Chinese name: Dolphin Cove

English name: The Cove

Alias: Bay Canyon, Bay

IMDb: 8.6/10 ( 4, 232 votes)

Resource format: 720P

Release date: 2009

The 82nd Academy Award for Best Documentary

Introduction ：

◎Translation: Bay/Gulf Canyon/Dolphin Cove

◎Title: The Cove

◎Era 2009

◎Country United States

◎Category Drama/Documentary

◎Language English/Japanese

◎Subtitles English/Spanish

◎File format X264 DTS

◎Video size 1280 x 720

◎File size 4.37G

◎Long time 91 mins

◎Director Louis Pischos Louie Psihoyos

◎Starring Rick O'Barry ....Himself

　 Louie Psihoyos ....Himself

Hayden Panettiere ....Herself

Isabel Lucas Isabel Lucas ....Herself

Joe Chisholm ....Himself

　Mandy-Rae Cruikshank....Herself

　Charles Hambleton....Himself

　Simon Hutchins....Himself

Kirk Krack ....Himself

Roger Payne ....Himself

John Potter ....Himself

Dave Rastovich ....Himself

　Paul Watson....Himself

◎Introduction

Let us go back to the 1960s, Richard O'Barry His name is regarded as the world's most influential authority on dolphin training. He was once active as an actor and animal trainer on the very popular TV show "Flipper" Filming scene... More than 40 years have passed, but O'Barry still maintains his extraordinary ability to control dolphins, winning the satisfied laughter of TV audiences through collaborative performances between trainers and dolphins. Voice. Perhaps because of his career, O'Barry has always been extremely concerned about the rights and interests of marine mammals and actively participated in them. However, he sadly discovered that in such a civilized society, there is still an organization that carries out human rights violations against dolphins. It was only after he personally inspected the secret bay of unlimited hunting - "Taiji", that he truly realized what a hell full of tragic dolphins it was.

This documentary will tell a very shocking fact. O'Barry teamed up with filmmaker Louie Psihoyos (Louie Psihoyos), and they were joined by a social activist A powerful elite production team composed of photographers, filmmakers and freedivers, they jointly launched a covert candid shooting mission, infiltrating "Taiji", a bay with dangerous terrain in Japan, Bringing humanity's darkest secrets out into the open.

Behind the Scenes

·The film won the Audience Choice Award at the 2009 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival, ranking first.

Comparable to the "candid photography" process of the special forces

There is a beautiful bay called "Taiji" in Japan, but due to the large-scale hunting of dolphins by local fishermen It has become a world-famous "slaughterhouse." Director Louis Pischos, who shot the documentary "The Bay" specifically about this phenomenon, said: "The first time I heard about this rumor was in 2000 with the top At a symposium with marine mammal experts, Richard O'Barry was present... Until I met him, I had always known that O'Barry had worked on the TV and film versions of Dolphin's The man behind "The Story" is also the most authoritative dolphin musician in the world, and he boldly protested against the dolphin hunting industry. It turned out that O'Barry was also a key spokesperson at the symposium that day. One, but at the last minute when he was about to take the stage, he was banned from speaking by the organizer of the party, SeaWorld. I felt that O'Barry was suddenly deprived of the right to speak. Out of curiosity, O'Barry took the initiative to ask. He told me that the speech he wanted to give was about a secret bay in Japan, where illegal traders from all over the world gather to sell dolphins. Dolphinariums and dolphin parks select the best 'merchandise', and he also told me that as for the dolphins that are not selected, most are brutally slaughtered and the dolphin meat is then shipped to schools for lunch supplies. With these words, I couldn't believe my ears. In the civilized society we live in, there is a place that specializes in killing dolphins. So O'Barry invited me to go to Taiji with him to see this. A small bay town in Japan with a shocking secret. "

The terrain of "Taiji" is like a pure natural fortress, perfectly protected by the wonders of nature: "Taiji". "The location is surrounded by steep cliffs on three sides. The only place where there is access is a series of man-made defenses, including many gates with tall and sharp iron cones, as well as barbed wire and barbed wire. A fence as sharp as a razor, there are two very narrow entrances, and they are closely protected by guards and police dogs... Talking about his and Richard O'Barry's thrilling journey to "Tai Di", Louis Pishhos said: "Obviously, O'Barry, who has been there many times, is familiar with it. I followed him and experienced many shocking and bloody dolphin hunting scenes, which shocked me greatly. After returning, I I decided to contact the government departments of Taiji, including the local dolphin hunting federation, hoping to film these and make a documentary, and I wanted to obtain a legal filming permit. But I soon realized that I really wanted to do it. I was too naive. When I came to Taiji again, I found that I was being followed, and as soon as I showed up, I would be closely monitored by the police 24 hours a day. From this, I knew that the town was. They were prepared to adopt a completely uncooperative attitude, because before this, their 'road to wealth' by capturing dolphins in exchange for a large amount of money had been continuously unearthed and reported by reporters, which not only caused public outrage around the world, but also This greatly reduces their ability to make money in this industry. The mayor of the town even bluntly told me that if I got too close to the fishermen who were catching dolphins, not only might I be injured, but I might even lose my life.

In fact, the bay itself is full of weirdness. It is located in the middle of the entire small town, much like the kind of mysterious place that would appear in the novels of the horror master Stephen King. On the surface, the residents of the town seemed to love and respect marine mammals like dolphins or whales, but what actually happened in the bay was something else entirely, and that was the secret I wanted to uncover. . In O'Barry's words, if I want to really enter the Gulf, I need helpers who are at least 'SEAL' level, and that's what I'm doing - at least the production team I've assembled is definitely no better than 'Ocean's Eleven' 'Well, they all have special skills. ”

If you want to enter a secret bay that is strictly protected and has dangerous terrain for on-site shooting, the difficulties and dangers you face are indeed beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Louis Pischos said: "I called on my good friends, Canadian female diving champion Mandy Rae-Cruickshank and free diving coach Kirk Krack, and asked them to help us sneak under the water. Equipped with a camera and audio equipment, Cruikshek has won eight free-diving championships. She can hold her breath for six and a half minutes, sink to a depth of 300 feet, and then dive without the use of a rebreather. down and back to the surface again... Her husband Clark is also a master of free diving. One of my former camera assistants is now the head of the model making department at the special effects company Industrial Light & Magic, and with their help we created fake rocks that we could hide the high-definition camera inside. Then there was an electrical expert who had previously been a technician with the Canadian Air Force, who provided us with a high-speed horsepower system to keep the camera running at its maximum. In addition, he also made us an unmanned remote-controlled aircraft model, which provided antenna support and camera functions. Under the model was a high-definition camera that could also be remotely controlled. Many of my personal friends from the islands have actively participated. Every night, we are fully armed, wearing camouflage uniforms and face paint, and secretly carry out operations in Taiji under the cover of darkness. We evaded the guards and police and used all high-definition cameras without heat sources that are only used in the military field to capture the images we needed during the action. In this way, the filming of "The Bay" used some unconventional staff, and most of our working hours were in the middle of the night, and we had to avoid police surveillance at any time - this was also the biggest challenge we had to face. Challenge, try your best not to be caught by the locals, otherwise you will be arrested. "

Give the beautiful dolphins a safe bay

Since he chose to make everything that happened in "Taiji" public, Louis Pishhos naturally also realized Realizing that he will face an unprecedented dangerous situation that may even endanger his life, Pischos said: "I have long foreseen the possibility of danger, but none of this will stop me from telling the truth to the world." , and my original purpose of shooting this documentary was not at all from a profit-making perspective. Earlier, at our film company, I met Steven Spielberg, and he asked me, if we make films without any profit motive, what will we do to keep the company going? He gave me advice and passed on to me the lessons he learned from working on Jaws, which was to never work in a boat or with animals because there were so many unexpected things. Unpredictable and prohibitively expensive. But everything seems to be doomed. When filming "The Bay", we spent most of our time on the boat, and we had to cooperate with a large number of wild animals without any sense of cooperation... Need to add The point is that, for understandable security reasons, most of our filming was done at night, sneaking into the bay secretly and risking being killed or imprisoned if we were caught red-handed. If you live there, you will be put in jail for several months.

Producing "The Bay" in this way was undoubtedly equivalent to an out-and-out nightmare for me as a first-time director. ”

Louis Pischos has always been very concerned about the topic of animal rights, and the first time he made a documentary, he took the protection of dolphins as the documentary theme. It can be said to be accidental, or it can be said that It's fate, Pishhos said: "I have been a vegetarian for more than 20 years. In fact, I am technically a 'semi-vegetarian' because I eat fish, but not any walking animal. But since I made "The Bay", I no longer eat any fish. This experience really taught me too many things. I discovered that many types of fish are actually at the top of the food chain. It is very responsible to say that since I started filming this film, my attitude towards animals has continued to change, from being semi-vegetarian to now not even wearing a leash. My emotions for all living things have risen to an unimaginable level, because once you realize their plight, you will definitely be like me and feel so distressed that you can no longer take your eyes away. There is scientific evidence that dolphins have larger brains than humans, with more folding and arrangement of nerve cells. Moreover, they have additional senses, that is, extraordinary sensitivity to sound waves. At the same time, they are the only known wild animals that actively save humans. The compassion of dolphins has a long and legendary history. It has been recorded since humans were able to record it in words or images. They always consciously join the ranks of saving humans. I think it is time for us to try to rescue them - you must know that "Taiji" is the largest dolphin slaughterhouse in the world. "

When Louis Pischos was in "Taiji", he also found that the local government did not effectively stop the killing of dolphins. He said: "The Japanese are still deeply affected by the government and public opinion. They have no doubts about their political system, but the government does not want them to know some of the most basic health information. For example, dolphin meat contains several times more toxins than other animal meat products... This is a The truth has been covered up by the entire political system. Japan seems to be indifferent to the hunting of dolphins. The reason why this industry has such high profits in Japan also proves its Corruption is rampant within the government. "

However, in the year after Louis Pischos left "Taiji", Japan's attitude towards the killing of dolphins made corresponding changes. Pishos continued: “Dolphin meat was once part of Japan’s school lunch program, which has now been scrapped… Richard O’Barry and the Marine Life Conservation Society are also stepping in and intervening. Our toxicity research experts finally got in touch with several town council officials in Taiji, whose own children were also attending school. The different poisoning reactions produced confirmed our suspicions, so we basically stopped. Dolphin meat is added to school lunches, and many aquaculture industries no longer accept quotas and tasks for dolphin meat. But even so, the killing of dolphins there has not stopped. We all hope that through "The Bay", humans will realize what a cruel thing they are doing and completely prevent similar killings from happening again. ”