Controversy over “The Cove,” an Oscar-winning documentary about the annual dolphin hunt in a Japanese village, has widened into a debate over free speech in the country.
Three theaters last week canceled showings of the movie after they were swamped with angry phone calls and threatened with noisy protests by nationalist groups. It was banned on a U.S. military base in Japan as too controversial, and 23 other theaters are still deciding whether to show the film, according to Japanese distributor Unplugged.
After the cancellations, a group of Japanese journalists, academics and film directors signed a letter urging the theaters not to back down and saying the issue “underlines the weakness of freedom of speech in Japan.”
Freedom of speech is guaranteed in Japan’s constitution, but many Japanese are wary of unruly demonstrations.
Nationalist groups, known for blasting slogans from truck convoys and handheld loudspeakers, often use the threat of protests as leverage. Two years ago, angry phone calls led several theaters to cancel showings of “Yasukuni,” a movie about a Japanese war shrine that honors fallen soldiers, including executed military leaders convicted as war criminals.
On Wednesday, over 600 people crammed into a civic hall in Tokyo for a rare chance to see “The Cove,” with lines forming hours before the doors opened and viewers spilling out into the lobby to watch via a video feed. Outside of small private showings, it was the first time the movie has been screened in Japan since October, when it was shown at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The event had originally been planned to discuss the movie, which shows bloody scenes of a dolphin slaughter filmed by hidden cameras and portrays local fishermen as rough goons. But instead the event focused on the theater cancellations, reflecting the changing debate around the film.
“Protesters only threatened to do bad things, and then theaters got scared and pulled out,” said Hiroyuki Shinoda, chief editor of “Tsukuru” magazine, which organized the showing.
Shinoda, who signed the protest letter last week, urged those present to contact theaters and ask that the movie be shown.
Ric O’Barry, a former trainer for the “Flipper” TV show who is the central character of “The Cove,” made a surprise appearance at the screening. He is now a dolphin activist, but on Wednesday talked instead about freedom of speech and the large number of awards the movie has won.
“Those awards are given for entertainment value, and for that reason alone the Japanese people should be able to see it and make up their own mind,” he said. It won best documentary at the Academy Awards this year.
Outside the hall, about two dozen police and plainclothes officers were on duty, but no protests took place, although a few people quietly handed out flyers calling for the movie to be banned. One flyer linked the movie with Sea Shepherd, an anti-whaling group that clashes with Japan’s whaling fleet each year.
“Freedom of expression doesn’t need to be recognized for a movie made by terrorists,” it read.
“The Cove” includes an interview with Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson. It is presented as the first documentary from The Oceanic Preservation Society, a group headed by Director Louie Psihoyos that lists Sea Shepherd as a partner.
Various right-wing groups consider the movie to be anti-Japanese, saying that dolphin hunts occur in other parts of the world and that any portrayal of animals being slaughtered for food would be bloody and unpleasant to watch.
The groups have led noisy protests outside of Unplugged’s headquarters and the home of its president.
In Taiji, the small village where the hunt occurs, the local government and fishing cooperative defend dolphin hunting as a local custom with a long history. The mostly bottlenose dolphins killed in the hunt are not endangered, and hunts are also carried out in other parts of Japan — although very few Japanese have ever eaten dolphin meat.
A Japanese scientist and Taiji lawmaker who appear in the film say they agreed to do so without knowing it would be about the dolphin hunt, which Psihoyos has said is not true.
In the version of “The Cove” shown Tuesday and intended for release in Japan, disclaimers have been added saying those interviewed in the movie are not protesting or supporting dolphin issues. Unlike the U.S. version, the faces of most Japanese are blurred out.
A Japanese message states that data presented in the movie were gathered by and are the responsibility of the film’s creators. The movie cites information about mercury levels in dolphins and falsely labeled dolphin meat that has been challenged by government officials.
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The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
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Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More