Synopsis:
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renown dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
The Freak's Rating: A : Documentaries are a tough film to rate A, at least according to this site's ratings. A means you'll own it, watch it again, etc... and this one would be quite difficult to watch again...at least the last 20 minutes.
The Cove follows Ric O'Barry, the originator of the dolphin craze and trainer of Flipper, as he attempts to show the dark side of the Japanese dolphin industry in a small village of Taiji, where dolphins are brutally slaughtered every year. The documentary shines as it truly is part caper, part exploit and part secret agent in its storyline. This is the first documentary I've seen of its caliber and I will be purchasing a copy, at the minimum to donate some money to this worthwhile effort.
I am not a vegetarian. I do believe that there is a circle of life out there, so don't get me wrong. The sadness in this film is the way in which these animals are butchered. They are driven in fear to this area, then the ones who aren't picked up by all the theme parks and Sea World-ish resorts are brutally destroyed and carved up for meat. This meat, insanely high in mercury levels, is then masked as whale meat and sold in the markets of Japan.
The film is a great expose about some of the things we do to our planet that we really should reconsider. I've already joined the cause and I doubt, if you watch the film, it will be long until you do as well.
