The cove critique

Film Critique of ‘ The Cove’ The documentary d The Cove, which was released in 2009, was the work of the director Louie Psihoyos. In this documentary, a group of individuals who have come together with a similar interest of activism against the capturing and hunting of dolphins, which forms the theme of the film. Its title “ The Cove” was selected because the team found its way into a cove in Taiji, Japan where multiple dolphins are slaughtered. The film develops a strong theme on the need for reinforcement of the animal rights and presents a salient need for the banning of the hunting of dolphins. After watching the film about a week ago, it emerged that it is an outstanding documentary that carries a strong message.
The theme of the documentary is a campaign against the hunting and slaughtering of dolphins in Japan, although the activism applies to other countries as well. In a bid to support this theme, the film depicts the extreme treatment of dolphins in a cove in Japan. The team that put together this documentary made efforts of installing secret cameras in the cove hence obtained images of how trapping and killing of dolphins in the coastal village occurred (Eger n. p). After slaughtering the dolphins, the meat was marketed as well whale meat confusing many buyers. The film consists of individuals who are committed to stopping the hunting of dolphins to the point whereby they are almost becoming extinct.
Richard O’Barry is an outstanding character in the film. This is because he had been a trainer of five dolphins that had been used on a TV show called Flipper. Evidently, he was an expert in training dolphins explaining why he had excellently trained the dolphins appearing in the show. However, one of the experiences he has during that career was witnessing a dolphin die in his hands because of the distress resulting from the captivity. After that incident, he has been an activist against the capturing of dolphins and their use by companies such as Sea World Entertainment (Eger n. p). The presence of Richard O’Barry in this documentary makes it compelling considering his first career in training dolphins and his modern activism against captivity of dolphins.
In my opinion, the documentary presents a very strong message regarding the activism against captivity and the hunting of dolphins. The images depicting the slaughtering and capturing of dolphins and the failure to regard animals in accordance with the defined animal rights serves to affect the audience emotionally. The images expose the evil done against dolphins. The message does not only apply to dolphins, but the increased exploitation of other animals by humans. I agree with the film’s call for an urgent intervention in a bid to stop the ongoing slaughtering of dolphins. Notably, the team depicted in the documentary is exemplary because the individuals making it up are activists against dolphin captivity.
Without doubt, there has been an ongoing slaughtering and unlimited hunting of dolphins in Japan. The captured dolphins are eventually sold as meat after slaughtering, but people are made to believe that they are consuming whale meat. As the film depicts, there is a need for urgent intervention as stopping of human maltreatment of animals. In a bid to place emphasis on the urgent intervention needed, Psihoyos, the film’s director said, “ The Taiji dolphin slaughter is scheduled to resume every September… unless we stop it.”
Work Cited
Eger, Robert. The Cove. Web. 31st May 2014.