Cove, The

Aroview: An unusually stylish and suspenseful eco-doc that exposes the gratuitous slaughter of thousands of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama in Japan.

Around the impassioned activism of former Hollywood dolphin trainer Richard O'Barry, the director assembles a "Mission Impossible"-style team to infiltrate Japanese authorities and capture cove-ert footage to support O'Barry's claims, which also include dietary health issues surrounding toxic levels of mercury. Shamelessly didactic though it is, the film succeeds in delivering its hard-to-swallow message in a slick and entertaining package.

NZ International Film Festival 2009

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