If you haven’t seen The Cove, prepare to be left out of a lot of conversations when the Xmas party season gets into gear.
Really, you say? Some environmental documentary about dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan is going to steal thunder from Avatar and Where the Wild Things Are? You best believe it. This is no ordinary well-intentioned campaign film. Structured with a nod to the classic paranoid conspiracy thrillers of the seventies and the Oceans’ Eleven franchise, The Cove doesn’t require its audience to write polite letters to the International Whaling Commission after the credits roll. Instead, this balls-out actioner takes the lead by staging a daring night time raid on the hidden enclave on the title, a blood soaked spot where a Japanese fishermen herd and slaughter dolphins for months every year.
The star of the show is the wonderful, articulate Richard O’Barry, a dolphin-trainer who rose to fame through the TV show Flipper. His road to Damascus moment came when Cathy, one of that programmes’ stars, committed suicide to get out of the Hollowood rat race. That’s right. She killed herself, not long after she used to clap whenever she saw herself on screen. A devastated O’Barry has since devoted his life to freeing dolphins in captivity and sabotaging the Seaworld industry he once created.
The heist here is even more impressive. Under the constant supervision of local authorities and unfriendly townsfolk, a crack team sneaks out in the dead of night to capture the extent of the slaughter. You’ll scarcely believe what the covert footage reveals. Despite the aqua holocaust, The Cove remains one of the most exciting viewing prospects of 2009.