Please make a movie. Is it a documentary about Japan’s whaling or dolphin hunting? It was shot by an American!

"The Cove"

"Making this film was like experiencing a spy drama"

More than a dozen frightened dolphins were trapped in fishing nets In the bay, fishermen from Taiji Town, Japan stabbed them to death one by one with harpoons, and then dragged them onto fishing boats. The water was dyed red with blood. This is a scene from the documentary "The Cove", which records the true process of killing dolphins in a fishing village called Taiji in western Japan. The film has been included in 15 candidates for the "2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary" in the list. Recently, "The Cove" director Louis Peacehouse said in an exclusive interview with "The Bund": "The process of filming this film was like experiencing a spy drama."

Japan The southern fishing village of Taiji is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has pleasant scenery. You can see buildings, road signs and dolphin-shaped ships with dolphins as the symbol everywhere. Newcomers and even local Japanese tourists may mistakenly think that this is a town that loves dolphins. Who would have thought that behind the beautiful bay, there is a dolphin slaughterhouse that has never been discovered by the world.

The whaling season from September to February of the following year is also the season when dolphins are hunted. Every evening, fishermen from Taiji Town drive a dozen small boats to the mouth of the sea where dolphins gather. From the boat, they put a long pole into the sea and continuously beat it to create a row of sound waves. The purpose is to let the dolphins, which mainly rely on Animals that survive with keen hearing are frightened. Later, the fishermen will drive the dolphins into the lagoon blocked by fishing nets.

Early the next morning, traders from all over the world will come to select dolphins suitable for performances in the aquarium. A particularly intelligent dolphin could fetch up to ￡100,000. Once these traders have sorted out the remaining dolphins, they are left to be slaughtered. The fishermen would chop the dolphins with long hook knives, stab them with sharpened spears, and haul them aboard their boats.

Frightened dolphins were swimming around in the notch of the bay, and the surrounding water was dyed red with the blood of the dolphins. Some mother dolphins often emit extremely painful calls to warn their young dolphins that they are in danger and to try to protect them. The desperate screams and the shocking blood made this scene appear miserable and bloody.

Due to massive blood loss and unbearable pain, these injured dolphins often lose vitality; at this time, fishermen will pull them onto the fishing boat, slit their throats, or cut their spinal cords. More dolphins will be left on the boat to die naturally.

Since 2005, Louie Psihoyos, an American marine photographer and founder of the Ocean Conservancy, has been traveling back and forth between the United States and Taiji, Japan for three consecutive years. In September 2008, he and his partners finally recorded the shocking secret of the bloody "Dolphin Bay" through the camera lens in this seaport town where slogans such as "No Photography" and "Danger" were posted everywhere. This is also the debut of his directorial career.

"Dolphins are also among the whales, but they are small whales that are not protected by the International Anti-Whaling Council (IWC). Many times, they become the angels who save mankind, but humans fail Protect it well." Peasehaus told the Outer Banks the reason for filming "The Bay of Dolphins". Peacehouse told reporters that currently, the Japanese government allows its fishermen to kill 20,000 dolphins every year. But he believes that the official data released by Japan is too "conservative." "We estimate that the number of dolphins killed should exceed 32,000. Taiji, a small fishing village with only 3,500 people, kills about 2,000 dolphins every year."

Last summer, "Dolphin Bay" was published in The film was released in the United States and sparked a violent response, with the international community condemning the bloody massacre of dolphins in Taiji Town. Roger Delin, a well-known American filmmaker and executive chairman of the 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, praised: "Whether it is based on film production considerations or ecological and environmental considerations, there is no film this year that can compete with "The Cove" Comparable." Currently, the film has been included in the 15 shortlist for the "2010 Oscar Best Documentary Award".

The finalists will be announced on February 2.

"I felt like 007 at the time"

In 2005, at a symposium attended by top marine mammal experts, director Peacehouse met the protagonist of the film - —Ric O'Berry, the most authoritative dolphin musicologist in the world today. O'Barry was supposed to be one of the key speakers at that conference. Just as Peacehouse was looking forward to listening to O'Barry's speech, he was asked out by the sponsor of the conference - "Sea World" (Sea World, which owns the operating rights of many world marine parks) one minute before he was about to take the stage. forum. Peasehouse, who is sensitive by nature, realized that there was another hidden meaning in this matter. He asked around and found out that O'Barry was deprived of the right to speak because "Sea World" was worried that he would talk about the massacre of dolphins in Taiji Town.

In this way, Peasehouse learned for the first time that there was an ulterior secret hidden in a beautiful bay in Japan.

In the next three years, Peacehouse followed O'Barry and frequently entered Taiji Town as a tourist. “The most troublesome part was trying every possible means to avoid being watched by the police.” Peasehouse recalled that the first time they entered Taiji Town was in June 2005. At that time, they wore masks, bent over and drove, trying their best to Unobtrusive.

As I went more often, the local police began to keep an eye on these "old faces." "Are you here to engage in anti-whaling or dolphin activities?" "You are not allowed to enter the restricted area!"... In the film "Dolphin Cove", O'Barry was interrogated by three plainclothes policemen at the local bathing center where he was staying.

Every day during the day, once Peacehouse and his group go out, they will find police cars following them. At most, there are 7 police cars. Peacehouse had to find a way to deal with them - first park the car he usually drove on a street corner, and then switch to another car, driven by a Japanese friend, to avoid the attention of the police. "I felt like 007 at the time," Peacehouse joked.

The dolphin fishing area in Taiji Town is a natural fortress with cliffs on three sides. To reach that area, one must pass through several tunnels and a high wall surrounded by barbed wire covered with "No Entry" signs. There are always police and fishermen with knives in the nearby mountains. During the day, Peacehouse did not dare to act rashly. "I'm not exaggerating. If those fishermen find out our true purpose, they will definitely kill us."

As night fell, Peasehouse began a secret operation with full armor, night vision goggles, and thermal cameras. As well as encrypted radio receiving devices, these equipment only used in the military field have become their weapons. In 2006 and 2007, Peacehouse spent a long time on reconnaissance and planning, but unfortunately, he was never able to enter the restricted area during the day and take video footage of local fishermen slaughtering dolphins.

One day, Peacehouse walked into a temple in Taiji Town. He discovered that there was a dry stone courtyard in front of the temple. The monks raked the stones flat and kept several large stones in the middle for people from all over the world to watch and meditate. Suddenly, Peacehouse had an idea: "Can we put 'eyes' on the stone?"

One of Peacehouse's friends is a model for the American Hollywood special effects company "Industrial Light and Magic" The head of production, Peacehouse, quickly called him and told him about the idea of ??hiding the high-definition camera in the stone. As a result, the person in charge readily agreed. In the end, the friend made more than ten stone models of different sizes for him. "This is really a precious piece of art. After it was painted gray, no one could tell what was wrong with it."

In 2008, Peasehouse gathered an elite team worthy of "Ocean's Eleven" Team, they pretended to be a rock band and entered Taiji Town again. "This is like a secret military operation. To a certain extent, it is." Peasehouse told reporters that it was precisely because of his previous caution that he had the chance to succeed. “Once the Japanese discover our true purpose, we will not even think about setting foot in Taiji Town again.

”

The elite team of “Ocean’s Eleven” includes Canadian diving queen Mandy Rae Cruickshank, who has won eight world championships, and her diver husband. They were responsible for quietly installing cameras and hydrophones underwater; American actor Charles Hambleto (Charles Hambleto), who had played the main sailor in "Pirates of the Caribbean", played the role of "anti-stalking" in the crew, and his weapons It is a military thermal camera. Even a slight vibration can be captured by this magical thermal camera. There is also an electrical expert who once served as a technician for the Canadian Air Force and built a dolphin-style unmanned airship. A gyro-stabilized high-definition camera was installed in a hidden place under the remote-controlled airship.

In the end, the film crew successfully installed various cameras on the seabed of Taiji Town, on the hills and woods of Slaughter Bay, and captured the footage. The fish boat moved slowly in the stationary grid. The originally blue and pure water suddenly became filled with large areas of bright red blood. Finally, the entire bay was soaked in dazzling red. The dolphins jumped and struggled one after another, making tragic screams. The fishermen wielding spears seemed to have no souls and no consciousness. They carried the dead dolphin carcasses onto the boat one by one with iron hooks. The next day, the second round of slaughter took place again...

Many viewers who have watched the movie said that the most impressive scene in the movie is the blood-red water of Taiji Bay.

Taiji Town at the Tokyo Film Festival in November last year. Local fishermen "constantly contacted" the Japanese government in an attempt to prevent the film from being released. They said that the filming of "Dolphin Cove" without permission was an "insult" to this town with a 400-year history of dolphin fishing and hunting.

" The smile of a dolphin is the biggest misunderstanding in the world."

Two people living in Taiji told Peasehouse that local fishermen regard eating dolphin meat as a "tradition", and dolphin meat is even a local food. Part of school lunch meat.

"Dolphin Cove" revealed that dolphin meat contains carcinogens such as mercury, cadmium, DDT, dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyl. Some cut dolphin meat may contain mercury. It will exceed the safe limit by 5,000 times. Such high levels of mercury can cause serious damage to the human nervous system and even cause mental disorders in consumers. However, most of these dolphin meats are labeled as other types of meat. Eaten by unsuspecting people in supermarkets around the world

“We kill dolphins in a humane way. In the video, a senior official from the Japanese Fisheries Bureau faced the camera crew and said calmly, "I don't think dolphin meat will cause the same tragedy (mercury poisoning)." After that, the film crew did a test on the official's hair and easily detected the presence of mercury.

Dolphins are the only known wild animals that have actively saved humans in recorded history. In ancient times, In Greece, dolphins are protected by law, and harming them is punishable by death.

Director Peasehaus himself was once saved by a dolphin. He was filming a group of dolphins at the bottom of the sea and did not know about a hammerhead. The shark was quietly following. Just as the hammerhead shark was waiting for an opportunity to attack, the dolphins suddenly swam between him and the hammerhead shark and pushed away the shark. "The dolphins saved my life. Although I had heard many stories of dolphins saving humans, I never thought this would happen to me. "But the only way we can save dolphins now is to prove that we have polluted their living environment and made their meat poisonous and inedible," Peacehouse recalled. Is this really the only thing humans can do? ”

Another main thread running through the film is the story of the protagonist Richard O’Barry and his deep confession. The thing O’Barry regrets most so far is that he founded the TV show in 1962 "Dolphin Story", he believed that it was this program that allowed greedy people to see the possibility of profiting from selling dolphins.

In 1964, "Dolphin Story" was broadcast every Friday at 7:30 p.m. It was broadcast on American TV stations, and countless American viewers were deeply attracted by the five female dolphins he trained. O'Barry also became the most famous dolphin trainer in the United States with this high-rating program.

Ten years later, "Dolphin Tale" was discontinued and the five dolphins were sent to the Miami Aquarium. Not long after, a dolphin named "Casey" committed suicide due to depression. "Every breath a dolphin takes is conscious. Therefore, when life becomes unbearable, it will choose not to breathe and end its life." O'Barry watched helplessly as "Casey" swam into his arms. Looking him directly in the eyes, he took a deep breath, but stopped breathing. The death of "Casey" made O'Barry determined to end his flourishing career as a dolphin trainer and use his subsequent life to atone for his sins.

“I should have saved enough money to buy them from the aquarium and let them go free, that would be the right thing to do. Instead I bought a Porsche every year. I spent a long, long time "I have been in such ignorance all the time." In the movie, O'Barry's eyes were solemn when he said these words.

In O'Barry's opinion, the dolphin's smile is the biggest misunderstanding in the world. "Sometimes love is really a strange word. We think we are in love, but we don't know that we are hurting others." O'Barry told the Bund Pictorial. In the film "The Cove", behind the jumping dolphins in the aquarium and the cheers of the audience, there are bottles of antacids and gastric acid used to treat dolphin ulcers in the fish room. The dolphins' stomach problems are caused by overly nervous performances. caused. "If everyone knew that cheers are torture for dolphins' keen hearing, and knew the despair behind the dolphins' smiles, SeaWorld would no longer be synonymous with Dreamland."

At the end of the film, Obary, who is in his 70s and has a head full of white hair, has a mobile TV hanging on his chest. What is shown on the screen is the video of fishermen slaughtering dolphins in Taiji Town. Just like this, he stepped into the venue of the International Anti-Whaling Association, walked to the representatives of various countries to protest silently, and was taken away without any resistance; he also walked to the cross streets of Shibuya, Tokyo, and stood quietly in the crowd... Finally, one person stopped, then two, three, and more and more people stopped to watch. This is the shot that the director is most satisfied with.