The Cove is an action thriller about a covert mission to expose a tightly guarded secret of a quiet town in Japan. Oh, and it’s a documentary! The film really unravel like a spy thriller, even the people in the film joked about them being the team of Ocean’s Eleven. Well, except that their mission is not to pull off a heist, but to obtain footage of a brutal truth of the town of Taiji, Japan – a seemingly lovely town that adores whales and dolphins.

The truth is that the fishermen in Taiji are committing the biggest massacre of the dolphins and no one seems to know about it, not the people in the world, not the people in Japan, not even some of people who lives within that town. It is because all slaughtering area are off-access from the public. And more horrifying is that the local whale and dolphins museum is behind it and even more ironic is that all the sea worlds and swim with dolphins programs in the world are the economic reason for this massacre to happen every year.

The film follows a covert mission to Taiji, and along the way show you the danger they are in, the history and the fact. And of course the resulting footage they obtained, the most heartbreaking few minutes of film that we all need to see. It will changes you forever. I know I did, and I am the one who can’t live without seafood and worship the Japanese culture. I don’t think I can even go into a Sea World knowing that behind every smile of the dolphins, they are actually in pain.

Reading some comments and reactions, some immediately labeled the film one-sided and even blasted it for racial discrimination for portraying the Japanese as villains. I completely disagree because the filmmaker go out of the way to make it clear that most Japanese have no idea that this is going on, and not just the Japanese in the big cities, even the people within that town doesn’t know it is going on! The film also showed the local Japanese Councilman who stopped the distribution of mercury-filled dolphin meat to be part of the school lunch menu. It also showed interviews with ordinary people in the street who are shocked to find out what is going on in Taiji and expressed their disbelief and horror. Some uses the “culture” argument, and yet that didn’t even stand up because most Japanese don’t eat dolphins, the markets has to label those meat as something else in order to sell it!! Not to mention the whole point about how these dolphin meat are toxic with mercury, this film is not just about saving the dolphins, but to prevent the Japanese market be flooded with these toxic dolphin meat that will poision their people!

I encourage everyone to see this film, and even if you don’t, consider signing the peitition or donating money so that more people in the world and in Japan are informed about what happens in Taiji. To help stop this horrific crime.

Related posts:

1. When Pleo meets dolphins
2. Avatar
3. The Movie 9
4. Golden Compass
5. Alice in Wonderland

Tagged: dolphins · Movies