The Cove (Louie Psihoyos, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at the Lobero, Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Filmmaker Louie Psihoyos and dolphin advocate Ric O’Barry, were both honored Wednesday night with the David Attenborough Award for their joint effort on The Cove.

The Cove documents O’Barry’s former Hollywood career as the lead dolphin trainer, for the 1960’s hit television show Flipper.  The show helped to escalate interest in capturing and training dolphins for entertainment purposes, at various amusement parks such as Sea World.  When one of Flipper’s dolphin actors (Kathy) committed suicide in O’Barry’s arms, he did an about-face and began a movement to protect dolphins and release those that were in captivity.

The film centers around a remote cove inside a National Park in Taiji Japan, where thousands of dolphins are trapped, selected for captivity, with the remainder brutally slaughtered for food consumption each year.  Dolphin meat contains high levels of mercury, thus possibly contaminating consumers with mercury poisoning.  Not only is the dolphin meat misrepresented and sold at market, but it was a main staple in the local school lunch program for children (until recently), due to O’Barry’s work.

O’Barry has seen some positive results once he shifted the focus from an animal rights position to a human rights issue, pointing to the lack of informed citizens, government cover-up, and non-freedom of the press.

The work of filmmaker Louie Psihoyos comes into play when he and O’Barry attempt to secretly film from inside the cove, which is regulated and completely off-limits to outsiders.  Psihoyos, a former National Geographic photographer, invited a select group of friends (a military guy, a pro-diver, and a thrill seeker)  to join him on the covert operation.

Loaded with heavy equipment such as dive gear, camouflage, night-vision goggles (and cameras), they also take along fake “hollywood” rocks in which to hide special HD cameras.  Red flag warnings are set up with the local Japanese authority and Psihoyos and his crew are relentlessly followed and harassed.

Amazingly Psihoyos and his crew manage to infiltrate the heavily guarded cove, and capture footage of the shocking and disturbing slaying of the beautiful and highly intelligent creatures.

The Cove is riveting from beginning to end with the VO narrative alternating between O’Barry and Psihoyos.  At the final moment when we get a glimpse of the goings-on within the cove, Psihoyos shuts off the narrative, and allows the visuals to explain – the only word to describe it is HEARTBREAKING.

The film not only pulls at the heart-strings, but there are also heart-stoppers and moments of humor as well.  The title sequence is cleverly seen through the night-vision camera, giving us an idea of the action to come.