Eco-Terrorist: The Battle for Our Planet

More confessions from an eco-terrorist.

(2019) Documentary (Breaking Glass) Peter Jay Brown, Darryl Hannah, Paul Watson, Robert Hunter, Pete Bethum, Peter Hamerstedt. Directed by Peter Jay Brown

 

When one looks around at the planet, there’s no doubt that ecologically speaking, we’re in serious trouble. Global warming, overfishing, fracking, strip mining, rain forests burning, entire species dying off at a terrifying rate. All of that is occurring right now, even as we speak.

Some groups are fighting back. Whales have been under attack by the illegal whaling industry, primarily conducted by Japan. The slaughter is threatening the ocean’s eco-system. When two of the founders of Greenpeace, Paul Watson and Robert Hunter, felt that their organization was not taking effective steps to stop the slaughter, they broke off and founded a new group – the Sea Shepherd Society.

Utilizing old rustbuckets that passed for sea-worthy vessels, the two decided to take a more direct involvement, putting themselves in the line of fire so to speak and deliberately ramming whaling vessels in an effort to delay them in their deadly harvest. Each day the whalers are at sea costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars; with almost no assets to speak of, the Society was virtually lawsuit-proof and they had an enviable record of saving thousands of whales without causing a single injury or fatality.

The group attracted notice and Watson became something of a rock star and the group’s work was depicted on the Animal Planet show Whale Wars. Donations poured in and between that and what the group made from the television show they were suddenly flush with cash. They were able to pay their volunteers, afford better ships and were no longer lawsuit-proof.

Peter Jay Brown, a filmmaker and environmental activist, has been one of the longest tenured members of the group, having started when the group tilted at windmills in ships that didn’t have working toilets. Once again, he has filmed and narrated the activities of the group, concentrating on their history and their tactics.

I can’t help but admire the passion and spunk of those involved in the organization. Certainly, they are fighting the good fight. Sadly, I doubt that this documentary is going to win them a lot of converts; the narration comes off as nearly condescending, a big image problem for those on the left. This film really embodies that. It brushes off the whaling industry as “unnecessary” which makes no logical sense; why would the Japanese spend millions of dollars to send a fleet of ships to harvest whales if there was no good use for them? If it wasn’t lucrative, the Japanese wouldn’t defy world opinion and international maritime law to do what they do.

Like I said, I admire what this group does and even though their tactics can be somewhat manipulative, I suppose all’s fair when it comes to the planet’s survival. I just wish they didn’t find it necessary to treat their viewers like idiots. I also would have preferred a little more objectivity. This comes off a bit too much like propaganda.

I certainly hope that readers will look into the activities of these cheerful eco-pirates and understand that what they’re doing is important and support them on that basis. I also hope that left-leaning filmmakers understand that just because their cause is just doesn’t mean they have to talk down to their audience who likely want to be presented with both sides of the coin, at least in a rudimentary way.

REASONS TO SEE: A depiction of people doing good and necessary work.
REASONS TO AVOID: The film is hagiographic almost to the point of being condescending.
FAMILY VALUES: There is some occasional profanity.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This is the third in a series of “Eco-Terrorist” films that Brown has made.
BEYOND THE THEATERS: Amazon, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube
CRITICAL MASS: As of 10/12/19: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet: Metacritic: No score yet
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist
FINAL RATING: 6/10
NEXT: Mister America

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The Cove

A bucolic place for a slaughter.

(Roadside Attractions) Richard O’Barry, Louis Psihoyos, Hayden Panettiere, Dan Goodman, Mandy-Rae Cruikshank, Isabel Lucas, Charles Hambleton, Simon Hutchins, Paul Watson. Directed by Louie Psihoyos

Since the advent of “Flipper,” most people generally look favorably upon dolphins. Research indicates that dolphins are highly intelligent and even self-aware. There are many reported instances of dolphins saving humans from harm in the ocean, and anybody who has seen dolphins in the wild playing and cavorting will know that these are creatures who know what joy is, perhaps better than we do.

Most civilized nations deplore the killing of dolphins and certainly the eating of them. It is in many ways similar to the taboos we have about eating dogs and cats, but there is also a medical reason for it as well – dolphin flesh is highly saturated with mercury, and repeated ingestion of dolphin can lead to mercury poisoning and eventually, death.

There are also those who love dolphins above the affection the general public gives them. Richard O’Barry is one, and he comes by that love honestly. At one time, he was considered the world’s foremost dolphin trainer. When the creators of “Flipper” were looking for someone to be their dolphin guy, Richard O’Barry was that guy. He trained five of the dolphins used in the store, including Kathy, the one among them who was his favorite.

After the show was canceled, the dolphins were sent to places like the Miami Seaquarium where they would perform in shows, captivating large audiences who thrilled at their stunts. The dolphins seemed happy enough – after all, they were always smiling.

That smile, according to O’Barry, is one of nature’s greatest deceptions. Dolphins smile because their facial structure is built that way – it is not a reflection of their emotional state, which is communicated through a body language that O’Barry eventually learned to read. What his dolphins were telling him, said Barry, was that they were stressed and desperately unhappy – to the point where Kathy committed suicide in his arms by deliberately closing her blowhole so she would stop breathing.

From that moment O’Barry would devote the rest of his life to tearing down a business he had helped to build up – the captivity of dolphins. Needless to say, he is not one of Sea World’s favorite people.

But even that has taken a back seat to his most recent focus. Japan is one of the few countries left that condones whaling; whale meat is consumed in Japan and whale by-products are used in various products. Despite a worldwide ban on whaling, Japan continues to do just that and thus television shows like “Whale Wars” depict the ongoing struggle between Japanese whalers and opposing activists from such organizations as Greenpeace and the Cetacean Society.

Even more shocking, however, is the secret in a small town called Taiji. Beautiful, quaint and charming, set into the rocky and hilly slopes leading to a beautiful shoreline, the fishermen of Taiji have every year lured thousands of dolphins into their Bay, where female bottlenose dolphins primarily are selected to be sold to Sea World and other such parks; it’s a lucrative business, with each dolphin netting upwards of $150,000 U.S. from the parks.

While that in itself isn’t a good thing, it’s what happens to the rest of the dolphins who aren’t selected for theme park use that is truly horrible. Whatever it is, it takes place in an isolated cove where the security is tighter than Fort Knox. Angry fishermen protect it with ferocity; the police and the town mayor is in on whatever it is that’s going on. As recently as this past week, O’Barry has received death threats for his activities, forcing him to cancel face-to-face meetings with the leadership in Taiji.

O’Barry knows the secret; the dolphins, instead of being released back into the wild, are slaughtered, and for no good reason. Ostensibly, it’s for their meat but because of its toxicity dolphin meat fetches next to nothing on the Japanese market, so the good citizens of Taiji mislabel it as whale meat and sell it for quite a bit more. Lies upon lies upon lies – it’s like a small child who is trying to hide their stolen cookies. It’s pretty obvious what they’re doing.

However, there’s no real proof, so O’Barry enlists Psihoyos, a National Geographic photographer and co-founder of the Oceanic Preservation Society, a non-profit group that tries to save the ocean and its inhabitants from man’s degradations. Once O’Barry shows him the security in Taiji and Psihoyos has drawn his own conclusions, they decide the world must see what’s going on behind figurative closed doors – in that secret cove, protected by razor wire and guards.

What follows is as tense and entertaining as any Mission: Impossible movie and worthy of the Best Documentary Oscar that it won earlier this year. A team of experts, including world class free divers, adrenaline junkies, technogeeks and audio experts are put together to hatch an insane plan to capture footage of the cove. They enlist some geniuses at Industrial Light and Magic, George Lucas’ special effects group, to create cameras that can be disguised as rocks. Special underwater cameras and microphones are brought in.

Planting them won’t be easy. The team, particularly O’Barry, is being watched night and day by the police. When they go out to place their equipment, it is under cover of darkness and they use decoys to throw off the cops.

Although it’s a bit of a spoiler, I have to tell you that they get their footage and when it is revealed onscreen, it is absolutely horrifying. The entire cove turns red with dolphin blood. It is one of the most sickening things you will ever see, and those who are sensitive to such things should probably turn away or even leave the room when the footage begins to show.

However, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t see the movie. It’s an important message and one that will shock and outrage you. The Japanese excuse their behavior as it being a part of their culture. Well, slavery was a part of our culture too and that got stamped out – at great cost, yes, but stamped out nonetheless. That’s something the good people of Japan need to impress upon their leadership and they can do it by refusing to eat whale meat, and refusing to eat anything that comes from Taiji. That’s how you change hearts and minds.

Of course, that’s for the Japanese people. If you’re interested in helping, you can either go to the movie’s website (just click on the picture above) or you can go to Richard O’Barry’s new organization at this website http://www.savejapandolphins.org/ for updates on O’Barry’s crusade.

WHY RENT THIS: It’s an important documentary that tells a shameful story; after seeing it you are certain to be up in arms over the situation. Psihoyos directs this almost as a thriller more than a documentary and it is a wildly successful gambit.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Some of the scenes of dolphin slaughter are very disturbing and go on a bit longer after the point is already made.

FAMILY VALUES: There are some truly disturbing scenes of humans perpetrating dolphin slaughter, as well as some harrowing true-life suspense. The very sensitive little ones, particularly those who love dolphins, should be forewarned that some scenes may be too graphic for them.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: This documentary inspired a new Animal Planet series called “Blood Dolphin” starring O’Barry; it made its cable debut on the network in advance of the new series.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: There’s an informative piece on the effects of Mercury poisoning, as well as some additional details on the special cameras used in the making of the film.

FINAL RATING: 9/10

TOMORROW: Extract