Oscar-Winner The Cove Not So Big in Japan After All
Last anyone heard, this year's Best Documentary Feature Oscar-winner The Cove was headed for limited release in Japan, where audiences would finally be given the chance to make up their own minds about their country's brutal, controversial dolphin-slaughtering pastime. That was in February. Here it is the second week in June, and thanks to some nationalist outrage, the film still hasn't made its way to screens. What gives?
The Japanese distributor Unplugged said it has been beset with a steady torrent of angry calls and protest threats since announcing its plans to release the film. Discussions with dozens potential theaters have reportedly fallen through under pressure from "nationalists" who argue that the film's graphic depiction of mass dolphincide near the coastal village of Taiji is "a betrayal of Japanese pride." Pride? This is the same country that just today swore in its fifth premier in less than three years. "Japanese pride" might have bigger issues at stake than a documentary that every other industrialized nation saw months ago. Perspective, folks.
Anyway, filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of 55 signatories to an open letter condemning the intimidation and arguing for The Cove's release. "This is a film that has been widely shown abroad," they wrote in a statement released this week. "If the work, which is about Japan, cannot be shown in Japan, it only underlines the weakness of the freedom of speech in Japan." Moreover, do you know how hard this is for the country's Fisher Stevens completists? Don't penalize his cult for the sins of these heartless Flipper-brutalizers!
Seriously, Japan, WTF?
· Japanese pundits protest dolphin film cancellation [AP via Yahoo!]
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Comments
Well, don`t get me wrong - I am always on the side of any kind of animal that experiences suffering through humans, especially when absolutely unecessary. However, the movie was made with the aim of beeing popluar in the West. Clearly, not a minute of thought was spent on how the message will best delivered to the country who CAN change something about it.
It is very unfortunate, I have to say. Two things will rise with that movie: Hatred towards Japanese in general by Westerners and the amount of money on the movie makers account.
This American James-Bond approach, which is more like a missionary mission than that of a documentary making, focuses with great self-affection on the makers and lost the IMPORTANT aim out of sight in the process. Good intentions + no cultural sensitivity = zero change for the dolphins. Tragic!
This is a video by an Aussie living in Japan like me - pretty much on the spot, he argues why "The Cove is a waste of time".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN22mAI9r24&feature=related
Mike--I watched that youtube video you posted and I feel like that Aussie missed one of the main points of "The Cove"--people in Japan DO eat dolphin, although they are usually not AWARE of it.
Just because the label on your fish says 'tuna' does not mean it is tuna. If only to get this information out there, the movie is worth screening.
Who cares if the filmmakers put a lot of emphasis on the 007-style filming required to get important footage? It is interesting to see how they got around such high security and it makes the movie more engrossing to watch. Should it instead have been a bunch of monotone Australian ex-pat talking heads? I would have fallen asleep and completely missed the point...
And I am confused as to the statement that the filmmakers are pocketing the profits from their movie--the movie was produced by the director's non-profit company (The Oceanic Preservation Society) and the director has publicly stated that all profits from Japanese screenings will be donated to Taiji--IF they stop dolphin hunting.
While I understand the argument that it might not be the best means to solving the problem, I fail to see that anything about it (the making of, the viewing of...) can be called "a waste of time."
Probably any type of nutro- an all natural food. I have my five dogs on it and they are very healthy.