My faith in the power of documentaries to change the world has been flagging lately. As a film student on the documentary track, this is pretty unfortunate. Even really great films seem to stick with my peers for only about 10-15 minutes before fading into the media-filled abyss that is the consciousness of my generation.
But every once in a while, a film comes a long to challenge my disillusion. 2009’s The Cove is one of those, and I’m happy to see it be nominated for an Academy Award. This film from Roadside Attractions and Participant Media gained fame for pulling off a unique and cool spy thriller feel in what otherwise might have been just another preachy nature documentary. The Cove is about the international dolphin capture and slaughter trade as practiced in Taiji, Japan, and centers around a team of animal advocates and filmmakers intent on getting footage of the dolphin murders. And they do, which makes The Cove one of the most disturbing horror movies I’ve ever seen.
Yet what is important about The Cove, and its widespread success, is that it actually had a tangible, real-world effect on the cause that it was exposing. Although dolphin capture still took place in Taiji, the town announced its intention to release the dolphins not selected for captivity instead of slaughtering them. Because of The Cove, Taiji was under the scrutiny of animal lovers around the world, and really didn’t have any other choice.
So what can we learn from this real-world success? What ingredients does The Cove have that other, less effective documentaries don’t?
- Dolphins. Everybody has a soft spot for dolphins, and for some reason that psychologists and philosophers probably have an answer for, a lot of us are capable of feeling more empathy for them than for the flawed members of our own species.
- A subject horrible enough that the filmmakers don’t have to try to artificially prompt the emotion of the audience. Just drop the words “23,000 dolphins a year” and the image from and underwater camera flooded with blood, and we’re sold on the suspense.
- A protagonist who has repented his evil deeds and is trying to atone for them. Our historically Puritanical nation loves this kind of stuff. Richard O’Barry used to capture and train dolphins (notably for the TV show Flipper, which first sparked America’s love for performing sea animals), and now, after one of his dolphins “committed suicide” in his arms, devotes his life to preventing the capture and slaughter of dolphins around the world.
- The absence of the moralizing, lecturing tone associated with many documentaries. The Cove disguises its message in the narrative arc of a Bourne Identity- type of movie. It catches its audience by surprise and they even forget they are learning something important as they watch. For my jaded generation, at least, this is a welcome change.
- Awesome production quality. The editing is careful, the score is moody and beautiful, and the photography, especially the creepy underwater shots, is great.
- Finally, intelligent marketing. As a former Participant Media intern, I personally called what seemed like every surf shop in the nation and mailed them posters and promotional postcards. Participant’s Social Action Department targeted surfers and other people pre-disposed to caring about dolphins and animals in general. It was also marketed as an adventurous, righteous rampage and not a morality tale.
I think filmmakers and audiences alike can learn from what The Cove accomplished, and the fresh approach it brought to the sometimes-dry art of documentary filmmaking. I know I’ll be rooting for it at the Oscars, as well as keeping an eye on the town of Taiji for years to come.
Check out the trailer:
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