Line #1 Film/TheCove


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_cove.jpg]]
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3	''The Cove'' is a 2009 documentary directed by Louie Psihoyos, which won the 2010 UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Documentary.
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5	It documents the practices of the small town of Taiji, UsefulNotes/{{Japan}}, a Real-Life TownWithADarkSecret. Every year, fishermen in Taiji drive thousands of dolphins into a small secretive cove, where they are slaughtered. The documentary revolves around a small crew of American and Canadian filmakers who try to find ways to plant cameras to document these horrible killings. It was followed up by a new series headed by Ric O'Barry, ''Series/BloodDolphins''.
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8	!!Tropes:
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10	* TheAtoner: Ric O'Barry, who went from being a celebrated dolphin trainer to an uncompromising activist to free dolphins from aquariums, as well as to expose the Taiji dolphin killings.
11	* AvengersAssemble: The team is introduced as experts in their field, with a shout out to ''Film/OceansEleven''.
12	* BloodIsSquickerInWater: How the Cove looks like once the cull starts.
13	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The International Whaling Commission members from small Caribbean countries who appear to have traded their votes for financial support from Japan.
14	* DrivenToSuicide: Ric Barry claims that one of the dolphins that he trained for ''Flipper'' committed suicide by ceasing to breathe.
15	* EurekaMoment: When visiting a local shrine where people look at arranged rocks, the team gets the idea to hide cameras inside decoy rocks.
16	* GiveMeAReason: The activists and fishers are in a passive aggressive MexicanStandoff to catch the other ones doing something illegal on tape.
17	* HeroicDolphin: Mentioned. One of the activists is a surfer who was once saved from a shark by a dolphin.
18	* HiddenWire: The aquaphone hidden in the seabed, and the cameras disguised as rocks.
19	* HonorBeforeReason: Activist group Sea Shepherd tried to film the Taiji massacre few years earlier, but got caught because some members decided to cut the nets and release the dolphins before the cull could start.
20	* TheKenBurnsEffect: Used for still photos of Rick O'Barry on the set of ''Series/{{Flipper}}''.
21	* MayContainEvil: Dolphin meat (that has dangerous levels of mercury) is sold off as much healthier, if still questionable, whale meat.
22	* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Much of Taiji's council, which apparently has an intentionally complicated bureaucracy system to make it hard for outsiders to get any footage of the Taiji dolphin kill.
23	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Private Space.
24	* ProperlyParanoid: Ric O'Barry, who director Louie Psihoyas thinks is a bit of a kook when he talks about being constantly observed in Taiji and how the fishermen would probably kill him if they could get away with it. Then Louie starts to notice he's being followed around town by mysterious cars...
25	* RevealingCoverup: The cull is covered up with very little justification. The authorities just tell people they cannot go to certain areas on the days it takes place, and the fishermen just hold up signs saying "No photography".
26	* TownWithADarkSecret: Taiji itself.
27	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman

Context Film / TheCove