A brutally revealing film, The Cove has received a lot of acclaim, and it certainly deserves it. Attempting nothing more complicated than the exposé of dolphin slaughter, this film is carried out by a small mixed group of ex-military coordinators, free divers, ocean conservationists, adrenaline junkies, and a dolphin trainer turned activist. The explanation of motivation, the planning, prelude interviews, and overall setup dominates all but a small part of this film, leaving only a few minutes for the actual reveal and conclusion. Other than catching small hints of adventure-addiction here and there, the film was honest and clear in its intent - a documentary hoping only to evoke emotion and invoke change in the world. Being the spy-style, run-and-gun film that this was, the technical elements obviously take a back seat to the actual message, and although the specific subject gets muddled by random facts and tangents from time to time, the message is incredibly clear by the end of the film. The imagery and topic of the film is unsettling at the least, 'shocking' a more appropriate word. In the end, the cinematic conclusion to this film feels rather incomplete, but it serves, for me at least, to say that the major work that this film is calling for has yet to be concluded, and it's up to all those who watch the film to carry it out.
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2/9/2010
2 comments:
Yeah, for all the publicity, I should definitely see this film.
Have you seen a French film called "Tell No One?" I found it to be a pretty dang good movie.
I haven't seen it, but it's been in my Netflix queue for months. The scene in the trailer where someone is walking across the highway amidst crashing cars just blows my mind. I'll have to break down and just watch it.
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