When "The Cove" won an Oscar, I naturally thought that Hollywood is asking for a response from Japan. If an American filmmaker had a say against a movie about America, he/she would most likely make a film to express it.
Unfortunately, that wasn't how the Japanese movie industry works. Of course, Japanese television was quick to respond. Among the many examples was an NHK "Close-up Gendai" episode, broadcast nationwide in Japan on July 6th, 2010, in which the program spent 30 minutes to explain in detail how specific scenes in "The Cove" were manipulated.
In particular, "The Cove" mentions that Hideki Moronuki, Deputy of Fisheries, was fired. The program pointed out that he never was and still works for the Ministry. He again says so himself in the long interview in "Behind 'The Cove'".
But it is also him, among others, who admits that the Japanese government never protested against "The Cove". Meanwhile, the Japanese TV shows never really got to be translated or uploaded to be shown internationally. And now at last a movie, in English language, is made from a Japanese point of view, ironically by people who are very new to filmmaking.
A confusing part may be that, while "The Cove" focuses on dolphins and captivity, "Behind 'The Cove'" focuses more on whaling and food, and the link between the two isn't thoroughly explained. The international audience need to be reminded the facts that dolphin fishery indeed is not well known even in Japan, but that "The Cove" has somehow led more people around the world to speak against whaling.
So "The Cove" insists that dolphin captivity itself should be banned. "Behind 'The Cove'" questions that, and upon digging into the issue it provides a thorough explanation on the average Japanese way of thinking about the Cetacea (which means ocean mammals including whales and dolphins). It also suggests that being vegan is one thing, but then it asks, of all the animals and regions in the world, why do viewers focus on the Taiji dolphins up to the point that it gained an Academy Award?
I've always trusted the English-speaking media to be open-minded about different opinions. For example, Bono of U2 openly describes, in the band's biography, how he phoned Norway in the middle of their concert to protest against whaling. He mentions that the Minister of Fisheries himself took the call to justify themselves, and invited Bono to come to enjoy a whale steak together. U2 and the publishers let the statement be.
This movie is called "Behind 'The Cove'", but you can just look at it as "another side of 'The Cove'". I can only wish for a refined version of this work. It's quite a friendly film that concludes with a simple question, "Who can judge which animal should be eaten or not?"
