Excuse me, what kind of movie is Dolphin Bay? What is the specific content?

The film records the real process of killing dolphins in a fishing village called Taiji Town in western Japan. At present, the film has included 15 candidate "20 10 Oscar for Best Documentary Award". Recently, the director of Dolphin Bay, Louis Pishaus, said in an exclusive interview with Bund Pictorial: "The process of shooting this film is like going through a spy war drama."

Taiji Town, a fishing village in southern Japan, is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has pleasant scenery. Dolphin-marked buildings, road signs and dolphin-shaped boats can be seen everywhere. Newcomers and even Japanese tourists will mistakenly think that this is a small 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 is also the season for killing dolphins. Every evening, fishermen in Taiji Town will drive more than a dozen boats to Haikou, where dolphins gather, put a long pole into the sea from the boat, and beat it constantly, making rows of sounds to scare dolphins, which mainly rely on keen hearing. Then, fishermen will drive the dolphins to the lagoon blocked by fishing nets.

The next morning, vendors from all over the world came to choose dolphins suitable for performing in the aquarium. A particularly clever dolphin can sell for more than 654.38 million pounds. Once these traders are selected, the remaining dolphins can only wait for the fate of being slaughtered. Fishermen will kill dolphins with a long hook knife, stab them with a sharpened pike, and then pull them into the boat.

The frightened dolphins swam around in the cove, and the surrounding sea water had been dyed red with the blood of dolphins. Some female dolphins often make extremely painful cries to tell their cubs that they are in danger and try to protect them. Desperate cries and shocking blood make this scene look miserable and bloody.

Due to massive blood loss and unbearable pain, these injured dolphins often lose their vitality; At this time, fishermen will pull them into fishing boats, cut their throats, or cut their spinal cords. More dolphins will be left on board and die of natural causes.

Since 2005, Louie Psihoyos, an American marine photographer and founder of the Marine Conservation Association, has traveled between the United States and Taiji Town 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 harbor town where slogans such as "No Shooting" and "Danger" were posted everywhere. This is also the first film of his directing career.

"Dolphins are among the whales, but they are small whales that are not protected by the International Whaling Association (IWC). Many times, it has become an angel to save mankind, but human beings have failed to protect it. " Pishaus told the Bund Pictorial why the Dolphin Bay was filmed. Pishaus told reporters that at present, the Japanese government allows its fishermen to kill 20 thousand dolphins every year. However, 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 Town, a small fishing village with only 3,500 people, kills about 2,000 dolphins every year."

Last summer, "Dolphin Bay" was released in the United States, which triggered a fierce response. The international community condemns the bloody slaughter of dolphins in Taiji Town. Roger Linde, a well-known American filmmaker and executive chairman of the 25th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, praised: "No film can match the Dolphin Bay this year, whether it is film production or ecological protection." At present, the film has been included in the shortlist of "20 10 Oscar for Best Documentary Award" 15. The final shortlist will be announced on February 2.

"I felt like 007."

In 2005, at a seminar attended by top marine mammal experts, director Pishaus met the protagonist Richard Obarry, who is the most authoritative dolphin audiologist in the world today. At that conference, Obari should be one of the main speakers. Just when Pishaus was looking forward to listening to Obari's speech, he was invited out of the forum by the conference sponsor Ocean World (which owns the operation rights of several world ocean parks) one minute before he was about to take the stage. Pishaus, who was sensitive by nature, realized that something else was happening. He turned around and found that Obari was deprived of the right to speak because "Sea World" was worried that he would talk about the killing of dolphins in Taiji Town.

In this way, for the first time, Pishaus knew that there was a hidden secret in a beautiful bay in Japan.

In the following three years, Pishaus followed Obari into Taiji Town frequently as a tourist. "The biggest headache is how to do everything possible to avoid the police's stalking." Pishaus recalled that they first entered Taiji Town in June 2005, when they wore masks and bent down to drive as unobtrusively as possible.

The number of visits increased, and the local police began to focus on these "old faces". "Are you here for anti-whaling or dolphin activities?" "You are not allowed to enter the restricted area!" ..... "Dolphin Bay" movie, Aubrey was questioned by three plainclothes policemen at the local bathing center where he stayed.

Every day, once Pishaus and his party go out, they will find police cars following them. There are seven police cars at most. Pishaus had to find a way to deal with them-first park his usual car at a corner, then transfer to another car and be driven by a Japanese friend to avoid attracting the attention of the police. "I felt like 007." Pishaus joked.

The dolphin-catching sea area in Taiji Town is a natural fortress with three cliffs. To reach that sea area, you must pass through several tunnels and high walls surrounded by barbed wire, which is covered with "No Entry" signs. There are always policemen and fishermen with knives on the nearby mountains. During the day, Pishaus dared not act rashly. "I'm not exaggerating. If those fishermen find out our real purpose, they will definitely kill us. "

As night fell, Pishaus began to work secretly with night vision goggles, thermal cameras, encrypted radio receivers and all other equipment used only in the military field. In 2006 and 2007, Pishaus spent a long time in reconnaissance and planning, but unfortunately, he never entered the restricted area during the day and photographed local fishermen killing dolphins.

One day, Pishaus walked into a temple in Taiji Town. He found a dry stone courtyard in front of the temple. The monks raked the stones flat, leaving a few big stones in the middle for people from all over the world to watch them meditate. Suddenly, Pishaus had an idea: "Can you put' eyes' on the stone?"

A friend of Pishaus is a model maker of the Hollywood special effects company "Industrial Light Magic". Pishaus quickly called him and told him that he wanted to hide the HD camera in a stone. As a result, the responsible person readily agreed. Finally, that friend made him a dozen stone models of different sizes. "This is really a precious work of art. No one can see the embarrassment after painting it in gray."

In 2008, Pishaus gathered an elite team comparable to "Ocean's Eleven". They re-entered Taiji Town disguised as a rock band. "It's like a secret military action. To some extent, it is true. " Pishaus told reporters that it was because of his previous caution that he got the chance to succeed. "Once the Japanese find out our real purpose, they will never set foot in Taiji Town again."

The elite team of "Ocean Eleven" includes Canadian diving queen Mandy Krusek, who won eight world championships, and her diver husband, who are responsible for quietly installing cameras and hydrophones underwater; Charles Bulto, an American actor who plays the leading sailor in Pirates of the Caribbean, plays the role of "anti-stalking" in the cast. His weapon is a military thermal camera, which can even capture a little vibration. Another electrical expert, who used to be a technician of the Canadian Air Force, made a dolphin unmanned airship with a gyro-stabilized high-definition camera in a hidden place under the remote-controlled airship.

Finally, the film crew successfully installed various cameras on the seabed of Taiji Town, the hills and Woods of slaughterhouse bay. Under the lens, the fishing boat moves slowly in the still square, and the original blue and pure sea water instantly overflows a large area of bright red blood. Finally, the whole bay was immersed in dazzling red, and dolphins jumped and struggled one after another, making a solemn and stirring cry. The fishermen waving long guns seem to have no soul and consciousness. They use iron hooks to pick the dead dolphins onto the boat one by one. The next day, the second massacre was staged again. ...

Many viewers who have seen the film said that the most impressive scene of the film is the bright red sea water in Taiji Town Bay.

At the Tokyo Film Festival on June 5438+065438+ 10 last year, local fishermen in Taiji Town "kept in touch" with the Japanese government in an attempt to prevent the film from being released. They said that filming Dolphin Bay without permission was an "insult" to this small town with a 400-year history of dolphin fishing and hunting.

"The smile of dolphins is the biggest misunderstanding in the world."

Two people living in Taiji Town told Pishaus that local fishermen regard eating dolphin meat as a "tradition", and dolphin meat is even part of the local school lunch meat.

Dolphin Bay revealed that dolphin meat contains carcinogens such as mercury, cadmium, DDT, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, and the mercury content of some cut dolphin meat may exceed the safety limit by 5000 times. Such a high content of mercury will cause serious damage to people's nervous system and even lead to consumers' mental disorders. However, most of these dolphin meats are labeled with other kinds of meat, which appear in supermarkets all over the world and are eaten by people who don't know.

"We kill dolphins in a humane way." In the film, a senior official of the Japanese Fisheries Agency calmly said in front of the film crew, "I don't think dolphin meat will cause the same tragedy (mercury poisoning)." After that, the film crew tested the official's hair and easily detected the existence of mercury.

Dolphin is the only known wild animal in recorded history that will take the initiative to save mankind. In ancient Greece, dolphins were protected by law, and if they were injured, they would be sentenced to death.

Director Pishaus himself was saved by dolphins. He was filming a group of dolphins at the bottom of the sea, not knowing that a hammerhead shark was quietly following. Just as the hammerhead shark was waiting for an opportunity to attack, the dolphin suddenly swam between him and the hammerhead shark and pushed the shark away. "Dolphins saved my life. Although I have heard many stories about dolphins saving mankind, I never thought it would happen to me. " Pishaus recalled, "However, the only way we can save dolphins now is to prove that we have polluted their living environment and made their meat toxic and inedible. Is this really the only thing that human beings can do? "

Another main thread that runs through the whole movie is the story of the protagonist Richard Obarry and his profound repentance. So far, Obari's biggest regret is that he founded the TV program "The Dolphin Story" on 1962. He believes that it is this program that makes greedy people see the possibility of making a profit by selling dolphins.

From 65438 to 0964, The Tale of Dolphins is broadcast on American TV every Friday night at 7: 30. Countless American audiences were deeply attracted by the five female dolphins he trained, and Obari became the most famous dolphin trainer in the United States with this high-rated program. 10 years later, Dolphin Story stopped broadcasting and five dolphins were sent to Miami Aquarium. Not long after, a dolphin named Kathy committed suicide because of depression. "Every breath of a dolphin is conscious. Therefore, when life becomes unbearable, it will choose not to breathe to end life. " Aubrey watched Kathy swim into his arms, looked him straight in the eye, took a deep breath, but stopped breathing. The death of "Kathy" made Obari determined to end his career as a dolphin trainer and make up for it with his later life.

"I should save enough money to buy them back from the aquarium and then release them. This is the right thing to do. I buy a Porsche every year. I have been in such ignorance for a long time. " In the movie, when Obari said these words, his eyes were dignified.

In Obari's view, the smile of dolphins is the biggest misunderstanding in the world. "Sometimes love is really a strange word. We thought we loved it, but we didn't know it had hurt others. " Obari told the Bund Pictorial. In the movie Dolphin Bay, behind the jumping and cheering of dolphins in the aquarium, there are bottles of antacids and Vitamins in the fish room to treat dolphin ulcers. Dolphin's stomach trouble is caused by over-stressed performance. "If everyone knows that cheering is a kind of torture for dolphins' keen hearing, and the despair behind dolphins' smiles, sea world will no longer be synonymous with dream paradise."

At the end of the film, Obari, who is over 70 years old, has white hair and a mobile TV hanging on his chest. There is a video of fishermen slaughtering dolphins in Taiji Town on the screen. In this way, he stepped into the meeting place of the International Anti-Whaling Association, went to the representatives of various countries and protested silently. He was taken away without any resistance. He also took to the cross street in Shibuya, Tokyo, and stood quietly in the crowd ... The last person stopped, and then two or three people stopped to watch. This is the most satisfying shot of the director himself.