise discussed his film background and stated that while difficult to shoot nature documentaries on film, it “makes it look like a memory immediately” which I agree.  Ms. Mutz gave background into the industry and explained that her business model is  environmentally sustainable as they can harvest less urchins but make more money.

The filmmakers did a solid job of not falling into the trap of many documentaries wherein they follow the subject around with a camera and then make it a film.  They used historical footage, solid interviews, and visual beauty to put together a compelling story line that drew the audience in.  This was a combination of excellent directing, editing, and cinematography as well as the film medium itself.

Stephanie Mutz, Jason Wise, and Michael Albright (SBIFF World Premier January 21, 2020)