'The Cove': The horrors of dolphin slaughter in Japan

For a generation that grew up with "Flipper" and "The Day of the Dolphin," the tense, powerful new documentary, "The Cove," is a horror movie.

For the fishermen who secretly slaughter thousands of dolphins every year in the picturesque cove of Taiji, Japan, "The Cove" is an invasion of privacy. They regard dolphin meat as essential to their way of life.

The movie tells the story of a group of dolphin-loving activists who smuggle themselves into Taiji to record the methodical killings. The images, especially the shots of dolphins struggling to escape their fate in seas that turn red with dolphin blood, are the stuff of nightmares.

The filmmakers rely heavily on Richard O'Barry, a veteran of the original "Flipper" television series, to show how one man's feelings have evolved over the years. He admits to capturing dolphins himself for the 1960s show, but he had a change of heart when one of them, Cathy, died in his arms: a suicide, in his view.

"She chose not to breathe," he claims. "They're not automatic air breathers." O'Barry says he never planned on becoming an activist, but he's been arrested several times for protesting the mistreatment and mass killing of dolphins.

When he and his fellow divers defy the fishermen and infiltrate the cove, the movie achieves a level of suspense that's rare in documentaries. The filmmakers like to invoke "Ocean's Eleven" as a comparison, and they're not exaggerating.

The first-time director, Louie Psihoyos, makes room for arguments on both sides, though in the end he's obviously with the dolphins and the activists. Psihoyos treats it as a given that dolphins, because they're smart and adorable, deserve more protection than other animals.

But would we feel differently if tuna or chickens or pigs were shown to be slaughtered in similar fashion? It's not impossible to imagine a persuasive vegan movie being constructed around the mass killings that place meat on our tables every day.

John Hartl: johnhartl@yahoo.com