Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Cove
2009
***½
Director: Louie Psihoyos
Cast:

This Oscar winning documentary claims that up to 23,000 dolphins (and porpoises) are annually killed in a sealed off cove in the village of Taiji in Japan. It would be hypocritical to single out the killing of dolphins just because they're cute, but their meat is unfit for consumption due to high levels of mercury, the film argues. A crew of activists and film technicians devise and execute a plan to capture footage of the actual carnage. This plays out like a thriller and the climactic scenes are harrowing indeed. But is the topic as black and white as we're made to believe?