The cove is not your typical documentary, it plays out like a espionage thriller as former flipper trainer, ric obarry, and his crew try to uncover footage of the annual and highly secretive massacre of thousands of dolphins in a tiny lagoon in taiji, japan its compelling stuff to witness and often difficult to watch as it. A town on the coast of japan, called taiji, hunts dolphins from sept to may. Documentaries about the environment and conservation. The film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills, change japanese fishing practices, and to inform and educate the public about the risks, and. Like the directors cover story, the movie is a trojan horse. The cove, the documentary film studies 2270 introduction. The cove is a harrowing and haunting documentary on the dolphin slaughter in japan. Abby walsh, jonathan morley, laurie beth johnson, nana debrah english 101 david brookshire 14 october 2014 a rhetorical analysis of the cove when louie psihoyos presented his documentary, the cove, at the 2009 sundance film festival, the audience was shocked. The 2010 oscarwinning feature documentary by greekamerican photographer and filmmaker louie psihoyos has enjoyed worldwide success. In the 1960s, it was obarry who captured and trained the 5 dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation flipper but his close relationship with those dolphins the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination.
The cove in this heartwrenching and eyeopening documentary, director louie psihoyos team of filmmakers and activists go undercover to expose the. Documentaire film geregisseerd door louie psihoyos. A film about dolphins leads a trend in ecopics that pack as dramatic a punch as any action movie, says lucy siegle. It was awarded the 2010 oscar for best documentary feature in 2010. The film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills, change japanese fishing practices, and to inform and educate the public about the risks, and increasing hazard, of mercury poisoning from. Psihoyos film is unusual for documentaries in that it combines his activist stance with dramatic arcs and suspense one would expect in a james. Its about a secret cove of the coast of japan where. The cove is a documentary that has been making waves pun intended ever since debuting at the sundance film festival earlier this year. Examining the foundations of documentary film through the cove. The cove can only be described in one way riveting. The cove is a 2009 documentary film directed by louie psihoyos which analyzes and questions dolphin hunting practices in japan. The cove trailer 2009 sundance film festival audience.
The film is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills, change japanese fishing practices, and to inform and educate the public about the risks. Benefiting from explanations of dolphin psychology and. A film about dolphins leads a trend in ecopics that pack as dramatic a punch as any action movie, says lucy siegle lucy siegle sat 5 sep 2009 19. The cove documentary film is the true story of activists who embarked on a covert mission to. Dark vignettes of infrared lit stealth divers rushing and creeping, haunt the opening sequence. On the annual hunt a few of the dolphins are captured to be sold to marine parks but the rest are slaughtered to be consumed as mislabeled whale meat, despite the. The cove 2009 a documentary investigating dolphin hunting practices in japan, including mass killings, false food labeling and the effects of mercury poisoning 1. For psihoyos calculatedly tendentious film, there would be no reason to achieve a halfhearted balance for the sake of appearing objective. Winner of the audience award for best documentary at the 2009 sundance film festival, the cove follows a hightech dive team on a mission to discover the truth about the dolphin capture trade as. Eye opening documentary about dolphin abuse in taijii, japan. It was directed by louie psiyohos and produced by participant media. Posted by alison willmore on january 21st the cove is a documentary about taiji, japans capital for dolphin hunting, and how effective it is is directly proportional to how horrified you feel at the idea of dolphins being killed for meat. Winner, best documentary by the boston society of film critics, 2009.
It was awarded the academy award for best documentary feature in 2010. The documentary follows, perhaps the most committed of them all, dolphin activist, richard obarry. The cove tells one of the most inspiring true stories of our time. Awards circuit community awards 2009 winner acca best. Using stateoftheart equipment, a group of activists, led by renown dolphin trainer ric obarry, infiltrate a cove near taijii, japan to expose both a shocking instance of. In the 2009 documentary film, the cove, director louie psihoyos analyzes, questions, and exposes japans dolphin hunting culture.
By utilizing stateoftheart techniques, they uncover a horrible annual tradition of unparalleled cruelty. Winner of the 2009 oscar for best documentary, this film will probably turn away many viewers with the promise of gruesome footage of slaughtered dolphins. In new documentary a whale of a tale, filmmaker megumi sasaki revisits. T he 2009 documentary the cove, which depicted the practice of corralling and slaughtering dolphins in a small bay tinged crimson from the blood, has visited a bewildering past decade upon the. The cove is a fine piece of sensationalist documentary making, it is tense and. Chilling official trailer for dolphin documentary the cove. The cove documentary may have stopped dolphin slaughter in. Psihoyos is the films director, stevens has a producer credit. The cove 2009 academy award winner best feature documentary driving into the town of taiji japan is like driving into the twilight zone, says ric obarry, dressed with hat, dark glasses and a filter mask, disguised as he drives his passenger into the town. Winner, documentary feature, 2010 academy award, audience award, 2009 sundance film festival.
The team and the production had done great in this documentary. But the cove is such a powerful, informative, and inspirational movie that all of the footage somehow meshes as. The cove, a heartbreaking documentary, describes how richard obarry, director louie psihoyos and a team of adventurers penetrated the tight security around the taiji cove and obtained forbidden footage of the mass slaughter of dolphins. Winner of the audience award for best documentary at the 2009 sundance film festival, the cove follows a hightech dive team on a mission. Winner, audience award, 2009 newport beach film festival. The cove is a superb documentary, deserving of its festival accolades. Documentary films the cove s message is gruesome but facile. Shocking, tirelessly informative and absolutely thrilling to watch.
The many film makers who put out this sort of documentaryfilm are just hearing about a story, researching, digging a little deeper and providing their version of the story through their own eyes. In this pulsepounding ecothriller, a crack team of divers, activists and special effects experts infiltrate a secret cove in japan to expose one of historys most shocking and unimaginable crimes against nature. The cove 2009 a group of animal welfare activists travel to taiji, japan to secretly document the annual slaughter of 20,000 dolphins. The cove siphons you in with an articulate visual language blending stock video, interviews, cgi, aerial footage and hidden cameras. Watch the cove 2009 movie trailer instantly, no need to login.
The movie is a call to action to halt mass dolphin kills in japan, specifically in the cove near taiji. Academy rules for the documentary feature category state that a maximum of two persons may be designated as nominees, one of whom must be the credited director, and the other of whom must have a producer or director credit. The coves message is gruesome but facile david cox. The trainer who worked with the original flipper, ric obarry, is now firmly against the captivity of any marine life, and the documentary shows his efforts to document the silent slaughter of thousands. The cove louie psihoyos 2009 the cove is a hardhitting documentary film about the capture and killing of dolphins in japan. The film won the audience award for best documentary at the 2009 sundance film festival as well as an academy.
The cove begins in taiji, japan, where former dolphin trainer ric obarry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. The cove exposes an important subject, one that needs to be exposed. Directed by louie psihoyos, the cove 2009 is an oscarwinning documentary that follows psihoyos and a crew of devoted dolphin activists as they fight to stymie and bring attention to dolphin hunting in the small coastal village of taiji, japan. It is inspiring to see what people can do if they are really passionate about a cause. Winner of the audience award at this years sundance film festival. Most of them had likely never heard of the taiji dolphin problem, and even more had likely never witnessed it. The film serves as a call to action to bring an end to mass dolphin slaughter, to change japanese fishing practices, and to inform the general public of the atrocities being committed to these animals and the health risks particularly the increased hazard of. The cove top 10 environmental documentaries of 2009. A fraction of the movie plays like a common documentary film, interviewing prominent figures in the fishing business and presenting the audience facts and related correlations. When an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers embark on a covert mission to penetrate a remote and hidden cove in. If you have any inclination of feelings towards the majestic dolphin and other marine mammals, you will enjoy this film, if only for the fact that it. Hard to watch, but necessary, the cove is a must see movie, and.
A whale of a tale documentary film by megumi sasaki. The cove isnt a film designed to prompt discussion, but rather it is an awkwardly realised propaganda exercise regardless of the legitimacy of psihoyos and o barrys position it is still a blusteringly evangelical film that utilises a whole retinue of sophisticated documentary techniques to maximise the impact of its blunt assault. In a group of 24 people create a paper slide video that outlines a andor your point of view towards the topic of dolphinariums, the cove and treatment towards animals for commercial purposes. The cove, a heartbreaking documentary, describes how richard obarry, director louie psihoyos and a team of adventurers penetrated the. The cove is a documentary film and was released in august 2009. Part of the film shows the extent of the slaughter with no dialogue and this is the hardest part to watch the water in the cove changes to bright red and you have to turn away for a second. At last, the truth of the cove comes to the fore in an act of covert filmmaking that turns a documentary into a gripping actionadventure thriller. Academy award winner for best documentary of 2009 a team of activists, filmmakers, and freedivers embark on a covert mission to expose a deadly secret hidden in a remote cove in taiji, japan. The particular focus is a killing cove near the small coastal town of taiji, where thousands or dolphins are slaughtered every year. Parts of the documentary are very hard to watch notably the sections when the. The cove is a 2009 documentary film directed by louie psihoyos, that documents the annual slaughter of dolphins in wakayama japan.
The cove is a documentary directed by louie psihoyos. The cove 2009 filmmaker louis psihoyos follows animal rights activist richard obarry in this shocker of a documentary that effectively exposes the annual secret slaughter of thousands of dolphins by a greedy community of japanese fishermen, supported by a complicit japanese government and international whaling commission. The 2009 documentary the cove, which depicted the practice of. The cove is a dynamic and truthrevealing documentary film that was released on july 31, 2009. A desperate warning addressed to the human race as to realize that destroying the planets animal and plant life equals selfdestruction. Amsterdam international documentary film festival 2009 winner audience award louie psihoyos. The cove is much more than just a record of that adventure.
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