A film blog for students of my classes at Santa Clara University. Use this blog to discuss the films we are studying, classic films, current releases or production issues you encounter while making your own films.
Monday, September 28, 2015
The Cove documentary part II
Compare the cinema style of this film with the cinema style of Restrepo. Which do you prefer? What limitations/advantages exist in both?
"The Cove" like "Restrepo" is a participatory documentary. However, "The Cove" is different in that those making the film were intensely involved in the narrative. They are activists. Ric O'Barry is very passionate about exposing the injustices of marine theme parks and especially the injustices which occur in Japan where these dolphins are sold and slaughtered. While "Restrepo" does have some anti-war overtones it really is just a chronicle of the life of soldiers in the Middle East. "The Cove" is very different in that the filmmakers are there, on screen, convincing the audience to take action through the horrors displayed uncensored on screen. Their plight is further validated as we see how much effort was needed to sneak past security and social taboos in order to get the footage. It shows the amazing dedication of the crew that literally risked their lives in order to capture this footage. The producers of "Restrepo" also risked their lives; however, it is harder for the audience to think about that because they chose to be as discrete as possible and not involve themselves directly in their film. It is amazing that a film about the loss of human life can be less convincing than a film about animal life. Both films inform the audience of a struggle. One film simply informs, the other demands action. I personally prefer the style of "The Cove" because it makes very clear its intentions.
The Cove and Restrepo are both participatory and observational documentaries where the filmmakers are a large part of the story and their experience is what helps tells the story yet they also show events unfold as they happen. The Cove, however, has a much clearer purpose and call to action than Restrepo does, making it an activist film . I am usually not a fan of call to action films because they tend to be about subjects we have all heard about many times. However, The Cove reveals a story I have never heard of before and the activist element was very moving and purposeful. I also think the fact that the process of shooting the film was a story within the film due to laws and barriers the film makers faced made me appreciate the call to action element more. The uncensored experience of the film makers built the tension of what was going to happen in the film and also showed how involved the government was in making the issue discreet and invisible. Therefore, the activist element of the film made a lot of sense and I was more forgiving towards it because it was truly calling to action on an issue not many people have heard about.
The Cove and Restrepo are similar in that they both have properties of direct cinema and cinema verite. They are both very different in that they use these properties for different purposes. Both wish to expose a harsh reality and make their audience think. Restrepo uses raw, direct cinematic footage as well as interviews to display the lives of soldiers battling in one of the most violent places on Earth. The Cove also uses these two, but in a way that calls for the audience to take action. One documentary's goal was to open people's eyes, one was a call for action. Both films had sections of intensity, emotion, and reflection. Personally, I found myself much more captivated by The Cove. The way that the interviews, footage, and music were pieced together made me feel as though I was experiencing the journey with the filmmakers. I cried when they cried, I got nervous when they were in danger, I got angry when I saw what they had witnessed. The Cove filmmakers included facts, maps, and images that made the audience feel like they were learning something new. All of the techniques they used (like the time lapse at the end) had a purpose with a powerful effect.
The Cove and Restrepo both have qualities of direct cinema and cinema verite, in the sense that the makers are able to capture reality, but also participate in the telling of the story. The Cove, however, was much more cinema verite. I believe that Restrepo and The Cove have the most differences when it comes to time and resources. Restrepo strictly covers a 15-month period of what the main characters face in war, and the interviews taken place are by these characters. In The Cove, there are multiple interviews and footage from a wide variety of resources. The makers of this film are are the main interviewees in order to spread their experience of the making of this film to the public. My preference between these two styles of documentary is situational. I liked the style of Restrepo in order to capture the reality of what those soldiers experience at war, and it gained credibility from being able to see what goes on with unedited footage. The Cove does a phenomenal job capturing information from various resources in order to show me what happens in Japan and to persuade me to take action. It depends on what subject I want to learn about and how I want to experience it. The limitations of direct cinema are the lack of gathered resources because its purpose is to display real life, and may not have much editing involved to sway the audience one direction and keep their attention. However, this is an advantage because direct cinema displays the truth, and leaves it to the viewer to take it the way they choose. The limitations of cinema verite are not being able to gather all of the resources needed to fully portray the message, or make people resentful of the film because they disagree with it. However, it is an advantage to use such a method in order to persuade viewers to make a change.
"Restrepo" and "The Cove" are both similar in that they intertwine interview footage with b-roll in the makings of their documentary, following people on a certain quest or task for a certain period of time (from ending to completion). From there, the two split off in different directions in terms of how they are filmed and presented. "Restrepo" is closer to Direct Cinema, where the footage is aimed at capturing every day activities and what it is like living in an outpost in Afghanistan. "The Cove" on the other hand has a more message orientated and activist approach. The daily lives aren't shown of the crew or O'Barry, but instead the moments related to the Japanese fishermen and police trying to stop them are focused on, as well as their efforts to illegally go around them. There is also a lot more research involved, explaining the back story of dolphins on television and how that affected the dolphin hunting industry. Through this method the documentary was able to form a multifaceted and cohesive argument as to why dolphin hunting needs to stop. This helped form a clear, but one-sided message in the film. "Restrepo"'s advantage, on the other hand, is that it didn't need to force an argument to its audience, but let the message naturally arise from its footage and what it displayed. This is helpful in that it is more difficult to discredit the film and its message as it is created more organically, compared to "The Cove", which had its fair share of critics for its portrayal of the Japanese. I personally prefer the style of "The Cove" as it makes for a more compelling and intriguing story that immediately spurs action, but this type of film can have a dark side. In so cohesively portraying the Japanese, especially the fishermen, as absolute evil people (bad guys) it can have a lasting negative effect on the people that is sometimes difficult to see ahead of release. This can create difficulties in the lives of every day people who were in no way aware or connected to what was happening. So while I personally like the story and cinema of "The Cove", I would like to acknowledge how often its dark side and lasting effects can be harmful to society and that should not be ignored.
The main differences between the two are (1) there was much more planning and research done for The Cove. A large part of this was due to the fact that one could not completely plan out a film while going into a war zone, as seen is Restrepo. And (2) the narrating was mainly coming from the filmmakers themselves in The Cove as well as a larger variety of people they interviewed, unlike Restrepo. BUT both films worked in their own ways. In Restrepo, which is more direct cinema, the purpose of the film was not as clear as The Cove. We understood the message of the documentary to be about the platoon and their struggle to survive each and every day, whereas The Cove is more of a take action film that is really trying to educate the world about the issue of dolphin cruelty. I really liked the filming styles in both films. I would say I lean more to the call to action type films, but making a movie like Restrepo would be as equally interesting. I could see that with a movie like Restrepo, one could loose focus of the point/plot of the film. For a movie like The Cove, it can be risky business to call out a country like Ric did with the Japanese. Although it was done for all the right reasons, in the movie you hear Ric saying he is wanted for arrest in Japan.
The Cove and Restrepo both have a combination of participatory and direct cinema (I would argue the footage caught on the hidden cameras in The Cove count as direct cinema) , but The Cove is definitely more participatory because the filmmakers are completely involved in the narrative, not just watching events occur and then asking questions. I think in this way, the purpose of The Cove is much more obvious than the purpose of Restrepo. I think because of Restrepo's cinematic style, they weren't as obvious in portraying the film as an anti-war film. With The Cove, audiences know exactly what the filmmakers are trying to say and they are called to action! Restrepo was trying to reveal a message through observation and immersion whereas The Cove was trying to expose something through intervention. I think in Restrepo the limitation is emotional-- they are living the life with the soldiers but the filmmakers were not soldiers and didn't have the same connections to what the soldiers were feeling. The Cove, I believe is able to get a much more emotional response because you see even the filmmakers crying as they watch footage, or panic as they are about to get caught. I feel like viewers get more emotionally invested when they see even the filmmakers (who in a lot of films tend to be the third party observers) become emotionally distressed over the events that take place. I personally like docs like Restrepo better just because I don't feel as if I am being told what to think. In "call to action" movies like The Cove I think the filmmakers try and make you as sad as possible so your emotional response completely overshadows your ability to think critically about the subject, which isn't necessarily bad. I think with topics like brutal dolphin slaughter your emotions should definitely be involved, but just as a personal preference I like to analyze and interpret rather than be told directly what to think.
The documentary films "Restrepo" and "The Cove" are very similar and very different. Even though not all documentaries are alike, these two are alike in the sense that they incorporate interviews and b-roll footage in the same way to get their point across. In "Restrepo", the main focus of the film is on the livelihoods of the soldiers being filmed. The interviews, which occur after the filming of the soldiers in Afghanistan, add backstory and even more emotion to the Afghanistan. The soldiers are able to watch the footage for themselves and personally reflect on what happened from their point of view and give their version of what happened. This adds to the theme of brotherhood and survival that are apparent in this film. In "The Cove", the majority of the film is from the footage captured in Taiji, Japan about the efforts of the activist group trying to gain access to the cove to film the dolphin slaughtering. They break the scenes with off hand interviews about the events of Taiji. These interviews work in the same advantageous way as the interviews in Restrepo work, by adding to the theme of raising awareness and by adding emotion to the film. However, the fact that these films didn't really give a solution to the problem they were covering could be a disadvantage. While "The Cove" has shed light on the subject and raised awareness, I'm not sure how much is actually being done about this issue since the documentary was produced. More research is required to find the answer. In "Restrepo", there isn't technically an issue that can be solved, more a testament to the brotherhood of these American soldiers. However, for obvious reasons this film only shows the side of American soldiers. Hardly any footage was shown of the Afgahni people who lost their homes, family members and friends.
Restrepo and The Cove are both cinema verite and direct cinema with portions of the documentary having interviews and others capturing moments of the happenings. Both of the filming crews risked their lives to be in their locations shooting and capturing the raw footage but I seem to prefer the Cove because through its story, action and change was to be had. In Restrepo it was a story over 15 months following a group of men while in The Cove the audience got such an immense coverage of the subject. Not only did we see Ricky O’Barry in the past training dolphins, we saw him now standing up and saving the lives of countless dolphins. We see the film crew turn from a group of camera guys into social activist; they also had a signoificant amount screen time; explaining how they felt and their struggles. By doing this the audience knew who is behind the camera and how hard it was for them to get footage set up around the cove and in the water. The illegal aspect of filming also makes it even more moving: having the chief of police follow them everywhere, being questioned by undercover cops and being yelled by “Private space”. In Restrepo the other side( enemy) was hard to get information on, due to the war and their location. In The Cove they had much more access to the other side because there were so many people involved in the other side. Another advantage that the Cove has was the fact that a lot of people didn’t know this was happening. We all know there is a war going on in Afghanistan but even the people of Japan, when showed footage of the slaughters where very shocked and disgusted. Having a compelling story and exposing new footage of such a well kept secret makes everyone want to take a stand and be a hero.
The Cove and Restrepo are very different in cinema style. For the most part, Restrepo was direct cinema without much interjection by the filmmakers into the events of the film, whereas the Cove was the complete opposite- the filmmakers are directly involved in the activism that is taking place to stop the slaughter of dolphins in the cove. They constantly show the filming process and talk about their cameras and intentions- a kind of self-reflexivity on the filmmaking process of the documentary which is very powerful for this particular film. It is observational at times- such as the entire last sequence of images captured at the Cove itself of the slaughter, but there would be no story unless the filmmakers were instigating the events in the film. I think I prefer the type of documentary style used in the Cove- it adds more drama and tension while still observing the events and being informative. It provokes the viewer with the images and gives the viewer passionate characters to connect with while not trying to hide the filmmaking process. You don't have to try to guess what parts of the story are fabricated because you see the filmmaking process taking place through the documentary, so you can focus more on the story. It does have the downfall however of being extremely bias, and representing reality in a way that it is hard to see the other side. This is exactly what the filmmakers want the viewer to feel, but it doesn't give much of a chance for two-sided dialogue.
The Cove and Restrepo are both very different, but they both do the same in getting the message across to the viewers that their topics are important and need to be taken seriously. The approaches to both are completely different, in The Cove the team had to do extensive research as to when they are going to head to Taiji, where and when they are going to plant the hidden cameras, how they are going to do it and so on. When filming Restrepo the plan the film crew needed was to stay hidden and alive. They had to follow around the soldiers where ever they went. Another main difference was the soldiers were the only ones being interviewed and narrating the film. I like how in The Cove the director and filmmaker interviewed himself and narrated everything, so we knew what he was feeling at the same time as what was going on, especially since he was just as much involved in everything as the rest of the team he was with. Restrepo was a direct cinema film and I enjoyed watching it, but the way The Cove was shot and the story was told just drew me in and I couldn't look away because of the hard footage we are watching. The whole world knows now that this cruelty to dolphins happens everyday all over the world and we need to do something about it. When a film makes you want to get up and do something I would say it did its job.
I can see many ways in which The Cove and Restrepo are both the same and different in terms of style. In both documentaries the filmmakers are highly involved in the film as they are participants in the action, but the difference is that The Cove is about the filmmakers themselves while Restrepo is about the soldiers. Restrepo is more Direct cinema than The Cove because it was more about capturing footage through observing the daily lives of the soldiers in Afghanistan and letting the action unfold in front of them. In both films, the audience is drawn into the action (almost in a POV feel), whether it be following the soldiers in Restrepo or the filmmakers in The Cove. While I prefer the style of The Cove for it's entertaining drama and covert feel, I understand that Restrepo has much bigger obstacle that restricted what was filmed. For example, the filmmakers in Restrepo had the face the fact that they could be killed at any moment. Also, they had no control over what was going to occur, whether it be an ambush or the death of a soldier. The Cove was much more planned in that the filmmakers had a mission of filming the dolphin killings and the documentary becomes about how they went about completing that mission. They could prepare and setup to film whatever move they were going to make. The obstacle of The Cove is that they are restricted access into the cove, and therefore the film itself becomes about overcoming that obstacle. The advantage of Restrepo is that it presents the audience a look into the lives of the soldiers without really taking a stand on an issue. The audience decides what to make of it. The Cove is more of an activist film and it does an incredible job in showcasing the audience all the reasons for the unethical practice of killing and capturing dolphins.
Both The Cove and Restrepo can be seen as both cinema verite and direct cinema style documentaries because they combine the filmmakers being directly involved with the events of the film (i.e breaking into the "Killing Cove" and setting up cameras by night/moving out of the way of danger on the battlefield) as well as scenes in which they are absent from the events on screen (i.e the events captured by their cameras in the cove afterwards/scenes of soldiers reacting to their fallen comrades). I can't say I have a preference, however I think that the style of The Cove is due largely the involvement of the filmmakers and creates a much more 'cinematic' experience, mood-wise. Restrepo is very pure in a way and though we know the antagonist of the film is the Taliban we never see them, we only see their guns and the effects they have on the soldiers. While we don't see the Taliban because that would obviously pose huge safety threats, the style of the film also cements the pure emotion felt by viewers. In The Cove, we see the opposition personified very colorfully in the fisherman such as "Private Space" (whose characteristic white boots are unmistakable) and Japan's representative within the IWC (a smirking man in a suit). The limitations of the direct involvement of the filmmakers are perhaps that viewers can clearly see their motives and while the story is compelling, it is largely one sided.
The Cove and Restrepo are similar in terms of both being documentary films and including elements of both direct cinema and cinema verite, and both have interviews with people with knowledge on the subject matter. However the similarities pretty much end there. The Cove is closer to cinema verite, as Ric O'Barry and his crew are actively involved in the efforts to expose the Japanese dolphin hunting and trafficking industry. Ric is in a way the main character of the film, and serves as the catalyst for many of the events that transpire, such as the mission to place hidden cameras to film the happenings at the secret cove in Taiji, Japan. On the other hand, Restrepo is more of direct cinema, as the filmmakers and camera merely observe the daily life of the American soldiers during their 15 month deployment in Afghanistan. They don't interact with anyone, but instead let things play out naturally and truthfully. The advantage to this style is that it is a very unbiased view of the effects of war, but the limitation is that there is not any clear call to action. Due to this fact, I felt more emotionally involved while watching The Cove because there was a clear message: we as human beings must stop the slaughter of innocent dolphins. Both films were interesting and held my attention the whole time, but I think because The Cove was more planned out and researched, I got more out of it and want to actually make a difference after watching the film. That feeling viewers get after watching The Cove is a huge advantage, but the limitation is that it is one-sided and in favor of the activists, as they do not really capture the Japanese side of the story.
The Cove documentary and Restrepo are actually very similar when it comes to cinema style because they are both direct cinema and cinema verite. The Cove has scenes where the directors/filmmakers are physically involved, but there are also scenes where the directors/filmmakers are not involved. However, The Cove has much more direct cinema because the filmmakers are the ones going through all the action during the film. They are the ones trying to figure out and stop the japanese from doing the mass killings of dolphins. I think this sends out a meaningful message to the audience because it allows for more connections between the film and the audience. The audience will feel like its more real and more believable, it will truly show that there is a problem that's trying to be brought to awareness. That's why it is perfect the film embraces direct cinema. I prefer direct cinema because it allows the audience to connect, relate, and think about what is really going on. This is important for the audience and their understanding of the film. The advantages of direct cinema in The Cove is that it shows you the film is real and it brings more intensity. A limit of this could be that there is not a lot of down time, meaning scenes where you can just observe. An advantage in Restrepo is that it showed the down time between all the violence and war, a time where you could really see and feel the characters emotions and thoughts. A limit could be that there is not enough direct cinema, meaning not much time that the audience can really connect and relate with certain things in the film.
The Cove and Restrepo are both participatory and observational documentaries, the filmmakers involved different events in the films such as selling captured dolphins especially the female ones to the aquariums and Marine Park and killing the rest of the remaining ones that were not sold. The dolphins would be slaughtered d in the cove and its meat was then sold to the supermarkets. They tried to put a stop to eating dolphin meat because it contains dangerously high levels of mercury. Police tried to stop the visitors including The Cove’s film crew from covering what was taking place in the cove. The cove had a lot of detailed and graphic scenes in it. The Restrepo is a more direct cinema than the cove because during the war in Afghanistan the soldiers day to day lifestyle is all captured on the footage. The filmmakers for “Restrepo” could be killed at any moment while taping the film. The Cove’s filmmaker has more time to plan for a set of what to capture and what not to. The challenge while filming “The Cove” was the police restricting them from going into the cove. The challenge in “Restrepo” is seeing your fellow soldier being killed at the moment. The “Restrepo” is seeing the soldier’s interviews talking about their experience at war while in “The Cove” there are a few clips of interviews from a variety of resources. After watching the film I felt quite emotional because they know what the solution is to stop them from killing those dolphins.
16 comments:
"The Cove" like "Restrepo" is a participatory documentary. However, "The Cove" is different in that those making the film were intensely involved in the narrative. They are activists. Ric O'Barry is very passionate about exposing the injustices of marine theme parks and especially the injustices which occur in Japan where these dolphins are sold and slaughtered. While "Restrepo" does have some anti-war overtones it really is just a chronicle of the life of soldiers in the Middle East. "The Cove" is very different in that the filmmakers are there, on screen, convincing the audience to take action through the horrors displayed uncensored on screen. Their plight is further validated as we see how much effort was needed to sneak past security and social taboos in order to get the footage. It shows the amazing dedication of the crew that literally risked their lives in order to capture this footage. The producers of "Restrepo" also risked their lives; however, it is harder for the audience to think about that because they chose to be as discrete as possible and not involve themselves directly in their film. It is amazing that a film about the loss of human life can be less convincing than a film about animal life. Both films inform the audience of a struggle. One film simply informs, the other demands action. I personally prefer the style of "The Cove" because it makes very clear its intentions.
The Cove and Restrepo are both participatory and observational documentaries where the filmmakers are a large part of the story and their experience is what helps tells the story yet they also show events unfold as they happen. The Cove, however, has a much clearer purpose and call to action than Restrepo does, making it an activist film . I am usually not a fan of call to action films because they tend to be about subjects we have all heard about many times. However, The Cove reveals a story I have never heard of before and the activist element was very moving and purposeful. I also think the fact that the process of shooting the film was a story within the film due to laws and barriers the film makers faced made me appreciate the call to action element more. The uncensored experience of the film makers built the tension of what was going to happen in the film and also showed how involved the government was in making the issue discreet and invisible. Therefore, the activist element of the film made a lot of sense and I was more forgiving towards it because it was truly calling to action on an issue not many people have heard about.
The Cove and Restrepo are similar in that they both have properties of direct cinema and cinema verite. They are both very different in that they use these properties for different purposes. Both wish to expose a harsh reality and make their audience think. Restrepo uses raw, direct cinematic footage as well as interviews to display the lives of soldiers battling in one of the most violent places on Earth. The Cove also uses these two, but in a way that calls for the audience to take action. One documentary's goal was to open people's eyes, one was a call for action. Both films had sections of intensity, emotion, and reflection. Personally, I found myself much more captivated by The Cove. The way that the interviews, footage, and music were pieced together made me feel as though I was experiencing the journey with the filmmakers. I cried when they cried, I got nervous when they were in danger, I got angry when I saw what they had witnessed. The Cove filmmakers included facts, maps, and images that made the audience feel like they were learning something new. All of the techniques they used (like the time lapse at the end) had a purpose with a powerful effect.
The Cove and Restrepo both have qualities of direct cinema and cinema verite, in the sense that the makers are able to capture reality, but also participate in the telling of the story. The Cove, however, was much more cinema verite. I believe that Restrepo and The Cove have the most differences when it comes to time and resources. Restrepo strictly covers a 15-month period of what the main characters face in war, and the interviews taken place are by these characters. In The Cove, there are multiple interviews and footage from a wide variety of resources. The makers of this film are are the main interviewees in order to spread their experience of the making of this film to the public. My preference between these two styles of documentary is situational. I liked the style of Restrepo in order to capture the reality of what those soldiers experience at war, and it gained credibility from being able to see what goes on with unedited footage. The Cove does a phenomenal job capturing information from various resources in order to show me what happens in Japan and to persuade me to take action. It depends on what subject I want to learn about and how I want to experience it. The limitations of direct cinema are the lack of gathered resources because its purpose is to display real life, and may not have much editing involved to sway the audience one direction and keep their attention. However, this is an advantage because direct cinema displays the truth, and leaves it to the viewer to take it the way they choose. The limitations of cinema verite are not being able to gather all of the resources needed to fully portray the message, or make people resentful of the film because they disagree with it. However, it is an advantage to use such a method in order to persuade viewers to make a change.
"Restrepo" and "The Cove" are both similar in that they intertwine interview footage with b-roll in the makings of their documentary, following people on a certain quest or task for a certain period of time (from ending to completion). From there, the two split off in different directions in terms of how they are filmed and presented. "Restrepo" is closer to Direct Cinema, where the footage is aimed at capturing every day activities and what it is like living in an outpost in Afghanistan. "The Cove" on the other hand has a more message orientated and activist approach. The daily lives aren't shown of the crew or O'Barry, but instead the moments related to the Japanese fishermen and police trying to stop them are focused on, as well as their efforts to illegally go around them. There is also a lot more research involved, explaining the back story of dolphins on television and how that affected the dolphin hunting industry. Through this method the documentary was able to form a multifaceted and cohesive argument as to why dolphin hunting needs to stop. This helped form a clear, but one-sided message in the film. "Restrepo"'s advantage, on the other hand, is that it didn't need to force an argument to its audience, but let the message naturally arise from its footage and what it displayed. This is helpful in that it is more difficult to discredit the film and its message as it is created more organically, compared to "The Cove", which had its fair share of critics for its portrayal of the Japanese. I personally prefer the style of "The Cove" as it makes for a more compelling and intriguing story that immediately spurs action, but this type of film can have a dark side. In so cohesively portraying the Japanese, especially the fishermen, as absolute evil people (bad guys) it can have a lasting negative effect on the people that is sometimes difficult to see ahead of release. This can create difficulties in the lives of every day people who were in no way aware or connected to what was happening. So while I personally like the story and cinema of "The Cove", I would like to acknowledge how often its dark side and lasting effects can be harmful to society and that should not be ignored.
The main differences between the two are (1) there was much more planning and research done for The Cove. A large part of this was due to the fact that one could not completely plan out a film while going into a war zone, as seen is Restrepo. And (2) the narrating was mainly coming from the filmmakers themselves in The Cove as well as a larger variety of people they interviewed, unlike Restrepo. BUT both films worked in their own ways. In Restrepo, which is more direct cinema, the purpose of the film was not as clear as The Cove. We understood the message of the documentary to be about the platoon and their struggle to survive each and every day, whereas The Cove is more of a take action film that is really trying to educate the world about the issue of dolphin cruelty. I really liked the filming styles in both films. I would say I lean more to the call to action type films, but making a movie like Restrepo would be as equally interesting. I could see that with a movie like Restrepo, one could loose focus of the point/plot of the film. For a movie like The Cove, it can be risky business to call out a country like Ric did with the Japanese. Although it was done for all the right reasons, in the movie you hear Ric saying he is wanted for arrest in Japan.
The Cove and Restrepo both have a combination of participatory and direct cinema (I would argue the footage caught on the hidden cameras in The Cove count as direct cinema) , but The Cove is definitely more participatory because the filmmakers are completely involved in the narrative, not just watching events occur and then asking questions. I think in this way, the purpose of The Cove is much more obvious than the purpose of Restrepo. I think because of Restrepo's cinematic style, they weren't as obvious in portraying the film as an anti-war film. With The Cove, audiences know exactly what the filmmakers are trying to say and they are called to action! Restrepo was trying to reveal a message through observation and immersion whereas The Cove was trying to expose something through intervention. I think in Restrepo the limitation is emotional-- they are living the life with the soldiers but the filmmakers were not soldiers and didn't have the same connections to what the soldiers were feeling. The Cove, I believe is able to get a much more emotional response because you see even the filmmakers crying as they watch footage, or panic as they are about to get caught. I feel like viewers get more emotionally invested when they see even the filmmakers (who in a lot of films tend to be the third party observers) become emotionally distressed over the events that take place. I personally like docs like Restrepo better just because I don't feel as if I am being told what to think. In "call to action" movies like The Cove I think the filmmakers try and make you as sad as possible so your emotional response completely overshadows your ability to think critically about the subject, which isn't necessarily bad. I think with topics like brutal dolphin slaughter your emotions should definitely be involved, but just as a personal preference I like to analyze and interpret rather than be told directly what to think.
The documentary films "Restrepo" and "The Cove" are very similar and very different. Even though not all documentaries are alike, these two are alike in the sense that they incorporate interviews and b-roll footage in the same way to get their point across. In "Restrepo", the main focus of the film is on the livelihoods of the soldiers being filmed. The interviews, which occur after the filming of the soldiers in Afghanistan, add backstory and even more emotion to the Afghanistan. The soldiers are able to watch the footage for themselves and personally reflect on what happened from their point of view and give their version of what happened. This adds to the theme of brotherhood and survival that are apparent in this film. In "The Cove", the majority of the film is from the footage captured in Taiji, Japan about the efforts of the activist group trying to gain access to the cove to film the dolphin slaughtering. They break the scenes with off hand interviews about the events of Taiji. These interviews work in the same advantageous way as the interviews in Restrepo work, by adding to the theme of raising awareness and by adding emotion to the film. However, the fact that these films didn't really give a solution to the problem they were covering could be a disadvantage. While "The Cove" has shed light on the subject and raised awareness, I'm not sure how much is actually being done about this issue since the documentary was produced. More research is required to find the answer. In "Restrepo", there isn't technically an issue that can be solved, more a testament to the brotherhood of these American soldiers. However, for obvious reasons this film only shows the side of American soldiers. Hardly any footage was shown of the Afgahni people who lost their homes, family members and friends.
Restrepo and The Cove are both cinema verite and direct cinema with portions of the documentary having interviews and others capturing moments of the happenings. Both of the filming crews risked their lives to be in their locations shooting and capturing the raw footage but I seem to prefer the Cove because through its story, action and change was to be had. In Restrepo it was a story over 15 months following a group of men while in The Cove the audience got such an immense coverage of the subject. Not only did we see Ricky O’Barry in the past training dolphins, we saw him now standing up and saving the lives of countless dolphins. We see the film crew turn from a group of camera guys into social activist; they also had a signoificant amount screen time; explaining how they felt and their struggles. By doing this the audience knew who is behind the camera and how hard it was for them to get footage set up around the cove and in the water. The illegal aspect of filming also makes it even more moving: having the chief of police follow them everywhere, being questioned by undercover cops and being yelled by “Private space”. In Restrepo the other side( enemy) was hard to get information on, due to the war and their location. In The Cove they had much more access to the other side because there were so many people involved in the other side. Another advantage that the Cove has was the fact that a lot of people didn’t know this was happening. We all know there is a war going on in Afghanistan but even the people of Japan, when showed footage of the slaughters where very shocked and disgusted. Having a compelling story and exposing new footage of such a well kept secret makes everyone want to take a stand and be a hero.
The Cove and Restrepo are very different in cinema style. For the most part, Restrepo was direct cinema without much interjection by the filmmakers into the events of the film, whereas the Cove was the complete opposite- the filmmakers are directly involved in the activism that is taking place to stop the slaughter of dolphins in the cove. They constantly show the filming process and talk about their cameras and intentions- a kind of self-reflexivity on the filmmaking process of the documentary which is very powerful for this particular film. It is observational at times- such as the entire last sequence of images captured at the Cove itself of the slaughter, but there would be no story unless the filmmakers were instigating the events in the film. I think I prefer the type of documentary style used in the Cove- it adds more drama and tension while still observing the events and being informative. It provokes the viewer with the images and gives the viewer passionate characters to connect with while not trying to hide the filmmaking process. You don't have to try to guess what parts of the story are fabricated because you see the filmmaking process taking place through the documentary, so you can focus more on the story. It does have the downfall however of being extremely bias, and representing reality in a way that it is hard to see the other side. This is exactly what the filmmakers want the viewer to feel, but it doesn't give much of a chance for two-sided dialogue.
The Cove and Restrepo are both very different, but they both do the same in getting the message across to the viewers that their topics are important and need to be taken seriously. The approaches to both are completely different, in The Cove the team had to do extensive research as to when they are going to head to Taiji, where and when they are going to plant the hidden cameras, how they are going to do it and so on. When filming Restrepo the plan the film crew needed was to stay hidden and alive. They had to follow around the soldiers where ever they went. Another main difference was the soldiers were the only ones being interviewed and narrating the film. I like how in The Cove the director and filmmaker interviewed himself and narrated everything, so we knew what he was feeling at the same time as what was going on, especially since he was just as much involved in everything as the rest of the team he was with. Restrepo was a direct cinema film and I enjoyed watching it, but the way The Cove was shot and the story was told just drew me in and I couldn't look away because of the hard footage we are watching. The whole world knows now that this cruelty to dolphins happens everyday all over the world and we need to do something about it. When a film makes you want to get up and do something I would say it did its job.
I can see many ways in which The Cove and Restrepo are both the same and different in terms of style. In both documentaries the filmmakers are highly involved in the film as they are participants in the action, but the difference is that The Cove is about the filmmakers themselves while Restrepo is about the soldiers. Restrepo is more Direct cinema than The Cove because it was more about capturing footage through observing the daily lives of the soldiers in Afghanistan and letting the action unfold in front of them. In both films, the audience is drawn into the action (almost in a POV feel), whether it be following the soldiers in Restrepo or the filmmakers in The Cove. While I prefer the style of The Cove for it's entertaining drama and covert feel, I understand that Restrepo has much bigger obstacle that restricted what was filmed. For example, the filmmakers in Restrepo had the face the fact that they could be killed at any moment. Also, they had no control over what was going to occur, whether it be an ambush or the death of a soldier. The Cove was much more planned in that the filmmakers had a mission of filming the dolphin killings and the documentary becomes about how they went about completing that mission. They could prepare and setup to film whatever move they were going to make. The obstacle of The Cove is that they are restricted access into the cove, and therefore the film itself becomes about overcoming that obstacle. The advantage of Restrepo is that it presents the audience a look into the lives of the soldiers without really taking a stand on an issue. The audience decides what to make of it. The Cove is more of an activist film and it does an incredible job in showcasing the audience all the reasons for the unethical practice of killing and capturing dolphins.
Both The Cove and Restrepo can be seen as both cinema verite and direct cinema style documentaries because they combine the filmmakers being directly involved with the events of the film (i.e breaking into the "Killing Cove" and setting up cameras by night/moving out of the way of danger on the battlefield) as well as scenes in which they are absent from the events on screen (i.e the events captured by their cameras in the cove afterwards/scenes of soldiers reacting to their fallen comrades). I can't say I have a preference, however I think that the style of The Cove is due largely the involvement of the filmmakers and creates a much more 'cinematic' experience, mood-wise. Restrepo is very pure in a way and though we know the antagonist of the film is the Taliban we never see them, we only see their guns and the effects they have on the soldiers. While we don't see the Taliban because that would obviously pose huge safety threats, the style of the film also cements the pure emotion felt by viewers. In The Cove, we see the opposition personified very colorfully in the fisherman such as "Private Space" (whose characteristic white boots are unmistakable) and Japan's representative within the IWC (a smirking man in a suit). The limitations of the direct involvement of the filmmakers are perhaps that viewers can clearly see their motives and while the story is compelling, it is largely one sided.
The Cove and Restrepo are similar in terms of both being documentary films and including elements of both direct cinema and cinema verite, and both have interviews with people with knowledge on the subject matter. However the similarities pretty much end there. The Cove is closer to cinema verite, as Ric O'Barry and his crew are actively involved in the efforts to expose the Japanese dolphin hunting and trafficking industry. Ric is in a way the main character of the film, and serves as the catalyst for many of the events that transpire, such as the mission to place hidden cameras to film the happenings at the secret cove in Taiji, Japan. On the other hand, Restrepo is more of direct cinema, as the filmmakers and camera merely observe the daily life of the American soldiers during their 15 month deployment in Afghanistan. They don't interact with anyone, but instead let things play out naturally and truthfully. The advantage to this style is that it is a very unbiased view of the effects of war, but the limitation is that there is not any clear call to action. Due to this fact, I felt more emotionally involved while watching The Cove because there was a clear message: we as human beings must stop the slaughter of innocent dolphins. Both films were interesting and held my attention the whole time, but I think because The Cove was more planned out and researched, I got more out of it and want to actually make a difference after watching the film. That feeling viewers get after watching The Cove is a huge advantage, but the limitation is that it is one-sided and in favor of the activists, as they do not really capture the Japanese side of the story.
The Cove documentary and Restrepo are actually very similar when it comes to cinema style because they are both direct cinema and cinema verite. The Cove has scenes where the directors/filmmakers are physically involved, but there are also scenes where the directors/filmmakers are not involved. However, The Cove has much more direct cinema because the filmmakers are the ones going through all the action during the film. They are the ones trying to figure out and stop the japanese from doing the mass killings of dolphins. I think this sends out a meaningful message to the audience because it allows for more connections between the film and the audience. The audience will feel like its more real and more believable, it will truly show that there is a problem that's trying to be brought to awareness. That's why it is perfect the film embraces direct cinema. I prefer direct cinema because it allows the audience to connect, relate, and think about what is really going on. This is important for the audience and their understanding of the film. The advantages of direct cinema in The Cove is that it shows you the film is real and it brings more intensity. A limit of this could be that there is not a lot of down time, meaning scenes where you can just observe. An advantage in Restrepo is that it showed the down time between all the violence and war, a time where you could really see and feel the characters emotions and thoughts. A limit could be that there is not enough direct cinema, meaning not much time that the audience can really connect and relate with certain things in the film.
The Cove and Restrepo are both participatory and observational documentaries, the filmmakers involved different events in the films such as selling captured dolphins especially the female ones to the aquariums and Marine Park and killing the rest of the remaining ones that were not sold. The dolphins would be slaughtered d in the cove and its meat was then sold to the supermarkets. They tried to put a stop to eating dolphin meat because it contains dangerously high levels of mercury. Police tried to stop the visitors including The Cove’s film crew from covering what was taking place in the cove. The cove had a lot of detailed and graphic scenes in it. The Restrepo is a more direct cinema than the cove because during the war in Afghanistan the soldiers day to day lifestyle is all captured on the footage. The filmmakers for “Restrepo” could be killed at any moment while taping the film. The Cove’s filmmaker has more time to plan for a set of what to capture and what not to. The challenge while filming “The Cove” was the police restricting them from going into the cove. The challenge in “Restrepo” is seeing your fellow soldier being killed at the moment. The “Restrepo” is seeing the soldier’s interviews talking about their experience at war while in “The Cove” there are a few clips of interviews from a variety of resources. After watching the film I felt quite emotional because they know what the solution is to stop them from killing those dolphins.
Post a Comment