Blackfish

The Film Everyone Must See

Director: Grabriela Cowperthwaite

Release Date: 2013

Rating:15

Running Time: 90 mins

Genre: Documentary

'The movie Sea World didn't want you to see'

This is certainly a film to stay well clear of if you enjoy going to Sea World. It's a film that feels so different to others because there is simply nothing like it that I've seen. 'Blackfish' is a documentary that explores the life of the killer whale, also known as the Orca, and it gives us a real insight into the majestic and incredible lives they live. We're taught a lot about how the Orca's act and behaves, we see them in the wild and we see them in captivity and it doesn't take long before the film is able to grasp everyone watching it and show them the harsh reality of the life of these creatures after we got our hands on them. Through the use of 'talking head' interviews in usual documentary fashion, we're taken on a journey exploring the life of the Orca right from when they were captured up to now and it is not an easy watch.

I've got to say that when watching this I was shocked. I had no idea the amount of casualties and fatalities that had built up from the trainers working with the killer whales at Sea World and even the killer whales themselves. At one point of the film someone stated that a killer whale lived up to about 35 years old and in captivity they lived until about 25, we learn soon after that in actual fact an orca can live up to 100 years old and is usually expected to live as long as a human would. This was just the start of a very heart-aching film. I had always felt that it was morally wrong to keep these creatures in captivity and in such small enclosures ever since I saw 'School of Rock' and heard Jack Black express his views. 'The man kidnapped Shamu and then threw her in a chlorine tank!'. But seeing 'Blackfish' just places it on a whole new level.

This film is so incredibly shot, directed and edited, it makes it feel so different and unique in comparison with other films, reaching audiences on such an emotional level. It's both  awe inspiring and yet heart breaking film. It's got to be said the music in this is so fantastically put together, it is able to make us feel exactly how we should be feeling and compliments the film so well. We're shown how majestic and loving these creatures can be, but also how dangerous and unpredictable they are. The trainers are never sure what they will do next, making them such a danger they can be to train and work around. Through a sequence of captured and documented archive footage we are able to see the danger that an Orca can be in captivity, not just to humans, but to themselves as well. There's no denying this is not the easiest film to watch. In one clip we see a killer whale slowly dying after being attacked by another one that it was sharing a tank with, we see them scared and bleeding and just altogether suffering. It's no wonder Sea World refused to be interviewed for this film.

There are some gasping scenes laid out in this documentary, we see whales try to drown trainers, we see them toying with them, hurting them and even trying to kill them. One piece of footage is even able to envelop me in the same fear I had when watching 'Jaws' due to the way we see a trainer literally swimming for his life away from this Orca chasing after him. My reaction to watching 'Blackfish' was mainly shock and a lot of anger. It was agrivating to watch due to how little anyone actually knew about these creatures. No one was ever sure what they were going to do next and that's what made them so dangerous. Perhaps it was playing, perhaps it was frustration, maybe it was just boredom, but after learning how intelligent these whales really were you wonder how they could have still kept them locked up and enclosed. We see these creatures taken away from their families and thrown into a completely different environment far away and force them in with other Orcas from different families, take their babies away from them, ship them around, it's a wonder they didn't turn sooner.  It's definitely a film everyone should see no matter who, you're able to learn so much during the film, though not all of it is good, it will certainly stay with you and perhaps give you an altered perception of the life of animals living in captivity.

From the word go when we see the whales captured, right up until the end where we learn a the devastating events that went over the 40 years this film took place, we are made to feel for everyone, the trainers and the whales alike. One of the best things about this film is that the people who lived through it as the trainers at Sea World are the ones talking in this film and telling us about their experiences working there. Through this we learn about the relationships they built up with the whales and it's not until a long way in that we are able to realise the danger that went on.

It's got to be asked, was that went on worth it at all simply for the public's entertainment? My guess is no. One of the speakers in this film states that he hopes people will look back on this in 50 years as a barbaric time, and others stated that all they want is for the whales to be released back into the sea to live the rest of their lives exploring in peace and maybe then they could actually be happy. Whatever does end up happening, I reckon that thanks to Grabriela Cowperthwaite and the others who took part in the making of this film, something will be done about fixing what's gone on.

The best things about documentaries like this is we are able to see that a truth revealed that we should know, and unlike most documentaries we see it from so many different perspectives it's not a film we could argue is lying or only showing one side of the argument. We see people talking and expressing their views from so many different angles, there are people who helped capture the whales, train the whales, work with the whales, experts on the species, witnesses, the film has such a vast spread of people talking and that's why I think it's such an effective documentary at really gunning home it's message of unjust and unfair treatment of Orcas.

7/10