I went to that movie with certain expectations. It was shown, on location, in our local zoo. Starry night above, strange animal cries on the wind. Fitting, right?
Wrong.
I'm quite certain stating that the movie must have been made by an acquaintance - not friend - of the two whale researchers it features, and someone too much into the subject matter, but not the wider background behind it, to realize that the viewing public might need some damned *context*. Instead of... how shall I describe it?
Shallow semi-information perhaps.
The movie is not telling a story. It's not a documentary either. It feels like a film student somehow managed to have one of their earliest works published; one they forgot to blackmail their roommate to play test audience for.
We learn nothing about the two researchers, their scientific background (if such even exists), the volunteers staying with them, the background/financiers/history of their project, the location, the First Nation tribe's history, and especially - the whales. Supposedly the movie is about orcas and humpback whales. Those two species look different, wow, surprise, and the researchers fell in love with them for... *reasons*? But how about a few facts about the whales, their lives, their habitats, their behavioral and migrational habits, etc?
This movie is like a peek through a keyhole. Shortsighted, limited, ignoring that said whales have a life beyond the shores of British Columbia.
Instead of creating a poetic plea for protecting two majestic species, we get something with the depth of a parking lot puddle with a few minutes of impressive video immediately before the credits.
It could have been so much more.
I left disappointed and sad about a lost opportunity.
Wrong.
I'm quite certain stating that the movie must have been made by an acquaintance - not friend - of the two whale researchers it features, and someone too much into the subject matter, but not the wider background behind it, to realize that the viewing public might need some damned *context*. Instead of... how shall I describe it?
Shallow semi-information perhaps.
The movie is not telling a story. It's not a documentary either. It feels like a film student somehow managed to have one of their earliest works published; one they forgot to blackmail their roommate to play test audience for.
We learn nothing about the two researchers, their scientific background (if such even exists), the volunteers staying with them, the background/financiers/history of their project, the location, the First Nation tribe's history, and especially - the whales. Supposedly the movie is about orcas and humpback whales. Those two species look different, wow, surprise, and the researchers fell in love with them for... *reasons*? But how about a few facts about the whales, their lives, their habitats, their behavioral and migrational habits, etc?
This movie is like a peek through a keyhole. Shortsighted, limited, ignoring that said whales have a life beyond the shores of British Columbia.
Instead of creating a poetic plea for protecting two majestic species, we get something with the depth of a parking lot puddle with a few minutes of impressive video immediately before the credits.
It could have been so much more.
I left disappointed and sad about a lost opportunity.
